The Providence has Power Gear Electric jacks and worked perfectly for 5 years on the road. The left rear jack became intermittent during our trip to the Canadian Maritimes last year and finally quit completely November 2013 when retracting them at the end of our stay in Navarre, FL. Fortunately, the jack quit in a fully retracted position. This is long but important to learn about many issues from service quality to service options as well as Power Gear Electric Jacks on motorhomes.
Background
The Power Gear system consists of an automatic level controller, 4 all electric jacks with motor and brake. The controller senses the position of the jack full up or full down with a magnet embedded in the jack staff. This is to stop extension at its maximum and stop retraction when full up by applying a brake attached to the motor.
When a jack fails it is most likely (~98% of the time) caused by a bad brake, it gets corroded and finally just locks up. Why corrosion? Because the brake is mounted on the bottom of the motor and covered with a rubber boot. Mounted directly behind the rear wheels, it is subject to all kinds of dirt, debris and WATER when travelling in wet conditions. If the top of the boot is not sealed, it will leak water which eventually corrodes the metal parts in the brake and it locks up. The photo on the right shows the motor (yellow) and brake (black boot over the break at the bottom).
