AlanP Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Anyone any experience of making an electric step automatically retract when ignition switched on. What bits do I need and how to wire it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Morning Alan P. I'm making the assumption that you already have an electric step that's not working. We have a CI and there is a separate fuse within the engine compartment, which fuses both the electric step and the 12-volt fridge. Worthwhile checking. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RupertGS Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Even if you can make your step retract when you turn on the ignition, I would still treat it with caution. The exposed nature of the contacts to the step make it susceptible to corrosion. My step failed to retract one day and ten minutes later its edge hit a small boulder on a corner of narrow lane that we were using. It was a mangled mess and we were lucky that it also didn't harm the base of the MH by ripping itself out of the fittings.Always double check that it has retracted and save yourself the possibility of an expensive repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 This might help! http://www.motts.dsl.pipex.com/Omnistep.htm C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Why bother, our van has a switch on the dash and an alarm that sounds if you switch on the ignition with it down. If alarm sounds, just press the switch. No problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mco Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 We're having the same problem ( yet again ) with our step. Only problem is that the alarm doesn't sound to let us know that the step hasn't retracted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 Hi MCO this is probably the cause of your problem. The usual set up for the alarm is a feed from the ignition switch to the warning buzzer and then to an earthing switch that breaks as the step closes fully. See the extreme bottom right on Clives wiring diagram The most likely fault is a poor earth contact either within the switch or with any connection between switch and chassis. Its hardly surprising consider the steps exposed position blasted by road filth and now salt. Roll on summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 AlanP, The information provided on Clive's website should help, though exactly how you get your step to retract automatically may depend on what motorhome you own and the make/model of electric step that is presently fitted to it. Assuming your step is made by Omnistor, then fitting/operating instructions will be available for it, including wiring diagrams. To convert the manually-switched Omni-Step slide-out 400 electric step I fitted to my Hobby to cause it to retract automatically when the vehicle's motor were started would involve the addition of a relay (Part No. 20015000 - £8.73 - in my 2006 Omnistor price list), plus the necessary wiring. Conversion for other Omni-Step models should be similar. Omnistor's instructions advise "Put an electrolytic capacitor 2200 microFarad 16 VDC on to the relay coil. This capacitor makes the step retract further, after the current has been disconnected by the Omni-Step switch. In this way the step is retracted until its end-stop." I don't know if this capacitor comes with the Omnistor relay, is part of it, or needs to be obtained separately - Clive may be able to say. The Omni-Step 'kit' I purchased came without any audible/visible alarm to warn when the step was extended. Hobby had fitted a manual pull-out step as standard, with a dashboard warning-light that illuminated when the vehicle's ignition was turned on and the step had not been retracted. Having seen a motorhome drive through a busy French town with its step out and, having subsequently spoken to its owner about this and been told that he had overlooked the dashboard warning light, I added a very loud buzzer that works in tandem with the warning light. As RupertGS warns, if you do automate your step then you'll need to be extra careful to ensure that auto-retraction is occurring reliably. I've been considering adding a 2nd switch on the dashboard so that I can retract the step from the driving-seat if the warning buzzer sounds when I start the vehicle's motor indicating I've forgotten to use the manual switch by the entrance door. Not sure such an arrangement is genuinely better than an automatic-retraction system - it just appeals more to my control-freak nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mco Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Thanks for that advice George. As soon as the weather improves himself will have a go at it. Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 Carol, Be prepared for some serious bad language if your motorhome's step is similar in design to mine and there is a need to get at the step-out warning switch. The switch is within the step's cassette and gaining access to it is unlikely to be a fun experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 12, 2008 Share Posted December 12, 2008 The 2200 microFarad 16 VDC (or greater) capacitor connected in parallel with the relay coil will delay its release for a few milliseconds allowing the step to drive into its mechanical stop in the retracted position. Maplins, Farnell and RS Components will stock this part. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Clive, Yes, but do you know whether a capacitor comes with the Omnistor relay? If you buy an electric-step unit, you don't get a warning-buzzer or warning-light, nor the relay to provide auto-retraction should you wish to have that option. So I suppose it shouldn't surprise me if Omnistor's installation instructions specify a requirement to add a capacitor to the relay but leave the initiative with installers as to where they get the capacitor from. I guess Omnistor doesn't consider step-installation to be a DIY task and assumes that the 'professionals' will be fitting lots of steps and will have a big bag of appropriate ancillary bits (buzzers, lights, relays, capacitors, etc.), plus the necessary skills and experience to allow them to complete the task correctly. When I first fitted an audible step-out warning to my Hobby's manual Omni-Step I used a Maplins-sourced solid-state 'buzzer' that produced a loud high pitched squealing noise. Time passed, then, during a trip abroad, this strange, almost sub-sonic whistling sound began to occur. It didn't happen constantly and the noise seemed more prevalent when it was raining and, weirdly, appeared be linked to the steering wheel's position (more common when cornering than on straights). Like so many vehicle noises it was difficult to identify where this one was coming from and, as it was gradually worsening the more we drove, I started to get very twitchy about it. Finally, having stopped the motorhome and then turned the ignition back on, I could hear the step-out buzzer whistling away very quietly to itself. There was no doubt that the step was fully pushed home and the associated warning-light wasn't illuminated, but the buzzer was obviously picking up power somehow. I disconnected the solid-state buzzer (which immediately stopped the irritating whistling) and, when we returned home, replaced it with a Maplins non-solid-state buzzer that makes an uncivilised squawking noise when it needs to but has otherwise been well behaved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 No Derek, I have no idea if Omistoore supply this component. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanP Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Thanks Clive, picked up the diagram from Omnistor web site as you suggested. If I can get the bits, will have a go at fitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 I re-wired the step on an earlier van to retract automatically when the starter motor was cranked, all worked fine but I ended up with a low buzzing noise which, like Derek's, was difficult to trace. I eventually found that the wiring was putting a feed to the starter relay, even when the key was not operated. I cured this by fitting a diode in the circuit and never had another problem up to selling the van. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 No Problem Alan, By the way it was not the Omnistore web site, its Clives,s web site! If you hit the link at the bottom of the page it will take you to our home page. Regards C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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