The Power Gear leveling control was originally laying on the surface of the dash. It was very difficult to see the buttons. The buttons are surface type with embossed ridges

and although you can see they were surrounded by white printing, they were very hard to see from the drivers seat. In addition the tiny ‘Jacks Down’ LED couldn’t be seen either (there’s two of them shown above, a little one, and a large one at the top of the black metal plate). The larger black panel with the ‘Jacks Down’ lable had a hole there, but no light installed. Checking the records I could only find the barest of information on the Power Gear system. The operators manual was there but it was for an older model. So I have to assume the original owners (I bought from a consignment lot) must have had trouble with it and swapped out the controller. The a-hole that worked on it didn’t even bother to screw it back down to the dash.

As I drove the rig off the lot, I heard it beeping and at the same time the ‘Jacks Down’ light would flash as I made turns to the right. I did pull over and make sure they weren’t down, and while doing that noticed that they were pulled up with large springs so no worry there.

Over the next several trips I made with the rig, the beeping became contineous and eventually I had to crawl under the dash, find the control box (which was just hanging down there by it’s wires), pull what appeared to be the power connector, just to shut it up. When I’d arrive at a destination, I’d plug it back in and lower the jacks to level the rig. That got old quick but I was always in a hurry so eventually I just cut the red wire going to the 6 wire connector and put a switch in series. That way I could just reach down by my ankle and flip the switch. But I also forgot to do that several times as I drove away from a campsite and it would start beeping at me. Then I’d have to fumble for it and drive at the same time. Here’s a picture of it now that I’ve mounted it on the side wall. There is plenty of room here so I don’t bump it with my knee or anything. I also dressed all the wires with zip ties.  See that translucent connector there next to the yellow wire nut? That’s the main power connector. There is a red wire that goes to that connector you can’t see in this picture that I cut and added a switch in series to be an ON/OFF switch.

Finally, I was parked at a campground for several days with bad weather and nothing to do so I pulled the system controller and switch pad, grabbed the book, did internet searches about it, and took the controller thing apart. That’s when I discovered it wasn’t the original system but a replacement…and brand new. Or at least so lightly used as to be nearly new. Because of the way it was designed, I had to add a few components to allow the addition of a nice LED light that I put in an older neon lamp holder that fit in the empty hole (see picture above). There is an integrated circuit that has several high current transistors in it that seems to be the device that actuates the pump solinoids. And the LED.

I built a little box for it out of wood where I could angle the switch panel up away from the dash so I could actually see it while sitting in the drivers seat. That was really handy. Can’t believe the manufacturer thought lying it down was a good idea.

Then I got to reading the operators manual and discover that the beeping could be caused by low oil. Added a half quart of AFT to the reservoir and the beeping stopped.  That lasted through several weeks of operation but I also noticed a puddle of ATF on the foot pad of one of the rear jacks. So, I have a jack with a bad ‘O’ ring. The repair kit was over $150 and I wasn’t in a place to do the work myself. So, I ignored it.

Ignoring the problem did make it go away. Sort of. If I filled the tank with ATF I could use the jacks several times before the beeping returned. I noticed there was always much more oil in the tank even though it might be beeping, so I went back to my idea of switching off the power and added a switch to the power line of the Power Gear controller. That’s now mounted on the back of the stand I built for the control pad. I can easily reach up and flip it off if the oil level drops and the beep returns.

It has been 5 years now and I’m kind of use to it. I haven’t added any transmission stop leak yet but I’m going to soon. Next time I’m in Mexico I’ll have one of the great mechanics they have in Mazatlan repair the jack for me if the stop leak doesn’t work. In the meantime, I don’t mind switching it off if it beeps and adding a little ATF once in a while.