Any issues with hydraulic self levelling unit been fitted externally ?

chippie

chippie

Joined
Dec 5, 2022
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Location
Lichfield, UK
Funster No
92,758
MH
autotrail navajo
Exp
4 yrs
I am considering having hydraulic levelling but the make I'm thinking of my fitting company of choice will not fit the control unit/pumpoutside due to issues with water ingress etc, has anyone suffered issues with powerpacks been fitted externally?
TIA
Chippie
 
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SAP fit the pump in a box underneath the van if you don't have convenient locker.
 
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Our HPC system was fitted in a box dropped down through the lower floor utilising space at the side of the chassis.
I wouldn’t like it outside.
IMG_0097.jpeg
 
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Hetties crew, I see that its the HPC system which I'm considering, what's your view on the product after using it?

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Mine is fitted outside under the van behind the waste tank been there since 2019 no issues
 
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chippie said:
Hetties crew, I see that its the HPC system which I'm considering, what's your view on the product after using it?
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Bloody brilliant, we’ve had it since 2018 fitted expertly by AS Suspension in Warrington. After a great deal of research I chose it over E&P because it was lighter, more modern electronics, including telephone app operation and neater.
Probably the best improvement we’ve made on our motorhome.
 
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I'm off to AS tomorrow to look at the product, did they fit the box into the floor?
 
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chippie said:
I'm off to AS tomorrow to look at the product, did they fit the box into the floor?
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Yes they supplied and fitted the box, my thoughts at the time and remain are that it’s an expensive thing to get done and you don’t want it going wrong in the following months and years, so I decided it would be E&P fitted by SAP in Doncaster or HPC fitted by AS Suspension in Warrington. These two companies have been fitting these two products far longer than anyone else and travelling distances to them shouldn’t be a deciding factor.
We could have popped down the M62 to SAP in Doncaster much easier than traversing the Pennines but the product won for us.
Cath and Phil are brilliant at AS, if they’re still there, haven’t been for a few years.
I really should make an appointment to get the oil changed.
 
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You have gone through the exact thought processes as my self and come up with both the same products and companies to supply, will see what AS have to say tomorrow.

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Like many others on here I have had a few systems fitted over the years, on number 5 to be exact. 3 have been fitted by Mick and team at SAP in Doncaster the service and fitting is first class along with the best of follow up support. Until a few months ago I would without question go back to Mick for another system. However, I have been hearing more and more reports of system issues with E&P which would make me start to think about moving to HPC. Ideally, Mick and team would fit an HPC system for me. But that’s not an option. I spoke with a fitter of E&P recently who reported a number of solenoid and main brain issues, a lot more frequent than what they would deem as normal. Customer support in relation to warranty is also slipping in my opinion.
 
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Thanks, that's interesting feed back and much appreciated.
I had heard that e&p over time have had shall we say the odd quality control issues.
 
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I think ShiftZZ has had problems with his system getting 'stuck in the 'deployed' position.
 
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chippie said:
I am considering having hydraulic levelling but the make I'm thinking of my fitting company of choice will not fit the control unit/pumpoutside due to issues with water ingress etc, has anyone suffered issues with powerpacks been fitted externally?
TIA
Chippie
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Our HPC system, fitted by AS in Warrington, is now about 8 years old and has been faultless throughout. It's worth having the fluid changed occasionally and regularly spraying the extended jacks.

EDIT Should have said ours is inside a locker ... although we haven't needed to do so, HPC has a system of valves and a pump lever to retract ja ks in an emergency
 
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Indeed.
Long story, I arranged to have levellers, semi air suspension, reversing cameras and a new radio to be fitted by S&P.
Took the van up there, left it so they could do the work.

Went on holiday to Spain, the air suspension failed, the levelling system failed in Cordoba, but after phoning S&P it was reset.

Some days later we were in Cadiz, the van was parked up in a car park, overnight stay. The legs refused to retract long calls to Doncaster, eventually had to manually retract, not something I wish to repeat under a van in 32°c in Spain. Tip, carry an electric dril or screwdriver, retracting using the supplied Allen key a very slow process .
Got back to the UK, went to Doncaster, they had to replace some parts, "never happened before" , had I been off roading?

We were due to go to a fun meet in Drax, thought it would be a good idea to have the levelling system serviced, agrees with S&P to bring the van in on our way back, on the Monday, I had advised them that one of the cameras on the reversing system had stopped working.

Got there on the Monday, they had no record of me getting seen, Mick refused to come our of the workshop, so no service, they then advised that the reversing camera was over a year old and outside warranty and I should contact the 3rd party who they had outsourced the job to! That was news to me, they had outsourced the work. I was livid.

Got home , sent an email, I got a 'polite' FO.

I know Mick was under a lot of pressure from personal matters, and, he has my sympathy, but overall, I was not impressed.

Oh yea the radio,is still working, well sort of.

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Minxy said:
I think ShiftZZ has had problems with his system getting 'stuck in the 'deployed' position.
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I have had two issues with the current system. First, which I wrote about on here was a failure of the main control board leading to constant supply to the front drivers side solenoid leading to it overheating and melting. It was so hot when the technician placed his hand on it he sustained a burn to the back of his hand. This failure caused a strange fault with rams going down instead of up and led to me having to disconnect the hydraulics from the ram to get it back up. This was rather daunting given I was not sure how much trapped pressure was on the line.
Second fault was with the colour remote control screen freezing up. When it freezes you can do nothing with it. There is no reset button on it, the only way to reset is to leave it for around 24 hours to discharge and hope it resets when you charge it again. You can still raise and lower the system with two small buttons at the rear of the remote cradle. E&P are aware of the issue and changed out the handset. Customer service from SAP was brilliant as usual but they are at the mercy of E&P and delivery time of replacement parts was months.
 
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Not too long ago in a thread that I can’t find, wasn’t there reports of rust/peeling chrome on the legs of someone’s E&P system, it developed into a thread about what’s best to use to protect them.
 
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Hettie's Crew said:
Not too long ago in a thread that I can’t find, wasn’t there reports of rust/peeling chrome on the legs of someone’s E&P system, it developed into a thread about what’s best to use to protect them.
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Didn’t see that but Morelo recommend a liberal spray of Wurth HHS2000 every few months and don’t leave the rams down for extended periods. They should be lubricated and exercised. I assume Morelo worked with E&P to give this guidance.

 
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stewartwebr said:
Didn’t see that but Morelo recommend a liberal spray of Wurth HHS2000 every few months and don’t leave the rams down for extended periods. They should be lubricated and exercised. I assume Morelo worked with E&P to give this guidance.

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It’s in this thread, quite a way in by the late Techno and John and Jo.
www.motorhomefun.co.uk

I Love My E & P Jacks

Another question ...what do the little arrows by the green centre dot/light signify? Sometimes there's one, sometimes two when the jacks are down and the green light in the middle is green (i take that as level if its green). Cheers
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E&P fitted by SAP , 6 years ago no problems , they are in a box behind the axel
 
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