Powrtouch Evolution problems
We've had one of these on our caravan for the last 3 years and on the whole, it's been pretty reliable but we have had one issue that pops up now and then and another that occurred yesterday that I'll come to later.
The first problem concerns the 125 amp in-line fuse. The dealer who fitted the mover installed the fuse in its holder on the wall inside the bed box nearest the battery box, which on our Series 3 Bailey Unicorn is below the caravan floor. Twice now this fuse has snapped - not blown, snapped! I think what happens is because the cable from the battery to the fuse is fixed to the caravan floor (and is also quite rigid) and the fuse holder is fixed to the bed box wall, the bed box moves relative to the floor when the caravan is in motion. This is putting a strain on the fuse which eventually snaps. This leads to an intermittent contact causing the mover to stop working at inconvenient moments. I contacted PowrWheel who sent out a new fuse which I fitted yesterday but I've also ordered 5 more from Amazon so when it breaks again, I can quickly replace it.
If anybody has experienced their mover suddenly stopping for no apparent reason, locate and check the in-line fuse as you may have the same problem. Pull the cables attached to the fuse while watching the mover's control box. If the green LED lights up/goes out while pulling one of the cables the fuse has almost certainly snapped.
The second issue occurred just yesterday after I had replaced the in-line fuse. I checked the mover out to make sure it was working. I engaged the rollers but discovered that the RH side did not move. I used the T-Bar to wind it in by 2 turns as per the fault diagnosis section of the manual but still it wouldn't engage. With both sides disengaged, I checked the rollers and they responded correctly to the inputs from the remote control so power was getting to the motor. I then engaged the RH side with the T-Bar to see what would happen when I used the remote to disengage the system and lo-and-behold, both sides disengaged. However, normally the motors wind all the way back, then after a short delay, they wind forward by a couple of turns but the RH side one didn't do this, only the LH side did. When I used the remote to re-engage the system, the RH side did not respond.
Has anybody else experienced this and if so, what was the problem? I have rang PowrWheel but had to leave a message and so far, no one has called back so I though I'd see if any Club members had any ideas as to what could be wrong.
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Can't help, but is your mover still under warranty? Probably is, so back to the person who supplied it and get them to sort it out. Remember your contract is with the dealer who supplied it (ie the person you paid) and not necessarily Powertorch. You are well protected by Consumer Law. Don't lose any sleep over this annoying problem.
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We had a recent problem with intermittent failure to engage on one side. It turned out to be that the anchor bolts had worked loose. On each side of the mover, there are two bolts. The outside one is under the plastic cover which has to be removed to access. The inner one can be reached by hand under the van.
On checking the other wheel, one bolt had fell out altogether tho the other was still tight, which I suspect was keeping that side operational in the short term.
I guess the intermittent nature of this ma have been due to the luck of how the loose mover settled after travelling. Anyway, problem sorted, but something I’ll be checking regularly.
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Mark from PowrWheel phoned me yesterday and I explained the problem to him. He asked me if the mover had been serviced. I said I had no idea but the caravan was back in February and as our dealers (Ropers Leisure) are normally very good, I assume that it was. He told me to lubricate the motor assembly and if that didn't work, he suspected it could be a problem with the electronics module. I think I'll get it booked in with Ropers - they fitted it so I'll let them deal with it.
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Having just had a manual Powertouch Evolution fitted to our new van at a cost of £875, I am interested in threads like this and thanks to all those who have taken the trouble to report their faults. So far, our Powertouch has worked faultlessly but I am always a little dubious when it comes to using a MM due to reports I hear like this thread. When we changed vans, I naively thought I would take the old one off and put it on the new van. My goodness’s- the state of it! It had been under the old van for 5 years and the accentuater bar and main support bar were in a terrible condition. In fact, they were irreparable. A trip to the local tip was the only solution! It’s a pretty hostile environment under there isn’t it? Made worse by the fact that we tend to fit them and forget them. With the new one, I made an effort to get under the van and start to add extra protection in the form of hammerite paint and copper slip grease to all exposed metal parts. The amount of weather proofing they put on these things is quite frankly poor at best and useless at worst. At hundreds of pounds and for the bigger vans, thousands of pounds, I would, and I’m sure most would, expect a decent amount of weather protection like properly galvanised parts etc- similar to the caravan chassis. But alas, rip off Britain strikes again. I would strongly advise anyone having a new MM fitted to spend a pleasant morning on your back under the van and get it all protected and keep it protected by checking it yearly - rust creep can cause all sorts of problems- a stitch in time!
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I had a similar problem a couple of years ago with the near side motor not engaging. At about 5&1/2 years old I was looking for advice but when I rang Powrtouch they said they would replace the motor unit fof. They sent out a local, mobile engineer who brought with him a complete new motor unit which he fitted in place of the old one. Took him a good hour to dismantle and reasemble. All working fine when I traded in last June.
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I lubricated the motor as suggested by PowrWheel's tech support but as I suspected, it made no difference. Reported this to PowrWheel yesterday and they have decided to send out a local engineer. He phoned me last night and after I explained the problem to him and the actions taken, he said he would try to get out to me tomorrow to change the electronics box. Wonder what in the way of spares they carry with them in case it turns out to be the motor!!
He also told me that they get called out more often to people who say they 'hardly use the mover' than folk who do. Thinking about it though, I use ours fairly regularly. I always use it when putting the van back in storage to position the wheel to accept the AlKo lock. I often have to use it on site as well, especially if the van has to be positioned on our lock-and-level leveller.
Ah well, I shall keep my fingers crossed that the guy is able to come tomorrow. We have some outings booked in August and though I can engage the thing by hand, that's a bit of a faff compared to just getting the remote out and pressing buttons.
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He also told me that they get called out more often to people who say they 'hardly use the mover' than folk who do.
this is possible, if i sit in the chair to long i find it hard to get going
. I am fairly lucky in that i have a hard standing next to bungalow so if we are not using van for a couple of months e.g. July/August, once a week i give the MM a spin, and put the power on for a few days to top up the battery. Always remembering of course not to give the rollers a spin whilst on the wheel with the wheel locks on 
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Sorted now. The engineer first thought it was the actuator that engages the drive unit and changed it but that made no difference. He then swapped the connections on the electronics box expecting the fault to change sides but strangely, it didn’t. Changing the box did the trick though but then he had quite a job getting the two drive units synchronised. In fact, he gave up in the end and was talking about changing the complete drive unit but at a later date. I didn’t like the sound of that idea so suggested he put the original actuator back which, after some consideration he did. That sorted it out and no more syncing was needed. We now have a fully functional mover once more.
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We’ve had to lubricate the slots for alignment pins on ours a couple of times in five years. Here’s how.
Pull of or tap off the grey plastic covers for the MM. There are rubber plugs on the outside, which fool you into thinking that it’s screwed on, but they are cosmetic only. You’ll see why when the cover is off. The two horizontal slots which are greased, with alignment pegs running in them, are very visible and accessible on the outside. There are two identical slots on the rear face, which can be seen after you’ve wriggled under the van. Instructions tell you to use grease on the slots, but good squirt of WD40 will work better if the mechanism is sticking.
There’s a deep recess at the rear end, protected by a plastic cap. That’s where your emergency T bar fits. Once lubricated, you can manually wind the mechanism in and out, to distribute the lubricant better. Alternatively, you can use a drill fitted with an extension bar and a small socket, to wind the mechanism back and forth.
An engineer told me that the next most likely culprit is the control box. He tests for this by swapping over the heavy duty cables which fed the two movers. A replacement control box will cost you around £350 if not under warranty.
It’s certainly worth lubricating the mechanism regularly, and probably engaging and disengaging it regularly, to keep things moving. The irritation being that the covers aren't screwed in place and they are hard to remove without some persuasion from a hammer.
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thank you, having just fitted a new evo I found this most informative, although i havent checked carefully, i think the grey cover you are now referring to is now held in place with a big pozi drive screw, or it appears to be, which could be a good upgrade to the product.
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when out of warranty this may help people £75-95 handset and electronic box
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I am not going to knock Powrtouch, had a recent issue and they sorted very quickly and efficiently for me.
You have to face the fact that movers have a hard life, blasted by grit and water as the air rushes under the van. I totally agree with a previous point that the corrosion resistance on the actuation bar and cross beam are not good enough but a blast with stonechip on the leading edges keeps the rust away.
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Just found the fault on our powrtpouch manual version that had been itermittently not working and then failed. The Truma isolating switch after the fuse holder had a bad connection on the outlet side (similar to main battery post problems). I had 13V on the post coming in and out but only 2.98V on the electronic box supply after this. Removing the cable off the Truma post I had to clean the nuts each side of the cable connector as well as connector itself. I also found that the back nut on the post had not secured the post tightly onto the inside of the switch which also may have caused a problem.
Also due to poor installation positioning of the electronic control box i could not gain access at first to the terminal positions for testing and i had to resite it! The fuse holder was also in my opinion fitted wrong as the securing clip on the cover was very close to the caravan outer wall making it impossible to get to.
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