No juice for the electric jack

[Chuck]

I'm in the midst of renovations on my trailer, having gutted the aft half...converter and battery were removed, so nothing electric will work.

now its time to move my trailer to its winter parking spot, and it just dawned on me that my jack isn't going to work to get the trailer hooked and unhooked.
I took the head off to see if I could use a socket wrench, as I thought this was supposed to be the "emergency" method. I thought the top of the (whatever its called) would have a hex head, but it doesn't. It looks like a socket wrench socket, with no flats, and a notch cut in it. It is normally actuated by a horizontal pin that goes through the shaft that is turned by the electric motor.

I haven't got anything on hand that could turn that...question: is there a hand-crank available?
(I've seen it said here that new trailers (or new power jacks) come with one of these...this jack is probably original looks it, anyway).

I'll probably just wind up getting a bottle jack. I should have one, anyway.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Chuck

I'm in the midst of renovations on my trailer, having gutted the aft half...converter and battery were removed, so nothing electric will work.

now its time to move my trailer to its winter parking spot, and it just dawned on me that my jack isn't going to work to get the trailer hooked and unhooked.
I took the head off to see if I could use a socket wrench, as I thought this was supposed to be the "emergency" method. I thought the top of the (whatever its called) would have a hex head, but it doesn't. It looks like a socket wrench socket, with no flats, and a notch cut in it. It is normally actuated by a horizontal pin that goes through the shaft that is turned by the electric motor.

I haven't got anything on hand that could turn that...question: is there a hand-crank available?
(I've seen it said here that new trailers (or new power jacks) come with one of these...this jack is probably original looks it, anyway).

I'll probably just wind up getting a bottle jack. I should have one, anyway.

Take an old screwdriver.

Heat the end of it.

The bend the end 90 degrees.

Or, use the end of a large file.

Turning that shaft is very easy, and the above tool will help you.

Yes, there are jack handles available, but you will have to ID what jack you have.

Andy

[JStanley]

My jack can work without the trailer batteries if & when I connect it to my tow vehicle and use its battery.
I would guess all electrical jacks have or had a handle for cranking up/down whenever battery power is unavailable. Check you jack model number is see if a cranking handle is available.
It is important to re-sync your jack assembly after using the hand crank. Alternately count the number of turns up and down and return it to exactly the same position. Otherwise an out-of-sync jack will jam or strip the gears when power electrically.
Good Luck Chuck

[trapperman33]

I have a 65 overlander with the electric jack, it came with handle made for it, I also had a avion wth the same . They are factory handles as far as I know. You should be able to get one with-out to much trouble, good luck

[Splitrock]

Can you locate the power wire to the jack and add power to it with a jumper battery or a battery charger? If you're going to have to move it a few times before you're finished with the work, you might just want to get a hand crank jack, like a Sidewinder with the crank in front, and replace the electric jack. It's just three bolts to replace . . . took me less than 15 minutes (10 minutes of that to find the right sockets). I'm not a fan of electric jacks on a good day.

[Splitrock]

My jack tool




Never used it

[TBRich]

If everything else but your jack is working I'd check the in-line fuse to the jack before you start tearing things apart. Ours stopped working once and that was the problem...the fuse casing had just come lose and lost contact...the fuse itself was OK... It may be a little hard to see at first but it's between the jack and the battery box on the main power line to the jack...usually hidden under the frame.

[Chuck]

I'm in the midst of major renovations.

trailer is half-gutted.

There is no battery, there is no converter; the wires are dangling neatly from the ceiling in the back of the trailer.


The only "electric" option would be to disconnect the jack's power lead, and attach to some external source. Like, wire-up a male 7-pin trailer connector so the jack power is connected to the charge line on the tow vehicle, and plug it in.

I'll probably just get a bottle jack.