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Minnie's Mate · 12-04-2008, 07:47 PM

The tongue jack on my 30' bunk house burned out on our last camping trip. Apparently the battery lead had become loose and there wasn't a good supply of power getting to the motor. I keep blowing fuses every time I start to raise of lower the tongue.

I am planning a trip at the end of the month and will carry my 1,000 lbs. golf cart in the bed of the truck and will not want to manually crank the tongue up if I don't have to. The original was a 3,500 lbs. capacity motor. What is the capacity of the hitch jack capacity of the unit installed on the 34' Classic with slide-out? I think it would e worth the extra if they use a higher capacity hitch.

Any suggestions?

pmclemore · 12-05-2008, 12:48 PM

If it were me, I'd buy the 3500# jack that CW sells and be done with it. That should be plenty for a 1000# tongue weight plus enough oomph to help you with the WD bars.

Don't blame you for not wanting to hand-crank...

Pat

HowieE · 12-05-2008, 01:07 PM

Call the manufacture.

Mine failed a year or so back, I shipped the head back and they turned it around in short order at no cost.

If your lucky you might have it back before the Can Opener.

dbradhstream · 12-05-2008, 02:29 PM

MM - I have the fuse issue also. Mine blows if I stress the jack too much by trying to lift the truck a little too high when I need to release my equalizer bars. I'd be interested in how your or others have remedied this fuse blowing issue. Seems to me I shouldn't have to worry about replacing the jack fuse every time I use it.

My jack failed last year and I temporarily had to resort to a hand jack. It wasn't so bad but eventually I got tired of the cranking. I still do carry the hand crank in the trailer as a backup in case the electric jack fails again.

BH

dbradhstream · 12-05-2008, 02:35 PM

b/t/w when I was considering replacing mine I thought of getting a higher capacity jack but 3500 lbs seemed to be about as much as you'll get.

wb13798 · 12-05-2008, 04:48 PM

hi
i had to get a replacement for my jack . i bent mine. dumb as a rock. i wont tell you what distracted me. but any way i went to camping world and my advice is dont waste the gas or time those jacks they sell are chineese junk. mine was coming apart before i got home . the seal on the bottom of the jack came off and water and dirt could get into the jack screw mech. i took it back and got my $$ back. i called the company that made my jack and they sold me a new jack less motor. for $140 works like a champ. got it in four days. the company name is on the jack motor .
plus the jack didnt fit my classic the power head was rubbing my lp tank cover big time. that was my bad luck. on the blowm fuse problem take your lp cover off and look at the wire going to the power head ill bet it has insulation worn off and is shorting out on you. had that problem also.
good luck al

Minnie's Mate · 12-05-2008, 09:00 PM

This problem just started on the last trip. It has never happened in the three summers that we have owned the trailer. I thought the larger motor might be a good idea since I carry the golf cart with us more than leaving it at home. There is a prescribed way to reset the electrical system in the motor that requires you to ground out the motor, but I can never seem to get it to ground to the A frame.

I will give Airstream or the motor manufacturer a call next week and see what they suggest as far as the size motor to use in light of the golf cart in the bed of the truck.

FordTruck · 12-06-2008, 01:21 AM

I had the 'blown fuse" syndrome on our new 27FB SE. I had the dealer install an inline fuse that re-sets itself. It cost me a few dollars since it, technically wasn't a warranty issue.

The attached picture isn't the greatest showing the new fuse setup.

All I can say is that I haven't had an issue since.

Lumatic · 12-06-2008, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

The tongue jack on my 30' bunk house burned out on our last camping trip. Apparently the battery lead had become loose and there wasn't a good supply of power getting to the motor. I keep blowing fuses every time I start to raise of lower the tongue.

I'm no electrician but in itself this does not make sense to me. Fuses blow when there is too much amperage going through the fuse. With my limited knowledge too little juice no way will burn out a fuse. If the lead was loose, and this loose lead was shorting this would cause a high draw and could burn out the fuse. The other cause I can think of is a problem with the jack causing it to draw too much amperage and blow the fuse, or another wiring problem. Fuses are safety devices so you don't become a krispy critter. Unless there is an elecrical problem in the jack replacing it does not solve the problem.

An alternative is using a time delay fuse or an automatic resetting breaker. If what is blowing fuses is a momentary surge of electricity these can get you over the hump keeping you from blowing the fuse. Keep in mind though you are making at least a partial end run around the safety link of a fuse which is designed to break the circuit if the flow of electricity is at a dangerous level.

nunya001 · 12-06-2008, 08:20 AM

Minnie - go see Todd Coleman - he is in Tyrone Ga - his number is 770.487.2787 - if he can't fix it, he may have a spare on hand

SilverGate · 12-06-2008, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lumatic

An alternative is using a time delay fuse or an automatic resetting breaker. If what is blowing fuses is a momentary surge of electricity these can get you over the hump keeping you from blowing the fuse.

A "time delay" or "slow blow" fuse was already in place in the SuperJack wiring when we took delivery of our factory-ordered 2007 Airstream Safari. We bought an extra fuse just in case, but the original fuse has never failed.

See details, enlarged photo of this fuse, and schematic here.

Happy Holidays!

Minnie's Mate · 02-10-2009, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wb13798

on the blowm fuse problem take your lp cover off and look at the wire going to the power head ill bet it has insulation worn off and is shorting out on you. had that problem also.
good luck al

That was the case. I cut the section of open insulation out and put it back together with a wire nut and sealed it real well with electrical tape...I probably could have just wrapped the broken insulation with electrical tape and that would have been sufficient, but I didn't go that route. Anyway, as soon as I put a new fuse in, it blew it. I put another in and leveled the trailer back up and will work on it again this weekend and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll go the new motor route or take it to a repair shop.

ticki2 · 02-10-2009, 03:20 PM

Could also be that the wire size is not large enough for the draw of the motor . Check the amperage draw of the motor at full load .

Minnie's Mate · 02-10-2009, 03:32 PM

This is the wire that came from the jack motor factory. It has not been altered other than being rubbed by the gas tank cover which is what broke the insulation. Once I resolve the problem, I will cut a section of the wire cover that runs down the jack post covering the wire and use it to protect the wire where the tank cover comes down over the wire where it runs down between the A-frame legs.

ticki2 · 02-10-2009, 03:54 PM

I was more thinking about the wire from the tongue to the fuse panel,how long a run. I realize this is probably a factory wire but that doesn't always mean it is up to the task.