Trigger-happy pressurewasher blues

Ladyandthetramp

Guest
Help! I pressure washed my van and now it seems some of the gritty cruddy stuff has stuck in the electric step mechanism!:eek:

Has anyone tackled sorting out of same? Garage offered to take it apart for a princely sum :eek:
but if it's not too horrendous a job I'd be keen to try and sort it myself. It's an Omnistor step on a Trigano Tribute and I'm getting fed up with falling out of the door at night, forgetting the step ain't there no more! Well, that's my excuse!(hic!);)

Any advice greatly appreciated!
 
iffy step !!

this happened to me ! the advice i received was to buy a crate of beer, drink the beer and then use the empty crate as a step ! it still works a treat as the crate is used as a bottle store whilst on the move. i suppose you could use a milk crate but thats a bit naff !!!!
 
blast the step again with the pressure washer to remove the gunge
when dry spray everything especialy the joints with wd40
oh and give it a kick
 
I've only ever seen/looked at one electric step, and there did not seem to be a lot that could go wrong with the mechanism/levers/arms that some WD40 and a good blow out with some air would not cure. The step mechanism was not full of bearings and critical clearances - it looked pretty loose to me, certainly would not lock up with some road dirt.

You might need to diagnose the problem a bit more - are there any sounds coming from the electric motor when it tries to put the step out? I'd suspect a power problem rather than a dirty mechanism, water in the electric motor, or a short somewhere/anywhere.

Or buy a small two step ladder from Aldi - comes in handy for all sorts of other things.
 
yes rodger
it could possibly be electrical may be the pressure wash detached a wire
 
Hey - thanks, folks- great advice. :)

Got the crate, drank the beer...what else was it? Oh hey, who needs a step anyway? Hic!:eek:

Seriously - yes, really - I'll have a go with the WD40 tomorrow, once I have my faculties back.:rolleyes:
 
Success!

It worked! We gave it a great dose of WD, then after a few minutes manhandling the step whilst the switch was operated, eureka!:D

Thanks to y'all! Lauren
 
Definitely mechanical...grit jamming the sides and back. I sprayed in plenty of WD40 on its own and left it for 30 mins, then it took two of us, one working the switch and the other gently pulling and pushing the step...took about 5 mins, then it came free and the electronic 'beep, beep' that was indicating it was stuck, became the usual single beep again.

Thanks for the advice, folks!:):D
 
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