I had a P/T motor mover, with electric actuators fitted to my 'van just before Easter 2010.
Some of you may remember that I posted after returning from our Continental hols about a problem the motor mover at Camping Chateau Gandspette in late August on our way home.
After I had positioned the 'van on a rather difficult pitch at Chateau G the nearside mover roller would not retract from the tyre. As is it was evening I had no choice to leave the roller on the tyre overnight, the 'van was connected to an EHU. In the morning the roller did retract and when we got home mover performed perfectly positioning the 'van on our sloping drive, including the rollers retracting without problem.
Today a guy called from our local council to trim the trees which are growing over our drive from adjacent park. He agreed to return in the morning and I said I would move the 'van out of the drive onto the road, we live at the end of a cul de sac, to allow him access.
This evening I thought I had better get the 'van ready for its move but when I put the mover rollers on the wheel the nearside one, again, refused to retract. I phoned P/T technical dept and the guy told me to take the "top hat" rubber washer off the actuator motor and try turning the bolt by hand. I tried this but it was too stiff to turn. After checking with P/T I decided, reluctantly to move the 'van onto the road tonight, as I don't have time to faff about before work in the morning. The mover worked okay but at the end this maneourvre the nearside roller would still not retract.
I am getting pretty cheesed off with this mover. In the 6 months since it was fitted by a P/T engineer I have had:
(1) An incorrectly placed electronic control box, it was installed behind the heater and had to be moved to a bed box
(2) A failed electronic control box which had to be replaced, I missed the van's service appointment
(3) The offside motor bearing was clicking and had to be replaced - just in time for our 5 week Continental hols
(4) The roller would not retract in France
(5) The roller would not retract today.
Whilst I accept the P/T after sales service is very good I'd prefer NOT to have to keep calling them out!!!
By the way does anyone have any suggestions as to what the problem is? Not the battery I think as it has been on EHU since we returned from France 4 weeks ago and had enough power to move our 'van up our sloping drive tonight.
I would ring P/T again and go through your list of problems with them, finishing up by stating that you are less than pleased with how many times the (insert cost) unit has had to be repaired in such a short space of time. Make it clear you consider it unfit for purpose and tell them you want it replacing. I'm not saying they will go for it, but it's worth a try. We've only had one problem with our P/T mover (single axle, manual actuation) and we were very pleased with P/T's response - they came to site to fix the problem.
I hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction - P/T have such a good reputation for after-sales service it would be a shame if they didn't match your expectations.
Powrtouch Management I have contacted your technical dept and they are arranging for an engineer to make contact. What I really need however is a motor mover that is up and ready to do its job when I need it.
John G I'm sorry if it's a problem for you but I posted on 3 forums for 2 reasons:
(a) I wanted to get some advice as to what the problem might be and, to prove my point, I did get some effective technical advice on 2 other forums.
(b) A lot of folk post on the forums when they are considering buying a mover and I think my experiences are worth them knowing - I certainly value what folk post on the forums about their experiences -good and bad.
Powrtouch technical support yesterday suggested I try hand turning a bolt on the actuator motor to see if that would cause it to operate correctly. That did not work last night but tonight I tried again as another poster had pointed me to advice on the P/T website which said that this bolt could be used to wind off the roller manually with a 9mm socket. When turned a few times with a 9mm socket the actuator did retract the roller correctly. However, when I tried putting the rollers on and off again the actuator would only retract the roller when I turned the bolt with the socket every time.
I can now get the roller off the wheel but I am waiting for a more permanent solution from the P/T engineer.
I am sure that Powertouch love it when they get good comments on forums and have to accept it when disgruntled customers give voice. Same with all companies.
Quote: Originally posted by brianconwy on 28/9/2010
I am sure that Powertouch love it when they get good comments on forums and have to accept it when disgruntled customers give voice. Same with all companies.
Very true
They have replied on all 3 websites and there is no question that they wish to sort it out to the poster's satisfaction
The engineer sent by P/T arrived late this afternoon as arranged. He had already diagnosed the problem, or perhaps P/T had done it for him. He said that the actuator had a faulty microswitch which was preventing it from turning on the actuator correctly. He removed the whole of the nearside actuator motor and replaced it with a new one. The mover is now functioning correctly. I asked if this was a common problem and he said that he had had a few recently.
I appreciate that P/T use independent engineers and how quickly they can come depends on their workload. I have had to wait on several previous occasions already!!!
However having paid nearly £1,000 of my, hard-earned, cash exactly 6 months ago I would expect a product that was "fit for purpose", ie, move my caravan when I need it to and not have to wait for someone to repair it first. I have my 'van nose in down our sloping drive and NEED the mover as I cannot tow it out and would need about 8 strong men to push it out!! This is the 4th problem requiring an engineer's visit in only 6 months and 3 of these have been due to 3 different failed components.
I did a lot of research before buying a P/T mover and I now hope that MY mover lives up to the company's high reputation. P/T after sales service IS very good and now I hope this will be matched by the mover's future reliability.
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Topic: Problem with Powrtouch Motor mover AGAIN
