Repairing electric shore power reel?

[NEWELLWIZARD]

Last weekend we took a trip and when I was rewinding the power cord back into the coach it stopped winding in. All I could hear was the motor running but nothing happening. So, I had to hand wind the power cord onto the reel. Time consuming and a pain in the neck. I thought I'd check online before calling the factory. Maybe I can repair the power reel myself?

[fulltiming]

Mike, assuming your power reel is a Glendinning, take a look at this page (http://67.210.120.197/downloads.html)from Glendinning's site for technical manuals that show parts and installation/replacement instructions.

[tuga]

Mike,

From time to time I have this problem. What happens with my cord is it gets twisted, and when it gets twisted it jambs and the Glendinning unit will stop. There is nothing wrong with the unit, the cord just needs to be untwisted.

I extend mine out about 20 or 30 feet and let it retract on its own. If it jambs, I uncoil it a few feet and then begin recoiling again. Eventually it coils itself back up correctly in the bay and everything works again. Sometimes I have to extend the entire 55' and let it recoil the way it wants to.

[Neweller]

Is there much that can go wrong with those Glendinning's or are they pretty tough long lasting units? I know Newell Coach always seems to do their serious homework before introducing any products etc....


Ken

[NEWELLWIZARD]

Mike, assuming your power reel is a Glendinning, take a look at this page (http://67.210.120.197/downloads.html)from Glendinning's site for technical manuals that show parts and installation/replacement instructions.

Thanks for the link for the technical manuals.

[NEWELLWIZARD]

Mike,

From time to time I have this problem. What happens with my cord is it gets twisted, and when it gets twisted it jambs and the Glendinning unit will stop. There is nothing wrong with the unit, the cord just needs to be untwisted.

I extend mine out about 20 or 30 feet and let it retract on its own. If it jambs, I uncoil it a few feet and then begin recoiling again. Eventually it coils itself back up correctly in the bay and everything works again. Sometimes I have to extend the entire 55' and let it recoil the way it wants to.

Thanks for your help and thoughts. I'm going to give this a try first and cross my fingers it's just twisted up. I thought if anything I would figure out how to fix it myself. I don't know what the replacement cost is and I'd much rather repair it myself and if all it takes is uncoiling it a few feet even fully extending it and that does the trick. Then my pocket book can go untouched. For now, anyway!

[NEWELLWIZARD]

As an old saying goes - A Dollar Saved is Better than a Dollar Earned!

[NEWELLWIZARD]

I wanted to give an update on this incase others have the same problem.

Thankfully I was able to fix it without spending a bunch of cash. :moneymouth: However, I wasn't able to uncoil it a few feet as it kept getting jammed and doing the same thing as before. So last resort was to fully extend it before looking into other options of repairing it. Lucky me, That worked! Thanks for the help all!

[SharkRacing]

That is whats nice about having one of your wireless remote fobs. You can unreel it all the way out with the rob and once out get the twists and worked out, then keep a little tension on her while you hold down the inward arrow button.

If you do this periodicall you will keep the cord in better condition and the problem won't happen again.

[ULTRA Newell]

I’m having trouble with mine right now as I extended it too far out obviously and now it is jammed or something. Back when I originally purchased my Newell coach from Holland Motorhomes down in San Marcos, California back in ’08 the same problem occurred, Holland took care of it that time.

It is fully extended out, will not retract. I have moved it up and down, hit the in and button several times, crawled in the slide, took the panel off, moved it all around.

I’m looking for any help on this. Thanks a bunch.

[Jack Fouts]

I wouldn’t have an exact answer for you, but I would check the fuse or breaker first. I'm assuming you don't have a manual guide handy, check the link above for the manual. Let us know if you hear any kind of a motor noise ... trying to re-wind.. Do you hear any kind of buzz noise? I have one but never had a hic-up.

[Newell Tank]

You didn't say whether the motor was running, only that it was "jammed". If it is running, did you try adjusting the tension on the drive wheels? Could be they're just slipping, but I'm not sure how you could "pull the cord out too far" and cause that. Nevertheless, if the drive wheels aren't clamping the cord enough, it will not move in or out, and perhaps if you accidentally stretched the cord out, you stressed the roller mechanism enough to affect the tension they put on the cord. On my Cablemaster model, tension adjustment is the yellow knob just above the motor. Perhaps your Neutral cam lever is released (the lockdown knob on the side, towards you from the motor); this allows manual "free wheel" use of the power cord, and may have accidentally popped up - it should be levered down to engage the drive.

You may have a different model than mine, but going here may help, and you may find your exact model with a little clicking around: http://www.glendinningprods.com/rlc.html (http://www.glendinningprods.com/rlc.html)

[ULTRA Newell]

I checked all the fuses, all the cord is out from the reel, 12 Amp fuse in back box is fine, circuit breaker is OK. Motor is not running. Just hit the switch to send the reel out, and then it will not come back in. I have no darn manual of course, and I think it is a Glendenning. I will double check the website at www.Glendenningprods.com . We are currently in Oregon right now, and heading down to the Klamath Falls area. I guess in Coburg off the Interstate 5 and there are a bunch of RV dealers and manufacturers in the area. I can try to get into one of them. For now she is coiled up in the bay.

Thanks for all the help

[NewellCrazy]

The power reel has a cut out switch built into the guide rollers that cuts it off when the rollers are spread. The nylon limit sleeves on the cord spread these rollers when they contact them, thus shutting off the power when near the end of the cord. They should be wired to work only one direction, meaning that when the full extension sleeve contacts the roller the extension circuit is shut off. When the full retraction sleeve contacts the roller the retraction circuit cuts off.

My guess is that yours is miss-wired and your extension sleeve is cutting off both the extension and retraction circuit. I would first try pushing firmly on the cord near the rollers to attempt to manually retract a few inches of it, thus moving the sleeve out of the way and releasing the roller switches.

The long term fix is to check all of the circuits for proper operation and rewire as needed. There is a terminal block in the reel that has all of the circuits terminated on it with screws. It is simple to change if you understand basic electrical circuits. You can also over-ride these switches with jumpers on the same terminal block. I doubt that any of us switch the reel on and walk away so the limit switches really serve little useful purpose and can be a source of problem and frustration. I disabled mine.

[Newell Tank]

My model doesn't seem to have the limit switch you speak of, and my toggle switch is center loaded, so a person can't walk away anyway, since it pops to "Off" when the toggle is released. I can see where the limit switches on such a model as yours could be a bother if they repeatedly malfunction, and a person didn't ever leave the area of the reel. I can see the benefit in being able to leave the reel on while guiding the plug, out of say dirt or mud, or something to and from the electrical post at a campsite, and having the reel automatically shut off at either cord limit.

If the reel was a model like mine, it could be the rear guide rollers are jammed wide open by the back cord collar when it stressed the cord to its limit as admitted. The fix could be as simple as pushing back a little cord, as you suggest, and then tapping on the roller carriage to dislodge it, and reclose the circuit, and a little dry lube or WD40 on all the roller carriages to prevent a reoccurrence.

[Newell Tank]

Regardless of cause, you should be able to flip open the neutral cam lever, and push the cord back through the rollers into the tub. I can understand if for some reason some models don't have this lever.

[SHELBYONE]

Ultra Newell, Check the voltage at the relay box. If it is ok, find the two wires that go to the motor and unhook them. Make up two jumper wires. One to go to negative and one go to positive. Put a 15 amp fuse in the positive jumper. Now touch each wire coming from the motor. If the motor runs, it is good. By reversing the two wires, the motor should run in the opposite direction. This should help get your cable in.

[ULTRA Newell]

Everyone thanks so very much for all the wonderful ideas and help. I'm just not savvy enough at this sort of thing. The repair shop we are currently at here in Coburg is going to replace the unit supposedly tomorrow, and hopefully have us on our way.

Wish we were closer to Newell Coach to have them just take care of it. Newell Coach Factory service is the best and always like to give them my business first.

Off to see some sights, find the casino for food hopefullyl improve our luck!