Trombetta

[Lauren]

Well, if you do not know what it is that is good! Not a good thing to have fail if you are out in the boonies someplace.

Mine failed but, very luckily, the 5er was in storage.

The trombetta is essentially a solenoid that controls the hydraulics. Mine failed when things like landing gear, stabilizer jacks and slides were out - and would not come in! Just a click.

It is the little black thing right in front (on a 32TK3) of the hydraulic motor and tank.

It is a simple change but you need to get the new one. It could fail in either direction of travel.

I suggest that if you have to change it out to first disconnect the battery lead in the center and tape the end of it so as to avoid a fireworks show by mistake.

Then we removed the old one from the base and put the new one on the base. Then just moved the connections one at a time so as to make sure it was all ok. Then put the battery cable back on in the center.

Very easy to do once you know the problem and have the new one.

Stay safe.

Lauren

[ponch]

Thanks Lauren

Good Post!

[RodeWorthy]

Interesting. I had two fail during our 6 month trip to the SW. Now I carry a spare. Vendor claims they never have a problem with them but I beg to differ. Be aware there are various versions of these dual relays -- the marine grade product is considered superior. You identify them by the color of the posts. I will retrieve my spare and report on that later so I do not make a mistake.

If one does fail it usually fails on one side only. The cylinders will work in one direction only. This can leave you in a real predicament. I found that if I swapped the wires on the pump the direction of operation is reversed. This allowed me to reverse the direction of cylinder travel but the wires have to be swapped again every time a reversal is needed. We used this method for 4 days while traveling until we could get a new relay. That wire swapping got old in a hurry and I was very relieved to get the replacement. It did however allow us to continue using our trailer and unhitch the truck.

To get at the pump wires I removed the wall section of the hydraulic cabinet from inside the front basement access door.

Did you find your Trombetta is directly connected to the battery without benefit of fusing or circuit breaker? Mine is that way and the Trombetta has been used as 12VDC power access for several accessories as well. Not a good situation.

[RodeWorthy]

Picture update of Trombetta.

[Red Ram]

Would you by chance have a part number and a contact where I might get one?

[keithandpenne]

Red Ram,

Call Lippert, the hydraulics have a 5 year warranty. They told me I must have a repair tech replace it in order for it to be covered though.

Keith

[RodeWorthy]

Call Trailair Service (800) 998-4238. That is where I got mine. They are affiliated with Lippert. I had no trouble getting warranty. I take that back - I had to prove the units failed - they were sceptical one could fail. But I did get the two failures covered under warranty. The spare I purchased outright. I won't quote the price here but it is reasonable and not that bad considering the peace of mind I have knowing I will not have to resort to wire swapping again.

Trailair has no Part No that I know of. A number on a label on the unit itself is 214-1231-A61-06. If you do order from Trailair have Kara give you Ron's phone number so you can call him and make sure he sends you the marine grade version as described above. They have multiple versions in their shop.