Jim B. Chilo,OH. All you RVers might like this, I carry " hot tube " steps, the plastic ones ,they slide over the bottom step of the RV, gives you a extra step, especially if you have a high couch. Love your vids Keith
Mine was working fine all winter. Then a month ago when I got it out to de-winterize, it stopped working all of a sudden. I havn't done anything yet, but I was thinking I would bypass the magnet, which I will, but now that I have seen and read these comments I might as well pull the motor and give it a good cleaning. It takes a lot to wear a motor out so some simple house cleaning and maintenance should do the trick.
BRAVO!!! THANKS!! Brand New steps 3 mos ago!! This AM... No Steps out!! ((We pull in at night.. Security!! Harder to break in... Or try to from ground level!!! Just makes Our M.Home harder to mess with!!!)) No steps.. Not happy!! Saw your video and PRESTO!! Cut one wire from magnet switch and BAM!! Steps are out!! Thank you!! We are sitting for the month in DHS CA... Sky Valley Resort! Will work on a switch later...!! Thanks X 10!!! Happy Trails...!!! Geno & Heidi (FL)... 7 yrs F.T.
Those switches can be mounted in numerous locations on the door frame. They are magnetic contact switches and can be "normally open" or "normally closed" depending on the control circuit board. The magnetic half of the switch is mounted on the door itself. They can be found at businesses that work on burglar alarms. As for the motors, they may sometimes need lubrication and cleaning inside the housing where the brushes rub on the commutator shaft. The motor shell has 2 strong magnets inside. 2 screws hold on the outer shell. Remove them, gently pull the housing apart and clean the rotor with carb cleaner or Iso alcohol especially where the brushes rub on the slotted area. I have used a small BRASS wire brush to remove the dust from the small slots. It will also polish the copper surfaces so that the brushes rub on a clean surface. Place a SMALL dab of grease into the opening where the shaft end will rotate ( some have a thin washer on the end, be careful to not loose ) and a small amount on the spiral end of the shaft. When you go to reassemble, the magnets will pull on the rotor, so hold it steady and reinsert the rotor slowly, pushing the brushes back out of the way with a toothpick or small stiff wire . One other place to add lube is on the plastic gear inside the adjoining section. A couple of bolts hold on a somewhat round cover over the gear area. Use silicone grease on nylon gears. Reassemble and pre-test the motor with a 12 volt source, reversing polarity , and making sure it rotates both ways. Success for your efforts and save some cash. JwgK Houston Tx
Listen to this man. I did not have to do all of this. Took the motor off. Moved gear ever so slowly. Motor started working again. Eventually will need to do this. Likely buy new motor and keep the old one as spare.
Thank you sir. I see what you did. You simply bypassed the magnetic door switch with a manual on off switch. The magnetic switch is “off” when the door is closed and “on” when opened. If you looked closely it was probably just a loose connection on the wiring at the magnetic switch (two small white wires) that carries the impulse power through the module to tell it to power the steps out when the door is opened and closed when the magnetic switch turns the power off due to the magnet on the door coming in contact with the magnetically operated switch. You did good. But a new magnetic switch is only a few bucks and your back to normal operation.
After a period of intermittent service, I removed the motor/gearbox assembly and upon further inspection, found that the armature of the motor was stuck (corroded) in the housing. Apparently the rubber seal had come adrift and allowed moisture into the motor, enough to rust the armature shaft. Anyway, I disassembled the motor, cleaned up the shaft with a fine emery cloth, greased it up with dielectric grease and it works like a champ!
If your steps are stuck make sure your RV is level. Our motor home didn’t look too out of level to me when our steps got stuck closed. My wife insisted we just needed to level the RV as the steps were likely bound up. Once again, she was right.
My problem with the the steps is similar but what I need to do is go under the steps and hit the motor with the hammer and they'll work for a while I'm thinking the motor needs to be greased just be careful with your hands not getting caught when the steps engage.
That motor looks just like the one on my brothers Newmar. He said they wanted 250.00 for his. H e found some info on a forum somewhere that the motor is a window regulator motor for a jeep. 87.00 at autozone or advanced I don't remember which.
I moved my sensor switch up to that switch panel. And just cut me a new switch mounting board and put the up/ down switch next to the on/ off switch. No bending over to operate the switch. Imade a new face plate out of a piece of flat plastic that I could cut with a sharp knife and finger file.
I bought a plastic exercise step for about $10 at Walmart and just used that for a couple years. Turned out it was just stuck gears and I just need to periodically get under and lube/loosen them up. Probably could buy a new gear kit but its not a hard fix.
I had the same problem with my Kwikee step. Presently my steps are stuck partially out. The clicking sound I have is coming from the Control Module. I checked the motor with a 12 volt battery and it worked. I ordered a new Control Module ($200). Hope that is the problem! If not I'm going to try what you did! Did you bypass the Module and just have power going directly to the motor?
sure just drop a grand ,on new one. thank god there looking out for you!!!!!!
Jim B. Chilo,OH.
All you RVers might like this, I carry " hot tube " steps, the plastic ones ,they slide over the bottom step of the RV, gives you a extra step, especially if you have a high couch. Love your vids Keith
Great solution! And a whole lot better than buying a whole new unit!
Wow, glad you got your steps fixed. Have super fun camping Keithie!!
I'm having this very problem with the 2005 tioga I just bought 2-18-23. You saved me countless thrown wrenches, and aggravation!!!. Thanks you!! 💙
Mine was working fine all winter. Then a month ago when I got it out to de-winterize, it stopped working all of a sudden. I havn't done anything yet, but I was thinking I would bypass the magnet, which I will, but now that I have seen and read these comments I might as well pull the motor and give it a good cleaning. It takes a lot to wear a motor out so some simple house cleaning and maintenance should do the trick.
BRAVO!!! THANKS!! Brand New steps 3 mos ago!!
This AM... No Steps out!! ((We pull in at night.. Security!! Harder to break in... Or try to from ground level!!! Just makes Our M.Home harder to mess with!!!))
No steps.. Not happy!!
Saw your video and PRESTO!! Cut one wire from magnet switch and BAM!! Steps are out!! Thank you!!
We are sitting for the month in DHS CA... Sky Valley Resort!
Will work on a switch later...!! Thanks X 10!!!
Happy Trails...!!! Geno & Heidi (FL)... 7 yrs F.T.
Those switches can be mounted in numerous locations on the door frame. They are magnetic contact switches and can be "normally open" or "normally closed" depending on the control circuit board. The magnetic half of the switch is mounted on the door itself. They can be found at businesses that work on burglar alarms. As for the motors, they may sometimes need lubrication and cleaning inside the housing where the brushes rub on the commutator shaft. The motor shell has 2 strong magnets inside. 2 screws hold on the outer shell. Remove them, gently pull the housing apart and clean the rotor with carb cleaner or Iso alcohol especially where the brushes rub on the slotted area. I have used a small BRASS wire brush to remove the dust from the small slots. It will also polish the copper surfaces so that the brushes rub on a clean surface. Place a SMALL dab of grease into the opening where the shaft end will rotate ( some have a thin washer on the end, be careful to not loose ) and a small amount on the spiral end of the shaft. When you go to reassemble, the magnets will pull on the rotor, so hold it steady and reinsert the rotor slowly, pushing the brushes back out of the way with a toothpick or small stiff wire . One other place to add lube is on the plastic gear inside the adjoining section. A couple of bolts hold on a somewhat round cover over the gear area. Use silicone grease on nylon gears. Reassemble and pre-test the motor with a 12 volt source, reversing polarity , and making sure it rotates both ways. Success for your efforts and save some cash. JwgK Houston Tx
Thanks, you're the man.
Listen to this man. I did not have to do all of this. Took the motor off. Moved gear ever so slowly. Motor started working again. Eventually will need to do this. Likely buy new motor and keep the old one as spare.
Thanks for posting, this is my trouble right now.
Thank you sir. I see what you did. You simply bypassed the magnetic door switch with a manual on off switch. The magnetic switch is “off” when the door is closed and “on” when opened. If you looked closely it was probably just a loose connection on the wiring at the magnetic switch (two small white wires) that carries the impulse power through the module to tell it to power the steps out when the door is opened and closed when the magnetic switch turns the power off due to the magnet on the door coming in contact with the magnetically operated switch.
You did good. But a new magnetic switch is only a few bucks and your back to normal operation.
After a period of intermittent service, I removed the motor/gearbox assembly and upon further inspection, found that the armature of the motor was stuck (corroded) in the housing. Apparently the rubber seal had come adrift and allowed moisture into the motor, enough to rust the armature shaft. Anyway, I disassembled the motor, cleaned up the shaft with a fine emery cloth, greased it up with dielectric grease and it works like a champ!
Great fix ! only thing is can you forget your steps are down and drive away ? I think you can find replacents for under 20 bucks though
Thank you very much for this video. I am Fromage Quebec
If your steps are stuck make sure your RV is level.
Our motor home didn’t look too out of level to me when our steps got stuck closed. My wife insisted we just needed to level the RV as the steps were likely bound up. Once again, she was right.
My problem with the the steps is similar but what I need to do is go under the steps and hit the motor with the hammer and they'll work for a while I'm thinking the motor needs to be greased just be careful with your hands not getting caught when the steps engage.
How could you find out about the sensor? /How did you know the sensor is broken?
Great JOB!
Good video
You rock... put in a switch at the sensor and bingo!!
Awesome 👏🏼
Thanks solved a problem for me
That motor looks just like the one on my brothers Newmar. He said they wanted 250.00 for his. H e found some info on a forum somewhere that the motor is a window regulator motor for a jeep. 87.00 at autozone or advanced I don't remember which.
I moved my sensor switch up to that switch panel. And just cut me a new switch mounting board and put the up/ down switch next to the on/ off switch. No bending over to operate the switch. Imade a new face plate out of a piece of flat plastic that I could cut with a sharp knife and finger file.
I bought a plastic exercise step for about $10 at Walmart and just used that for a couple years. Turned out it was just stuck gears and I just need to periodically get under and lube/loosen them up. Probably could buy a new gear kit but its not a hard fix.
That sensor is just a simple reed switch. Amazon or wherever. A powerful magnet may have unstuck it. Exercise it a few times and good to go!
You can go to about any alarm company and ask for either n/0 or n/c reed switch . The cost would be around $1.00 hope this helps.
where did you buy your rocker switch? RV store, electronics store, ???
Nice I have too do something
I had the same problem with my Kwikee step. Presently my steps are stuck partially out. The clicking sound I have is coming from the Control Module. I checked the motor with a 12 volt battery and it worked. I ordered a new Control Module ($200). Hope that is the problem! If not I'm going to try what you did! Did you bypass the Module and just have power going directly to the motor?
Did you figure out the problem with yours? I have the same clicking sound coming from my module
@@crxracnful I just replaced the module. Guess it was bad. I believe I ordered the new one from Amazon.
How do you wire that switch?
Wiring doesn't change, interrupt the hot lead ... the switch simply changes to manual instead of magnetic.
Your experience with Kwikee doesn't speak well for the company. Glad you found a work-around.