48 Sundancer Hydraulic Lift Problem

[jeffrey vargas]

I've got a problem with my hydraulic lift and it won't go down. It was working fine and now when I go to put it in the down position, it make a rapid "clicking" sound, I believe at the "down" solenoid. It is a General Hydraulics pump pictured here. I had the problem before and the red knob on the down solenoid

would have to be pushed in and reset. Anyone ever experience this or have any ideas?

 

[Irie308]

Similiar issue with my GHS that was stuck in the down position. Tapping on the solenoid resolved the issue. Hasn’t happened since.

 

[ASH]

To diagnose mine I switched the wires/magnet to see if the problem would follow. One nut & the black magnet/actuator slides off & then your up button becomes down. I probly confused you. Mine was a bad wire. Easy fix.

 

[jeffrey vargas]

To diagnose mine I switched the wires/magnet to see if the problem would follow. One nut & the black magnet/actuator slides off & then your up button becomes down. I probly confused you. Mine was a bad wire. Easy fix.

Actually, that makes perfect sense. I just didn't know that those things the cables were running into are magnets. Hmmm, I may have caused this myself. The red knurled knob on the "down" kept popping out into the "Manual" operation mode and the square black thing kept coming loose. I called General Hydraulics and they told me to take the nut off and add a little lock-tight. This is when it all stopped working and I just get a clicking sound. I'll try what you suggest and see what happens. Thanks Ash!

 

[PlayDate]

I'm confused. The pump should be connected to the reservoir (the black round canister below the valve manifold). I believe the two red buttons are breakers for the the electrically actuated valves. One appears to be out and the other in which probably means the one sticking out is the problem. The valves do fail and I am perplexed why GHS would have told you differently. I don't know if your lift has hydraulic locks but they can also be a source of a problem if they are not releasing.

The breaker popping out is no good. You are pulling some serious amps to pop that breaker. My guess is the valve needs to be replaced.....but that does assume you don't have hydraulic locks that are stuck.

Manual mode I believe means that the electric pump is not used. If it is equipped for manual mode it should have a pump handle to pump the system for up or down motion. On other manufacturers it is the backup system if the pump or valve body fails and the lift is down.

 

[jeffrey vargas]

I'm confused. The pump should be connected to the reservoir (the black round canister below the valve manifold). I believe the two red buttons are breakers for the the electrically actuated valves. One appears to be out and the other in which probably means the one sticking out is the problem. The valves do fail and I am perplexed why GHS would have told you differently. I don't know if your lift has hydraulic locks but they can also be a source of a problem if they are not releasing.

The breaker popping out is no good. You are pulling some serious amps to pop that breaker. My guess is the valve needs to be replaced.....but that does assume you don't have hydraulic locks that are stuck.

Manual mode I believe means that the electric pump is not used. If it is equipped for manual mode it should have a pump handle to pump the system for up or down motion. On other manufacturers it is the backup system if the pump or valve body fails and the lift is down.

I'm not sure whats really going on. My understanding is that the red knobs are the knobs that switch between manual mode and electric mode. If I take the "down" red knob and turn it counter clockwise and pop it up, I can use the manual handle and to pump the lift down. Yes, I do have hydraulic locks. My biggest problem is that I need a second set of hands. When I'm on the transom, I use the handheld remote to activate the lift and i can hear a rapid clicking sound in the bilge when the platform should be going down. I'm not sure whats making the rapid clicking sound. I'll drag my wife down and get her to help me so I can be in the bilge and get a better idea what's clicking.

 

[ASH]

Play date. Those are not breakers popped out. They are a valve sort of like a poppit valve but a magnet pulls/ pushes a plunger to allow oil to pass thru a galley of sorts. When you let off the switch the magnet quits and the spring inside pulls the valve back shut. The "red knobs" allow you to open the valve without the assistance of a magnet. You likely do not need to manually pump with the handle either. If the pump is running & makes pressure you do not need handle to raise/ lower manually.

 

[TNT8808]

When we were having our boat surveyed pre-purchase a couple years ago I grabbed the wired remote, and pushed the button for up and all it did was start clicking. It worked fine before that with the wireless remote to get it down. Nothing worked after that, and they had to manually pump it to get it back up. I was told all they had to do was replace a fuse, and that fixed it. When we got the boat home, I tried it again with the wired remote, and the same thing happened again. For us it ended up being a faulty wired remote. May not be your issue, but that's what happened with ours.

-Tom

 

[jeffrey vargas]

When we were having our boat surveyed pre-purchase a couple years ago I grabbed the wired remote, and pushed the button for up and all it did was start clicking. It worked fine before that with the wireless remote to get it down. Nothing worked after that, and they had to manually pump it to get it back up. I was told all they had to do was replace a fuse, and that fixed it. When we got the boat home, I tried it again with the wired remote, and the same thing happened again. For us it ended up being a faulty wired remote. May not be your issue, but that's what happened with ours.

-Tom

So I was down playin around with it today and I think I've narrowed it down. I removed the solenoid valve and held it while having a friend use the wired remote. The solenoids definitely have power to them. I then slid the solenoid back onto the cartridge while he held the "down" button and it started working. At this point I think the solenoid is bad or intermittent or the cartridge is bad. It's just really intermittent but the power to the solenoid is consistent. I'm just going to start by getting a new solenoid and trying that. For those that are interested, it's a Hydroforce part and can be found on Amazon for $27. Man I love the Internet! Thanks for the input Tom! If you need any info on the system it's all put together by General Hydraulic Systems-
http://ghslift.com/ The solenoid part number is:
Hydra Force HY 6306012

 

[PlayDate]

Play date. Those are not breakers popped out. They are a valve sort of like a poppit valve but a magnet pulls/ pushes a plunger to allow oil to pass thru a galley of sorts. When you let off the switch the magnet quits and the spring inside pulls the valve back shut. The "red knobs" allow you to open the valve without the assistance of a magnet. You likely do not need to manually pump with the handle either. If the pump is running & makes pressure you do not need handle to raise/ lower manually.

Thank you for the correction. That is a strange configuration.

 

[jeffrey vargas]

Play date. Those are not breakers popped out. They are a valve sort of like a poppit valve but a magnet pulls/ pushes a plunger to allow oil to pass thru a galley of sorts. When you let off the switch the magnet quits and the spring inside pulls the valve back shut. The "red knobs" allow you to open the valve without the assistance of a magnet. You likely do not need to manually pump with the handle either. If the pump is running & makes pressure you do not need handle to raise/ lower manually.

Thanks Ash, I figured this all out just last evening. For some reason, my coil isn't pulling the valve out. Not sure if it's the coil or the cartridge valve. I need to check the part number on the valve. I think it's a HydraForce SV10-20.

 

[ASH]

I fought mine & it drove me crazy. That is why I am familiar. I had power at magnet by using a volt meter to test but for some reason I still cant explain the valve would not operate. The tech at GHS was really helpful & I finally bought the wire only & it fixed my situation. Near as I can tell it had 12volts when testing but was not able to pull the full load when trying to operate valve.


As I mentioned earlier I was able to turn valve to manual & then hit the button & it would move up using the remote. Mine would get stuck in the down position & I had to lift eng hatch to turn valve to manual to raise.


Good luck with your search.

 

[jeffrey vargas]

I fought mine & it drove me crazy. That is why I am familiar. I had power at magnet by using a volt meter to test but for some reason I still cant explain the valve would not operate. The tech at GHS was really helpful & I finally bought the wire only & it fixed my situation. Near as I can tell it had 12volts when testing but was not able to pull the full load when trying to operate valve.


As I mentioned earlier I was able to turn valve to manual & then hit the button & it would move up using the remote. Mine would get stuck in the down position & I had to lift eng hatch to turn valve to manual to raise.


Good luck with your search.

Yeah this thing is driving me crazy. Now that I know what all of the components are it should be easier to track down the problem. I may replace them all as they're not that expensive and I'm tired of having to mess with it. Thanks for the input!

 

[Blown284]

I know this thread is old but I think I'm experiencing similar issues. Wife and I were out on our , new to us, 460 Dancer and the hydraulic lift went down no problem most of the weekend. Hit the button to come up, no problem. Hit button to go down, NO BUENO. Won't go down. is this something easy to fix?

 

[jeffrey vargas]

I know this thread is old but I think I'm experiencing similar issues. Wife and I were out on our , new to us, 460 Dancer and the hydraulic lift went down no problem most of the weekend. Hit the button to come up, no problem. Hit button to go down, NO BUENO. Won't go down. is this something easy to fix?

After messing around with this thing for the longest time, I couldn't figure it out. I then said hell, let me try a new remote. It has worked perfect ever since. With this remote, one of the wires isn't used. Can't remember the exact details but it was really easy to replace the original.
https://www.amazon.com/Quick-HRC1002-Button-Remote-Control/dp/B01JQYYZ06

 

[Blown284]

After messing around with this thing for the longest time, I couldn't figure it out. I then said hell, let me try a new remote. It has worked perfect ever since. With this remote, one of the wires isn't used. Can't remember the exact details but it was really easy to replace the original.
https://www.amazon.com/Quick-HRC1002-Button-Remote-Control/dp/B01JQYYZ06

Thanks! I'm assuming this remote just replaces the other hardwire remote? Is it just as easy as disconnecting old remote and replacing with this?

 

[jeffrey vargas]

Thanks! I'm assuming this remote just replaces the other hardwire remote? Is it just as easy as disconnecting old remote and replacing with this?

It replaces the existing hardwire remote. No, the wiring is different but it comes with a new connector/plug. You have to rewire as it only uses the up and down with no PowerOn button. The instructions are straightforward. I tried to find the original remote and was unsuccessful. I actually called General Hydraulics and they sold me the same one in the link I posted from Amazon.

 

[Shaps]

jeffrey vargas
I bought the same one directly through General Hydraulics and paid $200. Wish I knew it was on Amazon.

Blown284
as Jeffrey said, one wire is not used. I may still have the wiring instructions on the boat. Will post back if i do. It was very straight forward.

 

[Blown284]

jeffrey vargas
I bought the same one directly through General Hydraulics and paid $200. Wish I knew it was on Amazon.

Blown284
as Jeffrey said, one wire is not used. I may still have the wiring instructions on the boat. Will post back if i do. It was very straight forward.

Roger that. Thank you very much!

 

[jeffrey vargas]

jeffrey vargas
I bought the same one directly through General Hydraulics and paid $200. Wish I knew it was on Amazon.

Blown284
as Jeffrey said, one wire is not used. I may still have the wiring instructions on the boat. Will post back if i do. It was very straight forward.

Yes, I paid the same. At the time I had no idea this would work so never looked on Amazon.