Sherri - I moved your thread to the Electrical section, since it did not concern questions or suggestions about the forum itself.
Tree gave you solid advice about the switches. But, you certainly need more than one black wire to connect either of them properly. From your description of a "black" wire, it is probably coming from the "Master Switch" and is the power supply to raise and lower the top. It would be connected to the center switch terminal. It will likely contain an inline fuse. Then, you should have a yellow wire that goes back to the Circuit Breaker in the battery box that will send power to the solenoid to lift the top, that would be connected to the top switch terminal. Finally, you'd have a red wire that connects to the lowering valve and it would be attached to the lower switch terminal.
A diagram of this wiring is in this thread:
http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f51/...ry-wiring-116/ It is the second .pdf file in the first post.
Sadly, there's no such thing as the "entire mechanism". It's just a switch that connects to three wires.
If you have the "manual lift" option, look for a short round cylinder that is open at one end and is located at the hydraulic pump location. You stick a round lifting handle into that opening and pump it up and down (or back and forth). The handle is usually kept in the battery box, so it is handy if you need it. If the handle is missing, anything that will fit inside the cylinder should work.
A picture of this mechanism is in this thread:
http://www.hilotrailerforum.com/f22/...location-5028/, Post #2. The arrow points to the cylinder.
- Jack