Powrtoujch Motor Mover - URGENT advice

[BigTim]

Hi

You may remember my previous post regarding the P/T motor mover that we had fitted to our 'van just before Easter. We have used it only twice, at Easter and Whit. So in/out of our drive twice and on/off pitches twice. When I tried to get the 'van out of drive for its service in late June it would not move. Anthony of A1 Mobile Caravan services came out and had to replace the box. 'van has sat on the drive since then. I've just pushed the 'van up the drive ready for our departure to Croatia and Slovenia tonight or tomorrow. The right hand motor made a regular rhythmic click like a slow ticking clock as the mover moved the 'van. I queried this with P/T and they said it sound like grit in the motor bearing. P/T advise me that they cannot get anyone to me before we go but the bearing should be okay for our 5 weeks away on the Continent.

I'm not very technically minded - should I believe P/T or should I delay our trip whilst they fix it? I do have RP insurance which should cover any costs of delaying.

Urgent advice please as i's a big van and we'd struggle to move it if the mover failed.

Tim

 

[RayS]

Tim, I have no quick answer but am surprised at the suggestions of grit in the motor bearings after such little use or indeed at all given how well these units are sealed.

Suggest you disconnect the mains lead to your caravan, then switch on the mover at the main switch but DO NOT engage the rollers with the caravan wheels.

Then try using the control unit. Try first the arrows in the centre of the control which drive the caravan forwards and backwards. Both motors and rollers should revolve in the direction appropriate to forwards or backwards command.

Then try using the arrows at the corners on at a time - each of these will cause one of the motors to revolve one way, so you can work round them and check that each motor is driving in each direction separately.

With the rollers engaged the nise should be a smooth steady hum with perhaps a bit of gear noise if you have the heavy duty version - if your van is about 1350kg or more you probably will have.

This will at lest show you if the drives are working correctly.

If they are ok in this respect then I would, in your circumstances and with considerable reluctance continue with you trip. In a normal "getting onto pitch" manoeuver the mover does not run for very long and even if a bearing has some grit in it it should not collapse with such use. You could try to use it as little as possible, for example for overnight stays by pitching such that you can tow out without using the mover.

Not sure of your whereabouts or where you will be taking the ferry but if you are stopping anywhere in Uk before the ferry it would be worth asking PT if they have anyone who could meet you at your overnight stop/s

If you have time to do the tests suggested above then post the results and any other things you've noticed - noises etc. and we'll have a look and see if any more suggestions are forthcoming.

 

[BigTim]

Thanks for that very comprehensive answer Ray. I'll keep it for future reference!!

Problem is now sorted. HOORAY. Originally P/T said that they could not send anyone before Wednesday.

However, after a bit of "pleading", P/T sent John from Warrington. He arrived about 6.00pm. When I tried the mover with him listening there was no click!!??

He did, however, take out the bearing and found some roughness in it when turned. He eplaced the bearing and now we're okay to go, albeit, a bit later.

It's good to have it done as now I won't have to worry about it all the time on our hols. I can reverse into pitches reasonably well but some of these Continental pitches are VERY tight and it's a big 'van now that there's only the 2 of us to shove it!!!

Incidentally Red Pennant would NOT have covered me for extra ferry costs if delayed. I checked and they said that it was not covered as the 'van was not immobilised. They said if the 'van was immobilised by motor mover failure they would only send a company to remove it!!!

Thanks again for the advice folks - got to go, got a boat to catch.

Tim

 

[waffler]

Sorry to hear of your problem- understand fully as we can't get in and out of storage without ours. To add to Damian's good advice the sound on start up is like a vibration - the soft start. Mine would not work once and i found the battery terminals were not on properly.