Problems with Powrtouch Motor Mover

[BigTim]

I had a 2010 Powrtouch Heavy Duty mover with actuation motors fitted to our Bailey Senator Arizona (2007). I had a repeated problem with the actuation motors failing. Powrtouch replaced several of these under warranty and said that if one of the motors failed again in the warranty period I could opt to have it changed to manual actuation.

We have not been away in the 'van for a couple of years as we've been having major renovations done to our new home and living in the 'van for some of that period.
I tried the motor mover last week as we are hoping to go away in it next week. One of the actuation motors failed to operate. I checked the wiring, etc without any success. I did wind it on that side of the mover by hand using the tool and a cordless drill. The mover is now out of warranty. This leaves me with several questions:

(1) How much would it be likely to cost to get the actuation motor changed?
(2) Is it easy to do as a DIY job?
(3) How would it be likely to cost to change the mover to manual actuation?
(4) How easy is it to change the mover to manual actuation as a DIY job?

Increasing age and a failing knee joint meant that we do rely on the mover, particularly to get it out of our garden where it is stored at 90 degrees to the exit. However, as we hope to change the 'van eventually I don't want to spend a fortune on it.

I'd welcome any insights or experience of these problems that any one has.

Thanks in anticipation

Tim

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tim,

The cost for the works you are considering are difficult for us to estimate.One of the forum members may well have had such a conversion done, but as the work will have been done by an independent fitter the costs may not be entirely comparable.

Your best bet would be to talk to Powertouch or your local fitter.

Powertouch have always been a very helpful company, and given your history of failures they may look on your case with added sympathy and make an attractive offer to you.

 

[Damian]

Quote " Powertouch have always been a very helpful company"

I would tend to re word that statement and replace have with were.

Powrtouch were a good company to deal with and would do more than their legal requirements in many cases.
However, up came Truma and bought them out and all that changed,,,for the worse.

So, instead of reading Powrtouch read Truma.

As for the OP, an actuator if you can find one is around £80 or more now.
Fitting takes about an hour at whatever rate the fitter is under.

Is it easy as a DIY job, no, it is not easy, very frustrating at times and requires quite a bit of under van crawling to replace the cable back to the control box.

 

[Damian]

Duplicate post.

 

[otherclive]

I’d agree with Damian’s comments as three weeks ago I submitted a technical query using the company contact form. Net response Zilch.

 

[ProfJohnL]

That one sneaked under my radar, hmy:

Truma seem to be on an acquisition trail, and if the Powrwheel "merger" ( according to the Powrwheel website) goes teh same way as Carver's leisure division did in 1999 and other lesser well known European companies), I wonder if Powrwheel will remain a seperately identifiable product line in two to three years.

 

[rubbernecker]

Totally agree I tried many times to contact powertouch ( Truma ) recently as my mover did not work.I gave up in the end and got an local indi who diagnosed and fixed it within five days.....my next mover will not be powertouch..

 

[BigTim]

Thanks for all the comments.

I spoke to Powrtouch this afternoon. After a wasted couple of hours taking their advice and swapping the actuation motor leads at the control box and carrying out other "tests" P/T technical support concluded what I already knew that the actuation motor had gone AGAIN. The options are now

(1) Change the faulty actuation £80 for the motor plus £85 for a P?T agent to come out and change it, ie, £160

(2) Change the mover to manual actuation, with a power bar, fitted by a P/T agent at £250

I find it bitterly ironic that having had the power actuation in the first place because we're not getting any younger we're now faced with paying a huge chunk of money to change it to a manual system or to have yet another acutation motor fitted with the possiblity of further failures.

In addition both of the above options come with a 2 week wait for the P/T fitter who would be travelling from the Liverpool area.!!!!! We live in Cricieth, North Wales, approx 100 miles from Liverpool!!!

This means that to travel to a planned family event, later this week, with the 'van, I have to wind on the offside motor mover roller with an electric drill, hook up the 'van and then wind the move off again with the drill before we can even get started. Hopefully I'll be able to find a pitch I can reverese onto at the other end or we'll have to repeat the pantomime with the electric drill when arriving and leaving there. Oh and, of course, I'll have to repeat that fiasco when we get home again.!!!

So much for the convenience of motor movers????

 

[otherclive]

Thanks for all the comments.

I spoke to Powrtouch this afternoon. After a wasted couple of hours taking their advice and swapping the actuation motor leads at the control box and carrying out other "tests" P/T technical support concluded what I already knew that the actuation motor had gone AGAIN. The options are now

(1) Change the faulty actuation £80 for the motor plus £85 for a P?T agent to come out and change it, ie, £160

(2) Change the mover to manual actuation, with a power bar, fitted by a P/T agent at £250

I find it bitterly ironic that having had the power actuation in the first place because we're not getting any younger we're now faced with paying a huge chunk of money to change it to a manual system or to have yet another acutation motor fitted with the possiblity of further failures.

In addition both of the above options come with a 2 week wait for the P/T fitter who would be travelling from the Liverpool area.!!!!! We live in Cricieth, North Wales, approx 100 miles from Liverpool!!!

This means that to travel to a planned family event, later this week, with the 'van, I have to wind on the offside motor mover roller with an electric drill, hook up the 'van and then wind the move off again with the drill before we can even get started. Hopefully I'll be able to find a pitch I can reverese onto at the other end or we'll have to repeat the pantomime with the electric drill when arriving and leaving there. Oh and, of course, I'll have to repeat that fiasco when we get home again.!!!

So much for the convenience of motor movers????

Sorry to hear of your troubles, I suspect the two years of non use may have affected the motors. I only had one van with power actuation and I know what you mean about the inconvenience of having to use a drill to manually engage and disengage as the caravan I bought hadn’t been used fir two years too. And the rollers wouldn’t fully retract only moving off the wheel by half an inch. I drenched the sliders area with WD40 which freed the actuation then I greased the sliders as per the manual. They worked okay after that, but my subsequent van had manual engagement.

 

[RayS]

I would agree with 'Otherclive' Although I have had powrtouch movers for many years these have always been manual actuation on the basis that what isn't there can't go wrong. But I have the parts of a pwer actuator removed by a friend after his had been damaged.
A nice bit of mechanism but more like a nice servo mechanism than something to hand under a caravan. I can quite see how two years inactivity may have cause it to stick up.
I would suggest that if you can get the cover off to expose the mechanism try a silicone spray or PTFE spray first as WD40 is know to damage some plastics. The unit has a 12v motor and gear train which extends a chromed rod to push the main motor/roller assembly. This rod has a nylon block which engages in a track inside the housing and emerges through a hole in the end of the housing fitted with a rubber O ring seal. If this seal has dried out - it may well stolp the actuator working ; I had quite some difficulty getting it to move even with the unit on the bench. So a lubricating spray may help.
Unless you are used to mechanisms of this type i would council against complete dismantling as it is not completely obvious what goes where.

if you revert to manual you can reduce the effort required byremoving the cross shaft which operates the movers as a pair. This means you have to operate each one individually but halves the effort required. Use an extending handle brace to gent maximum leverage

I also agree with Damian that the service has not been the same since the takeover, noticeably so with telephone contact. .

 

[Woodentop]

Having 'serviced' my Evolution I would suggest the 'lubricant' to use is Waxoyl - indeed it is what Powrtouch recommended to me. It is wax with a solvent that vaporises leaving the wax to lubricate and keep water out of the workings.
For the record using Waxoyl on such things as suspension joints and steering/drive gaitors means they never crack and indeed make the suspension much quieter. Just keep it away from the brakes!