RhinoHoist Shoremaster Lift Leaking?

[Mainah]

Very helpful! Based on what you are saying I'm going to leave the control unit alone and focus on hose attachments.
I always run the blower until I have air bubbling hard from underneath the back of both tanks for a few seconds or longer, and then shut off both valves in one motion (with both hands). I assumed that would fill both tanks with air to capacity displacing all the water... I did notice the level difference but it was after the install crew already left. The boat is leveled side-to-side in the water with lots of stuff in the helm but dual batteries in the port comp, so the imbalance must be intrinsic to the lift.
The lift is rated for 6,000lbs IIRC and the size was recommended, I did not want to go smaller or "shallow water" model precisely to have some buffer. Well, maybe these boats are heavier than I thought the "wet weight" would be.

I will see what I can do!
Trying to picture your compensatory bucket devices, and imagine/figure out how does are installed and how do they work, but it must be too late... I'm going to have to look at it in the morning.

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I bubble both of mine as well and shut off all tank valves before shutting off the blower. All with my rf remote control. When I set mine up both tanks raised evenly and reached the same height without the boat. With the weight of the boat that was not the case. I had not RTM since I was rebuilding with some custom modifications as I thought I understood all of the principles at play. Well I finally decided to track down and RTM. The part about the hose lengths needing to be equal side to side was quite clear and something I failed to consider on my own. Another key point is that the tanks should be the same height AND the boat should be level. Compensating for my hose length mistake took care of it. Unless there is extra hose under the water it appears that your hoses are not equal length. Understandable mistake for a computer geek like me but from what I have read an awful one for a professional installer. Either way should be remedied if the case.

 

[swatski]

I fixed the leaks, I think... but got another problem...

So, the good news is - after I tightened up all the hose clamps the lift stayed up - I seem to have solved that.
The bad news is - something in the control unit is shorting and tripping the GFCIs. Trying to disassemble the switches I broke one of them and will need to find a replacement.
Honeywell micro-switch



This NEW lift control unit seems such poor quality. The blower box/control unit was uncovered o/n and maybe there was moisture - not sure why it started tripping!
This is the switch I broke trying to dismount it...


And here is the other side, still intact:


I want to replace both, and just need to figure out what could be tripping the GFCI (I used two different ones with a long extension cord - the dock GFIs are fine) - something inside the control unit or the blower motor is shorting (before I broke the switch).

Even though this is a new lift I'm not going to be able to get the guys who sold/installed to come and help me any time soon. So, I'm on my own there.

Any help would be appreciated. I plan to start by trying to find and replace those switches, Gringer?
But the problem started before I even touched those... The blower will run for 2-3 sec and then trip the DFI.

EDIT:
Looks like it is going to be one of those, need to go back and pull the un-broken one up to see all the numbers...
Where is the best/fastest place to get those?


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[Mainah]

Older models have a manual switch to turn on the blower. The model you have turns on the blower when the levers are turned to the raise position causing that honeywell switch to close the circuit to the blower. A manual 15 amp latching switch could be used temporarily to supply power to the blower and to trouble shoot why the GFCI is tripping. A GFCI trips because it senses a current imbalance between the hot and neutral legs of 5ma or more. It does not take much to cause 5ma of resistance. Moisture on the motor magnets can be enough to cause this. A worn switch contactor or moisture on the switch contactor can also cause a GFCI to trip. Loose or corroded connections can do the same. There are ways to defeat a GFCI but I strongly recommend against it. GFCIs can go also go bad but when that happens they will usually stay tripped with no load and won’t reset.

Back to the point ... If the GFCI is working one needs to figure out what is causing the resistance/imbalance.

 

[swatski]

Thank you! Very helpful, as always. This design has me scratching my head as there are two valve/switch combos. Both supplied from the same power wire... I have never tried running one side at the time, would that trip the GFCI?

I hear you about the GFCI, I have no intention of bypassing those. I have used a long extension cord to confirm it was not just the GFCI in my slip. So something is acting up inside my blower box.
The screws/bolts holding those micro switches were partially corroded and almost impossible to remove...

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[Mainah]

Thank you! Very helpful, as always. This design has me scratching my head as there are two valve/switch combos. Both supplied from the same power wire... I have never tried running one side at the time, would that trip the GFCI?

View attachment 85261

I hear you about the GFCI, I have no intention of bypassing those. I have used a long extension cord to confirm it was not just the GFCI in my slip. So something is acting up inside my blower box.
The screws/bolts holding those micro switches were partially corroded and almost impossible to remove...

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The top photo in this post shows what is going on. The hot wire (black) going to the blower is cut where those yellow spades are. The spades y off to each side so that either side being turned to raise/up will turn on the blower. Putting a simple toggle type switch where those yellow spade are would allow turning the blower on or off with that temporary switch. If that works then the issue is with the honeywell switches or the wiring between the yellow spades and them. If the issue persits then it is something else and the next step would be to try swaping a load in place of the blower motor. Before all that bring a leaf blower down and make sure everything is bone dry. If moisture is the issue preventing mositure coming up from the dock/lake with a barrier would be sething to tey but make sure air can still be gulped in by the blower. I would guess that this time of year is known for air temperatures that can be far lower than water temperature in your region and we have all seen what that does by not being able to see through it.

 

[swatski]

Dang, darn, shoot - duh!!! - I see it!
@Mainah - you're the bestest!


That's exactly the plan - what I'll do tomorrow after work, hopefully the lift stays up without leaks.
Thanks a bunch guys!


EDIT: one more question: would you spray the innards and the blower motor with something like CRC 656 or AP303? Once I get it work again, just as p.m.?

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[swatski]

Okay, so - based on @Mainah feedback I think I will be troubleshooting in a slightly different direction. Basically, I will re-wire the box to bypass the valve-guide activated honeywell switches all together and instead just install a single toggle switch on top of the box.
That's how I see older boxes are designed and I like that more for simplicity and hopefully durability. Those honeywell switches are a cute design but already partially corroded after 1/2 year, no reason to keep those.


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[swatski]

So... This ended up being an embarrassingly simple fix/mod, once I wrapped my head around it that is! lol.

I fixed the clamps so no more leaks.
Blow-dried the control unit and sprayed everything inside with CRC wire drying spray.
I ended up rewiring the blower unit and removed the micro-switches that I replaced with a single on/off switch for the blower, independent of the valve levers.
Works like a charm.




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