Thanks, but I doubt it's the battery and here is why:
1. I put in a new deep marine battery and still could not get the top to lift from battery power alone.
2. If it were the battery, I would not have been able to lift the top by attaching a jumper wire from the positive post to the selenoid or when I put a jumper between both posts of one of the circuit breakers in the battery/ pump box. Both those actions worked.
Later this week I will replace the two 24VDC shortstop 30 amp circuit breakers, and clean the contacts. If I am right, that should fix it. I'll post after I've tried it. Thanks.

Our lift system is a little flaky. Unless the battery is fully charged AND plugged into 120V AC power it is sluggish or may not raise at all. We have a 1993 22L classic. DH is a champ trouble shooting electric systems, but he hasn't seen a breaker "outside". Can you point us in the right direction? Thanks.

Not sure I can point anyone in the right direction, but your problem sounds similar to mine. Attached is a photo of the breaker mounted on the outside of the box, at the back on what would align with the passenger side of the towing vehicle. You can see how corroded it is from exposure to the weather. Without 110VAC plugged in, I clipped a jumper wire to each of the threaded posts on the breaker, and it lifted with no problem when I hit the up switch inside the HiLo. Without that jumper, it wouldn't lift. I am going to replace the breaker and clean the contacts. That should allow sufficient current to flow to make it work. As one person said, the motor attached to the hydraulic pump draws a lot of amperes to work. If contacts are corroded or a breaker is faulty, that would impede the flow of current needed to make the motor work and lift the top. It shouldn't require the 110VAC to be plugged in. It should work just off the battery.

Attached Images

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Crispian,

Thanks for the reply. I'm passing this onto my husband for his examination. We'll get this figured out. Thanks again.

Kathleen

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Kathleen & Joe
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1993 22L Classic, "Myrtle"
Eastern Kansas

TheWebbs - you say it’s sluggish without AC hooked up?

That sounds like either:
1. Not enough current being delivered to motor
Or
2. Motor is drawing too much current (which is sort of the same as #1).

These motors are the same as starter motors on cars. Pretty straightforward.

Pickup an inductive ammeter. These are available through Amazon, or NAPA. They’re very useful for t-shooting starting/charging problems on cars, because you can see how much current is flowing just by placing the meter over the starter/charging wire.

Put the meter on either battery cable, then try to raise the top. If the current spikes the meter, thats a sign of a bad motor. If it shows low current draw (I’d guess under 75 amps, but hopefully a guru will chime in with proper numbers), thats a sign of a bad battery.

High draw happens because a motor has a problem - bad bearing, worn out wiring, bad brushes, worn commutator. Those all contribute to increased resistance, which will increase current draw.

Low draw occurs when a battery is unable to output enough current to drive the motor. So bad battery (or a not fully charged battery). So make sure battery is fully charged before testing.

I’d be more inclined to think there’s a battery issue - these motors just don’t see enough work to wear that badly.

Success! The posts on the circuit breaker and the wire terminals attached to them were so corroded I could not remove them. I cut the wires, spliced in some additional length of wire and added new terminals, and replaced the circuit breaker. The top now lifts and lowers on battery power only as well as 110V AC. I used the dielectric grease to prevent corrosion and I'm waiting for the arrival of a waterproof marine rubber cover for the breaker that I ordered online. I'm sure a previous owner put the breaker on the outside of the box so he could reset it without having to manually crank up the top just to get into the box. But the weather sure took its toll. The funny thing about the breaker was that one of the holes through which one places a bolt to attach it to the battery/hydraulic pump box, is right by the manual reset button. I tried placing and tightening the bolt and the head broke the reset button. I think it's a bad design and placement. Fortunately, I had ordered two. I turned the hole in the second breaker into a U shaped slot, so I could put the bolt in place and secure it without the head interfering with the manual reset button. All's well that ends well. Thanks to everyone for your advice and help!

Glad you found the culprit. You also learned stuff. Thanks to this forum, I've learned a great deal.
Tree

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Treeclimber
2703 Tow Lite
2002 Escalade
Bonita Springs, Fl. &
Andrews, NC

Yes, indeed. I'm very appreciative of this forum and all who contribute to it.