Kwikee Step Problem Solved!

[Ericb760]

My Kwikee steps have never worked properly. The only time they extended and retracted was on gennie power. I recently had to drive the RV to fill the propane tank and had to use the house batteries to start the engine. I knew the chassis battery was bad, I have just been lazy in replacing it. I recently received a $40 credit from AutoZone so I put that toward a new battery. After installing, the engine turned over and started instantly, and when I opened the door the steps popped out and the orange light underneath turned on! So, this proved one hypothesis, that is that the steps are wired to the chassis battery (and somehow also wired to the generator).

[Rickf1985]

Well, They SHOULD be hooked to the house batteries. No telling what has been done with the wiring under there. Didn't you mention that the wiring was totally changed around on this unit? By the way, do you have the switch next to the door set for the steps to open and close every time the door is open or are they turned off? The other thing could be that without a signal from the chassis battery that the engine is running or not running the steps would not work. The last signal it may have received is that the engine is running so the steps stayed in? Before you can do any kind of electrical diagnosis you have to have all good batteries in the chassis and house. Otherwise you will be chasing your tail forever.

[Ericb760]

Well, They SHOULD be hooked to the house batteries. No telling what has been done with the wiring under there. Didn't you mention that the wiring was totally changed around on this unit? By the way, do you have the switch next to the door set for the steps to open and close every time the door is open or are they turned off? The other thing could be that without a signal from the chassis battery that the engine is running or not running the steps would not work. The last signal it may have received is that the engine is running so the steps stayed in? Before you can do any kind of electrical diagnosis you have to have all good batteries in the chassis and house. Otherwise you will be chasing your tail forever.

The wiring was modified so that the two TV receptacles run off the added inverter, and a solar panel was thrown in to the mix to charge the house batteries when off-grid. I do have the on/off switch for the steps located by the front door. It is now in the "off" position to stop the steps from retracting every time I close the door. When I start the engine, regardless of what position the switch is in, the steps retract, so I'm guessing that they are doing what they are supposed to do.


I will disagree with you on one point: According to the Kwikee manual, it seems like the steps were, in fact, designed to run off the chassis battery, and I tend to believe that this is by design to retract the steps when the engine is running.

[Rickf1985]

It sounds like they are working as designed but on mine they are hooked to the house batteries. I don't know which is correct but I do know my system has never been molested and is completely stock. ( Which means I REALLY need to go over all of it!)
Usually the plan is to have anything that is related to the coach run off of the house batteries so that you will never run down the starting battery. The starting battery (chassis) is only used for the running of the vehicle and has nothing to do with the coach. NOW, with that said, I have seen enough pictures of others coaches to know that each coach can be different even within brands and from what you are saying maybe even within individual coaches.