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Old 08-25-2014, 09:25 AM   #1
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Tongue Jack & Breakaway switch suddenly not working

The electric jack and and breakaway switch are suddenly not working. I removed both from the camper and they work fine when not connected to the camper wiring. I have verified good ground and what I believe to be proper 12v.
The trailer brakes are otherwise working normally.

Anybody got any ideas? With all wiring connected normally, I read 12v on the red wire and ground on the blue wire below the electric jack. Does that sound right?



Thanks gang,

JIm
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:28 AM   #2
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Do you have a 30amp inline fuse for the tongue jack?
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Old 08-25-2014, 09:34 AM   #3
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Do you have a 30amp inline fuse for the tongue jack?
I'll have to check. I seem to remember one on the inside at the 7-way connector--old memory.

Jim
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Old 08-25-2014, 12:13 PM   #4
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Yep, looks like it. It looks like one of those self-resetting fuses. When I had that part of the camper apart, I labeled all the 7-way wires. Looks like a 12v white ground and a TV ground are tied together on one end of it (on a shunt-like strip of metal). The other end has a heavy red wire and a heavy blue wire. Red wire I think is camper 12v (hard to read the label on that one). Blue wire to TV charge.

Can I assume that I just need to test continuity between the two sides of the fuse with a multi-meter? Don't mean ask dumb questions, but I may have to take stuff apart to get in there. Really tight space.

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Old 08-25-2014, 01:36 PM   #5
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Yes. I would check for 12v after the fuse, to start. My Brute jack also has an internal 25amp self resetting fuse. Don't know about yours. Brute recommends 30amp manual reset after the battery.


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Old 08-25-2014, 01:40 PM   #6
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I would check your battery too. No battery, no power to the 12 unless converter is used.
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Old 08-25-2014, 01:56 PM   #7
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Thanks guys. So I'm wondering......there are two wires going to the break away. should I be seeing 12v on BOTH of those? I'm thinking that may be the issue. Got it on only one side. Now that I think on it summore, that must be it.
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Old 08-25-2014, 02:33 PM   #8
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break away swt.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim & Susan View Post
Thanks guys. So I'm wondering......there are two wires going to the break away. should I be seeing 12v on BOTH of those? I'm thinking that may be the issue. Got it on only one side. Now that I think on it summore, that must be it.
Only one wire will show 12 volt, then when pin pulled both wires will show 12 volts, completes circuit and will apply brakes
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Old 08-25-2014, 02:46 PM   #9
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Well I'm stumped then. 12v is present on one of the wires. This is the wire that the jack is wired to. I have a good battery and good ground, yet the jack won't work. Strange.
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Old 08-25-2014, 03:48 PM   #10
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The only thing I can suggest is are you REALLY sure that you have a good ground and a good supply?

Reason I say this is that I had some confusion in this area when my jack quit working a while back.

Using a multimeter, it seemed that I had both a good ground and a good supply, yet the darn thing wouldn't work.

I was starting to think it was maybe a switch problem in the jack, but then I noticed that the light on the jack worked, but as soon as I flipped the switch to operate the jack, the light went out and yet the jack didn't budge.

That caused me to wonder if perhaps the wiring was good enough to give me a multimeter reading but not good enough to pass enough current to power the jack.

I then tried putting a 12 coach battery right across the motor wiring in the jack power head - it jumped into life right away.

When I looked further, I found a couple of wire nuts in the wiring under the tongue - when I undid them to look at the wires, the inside was just a mass of corrosion

I cut the out of the circuit and replaced with soldered and shrink tubed connections and the problem was solved.

I wonder if you might have something similar?

Brian.
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Old 08-25-2014, 03:59 PM   #11
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That's got to be the problem--corrosion. The original wires coming from inside the camper is corroded at the tongue. I cut it back an inch or so to try and get to "clean" wire, but it was still kinda iffy. Haven't disconnected anything inside yet either, but all the connections "look" good from what I see. Thanks for tip Brian.

I'd hate to have to replace that wire all the back, belly pan has to come off for that task.

Thanks again folks.

Jim
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Old 08-25-2014, 05:36 PM   #12
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Yep, you have a bad power or ground connection somewhere. The jack light going out is a dead giveaway.

Check the connections at the terminal block near the converter also. One of my battery cables pulled out because it wasn't tight enough.


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Old 11-04-2014, 04:20 PM   #13
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Tunnel Vision

........And how to identify the correct problem. This post actually got me on the right track to fix this issue: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f439...ml#post1523026

It was one of those "Doh!" moments. Many, Many thanks to Idroba.

Jim
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Old 11-04-2014, 04:41 PM   #14
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My original problem, I thought, was that both the tongue jack AND the breakaway switch were both not working. The logical assumption would then be that there was a wiring issue. Either the 12V positive or the ground is in a fault state, right? Wrong.

The tunnel vision part: I kept trying to trouble shoot the jack. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it just stared back at me. When I pulled the breakaway wire, I heard no "humming" at the brakes back on the wheels. What gives? 12V was always there, no matter where I measured it. Ground always seemed good. I finally pulled the jack off the trailer and replaced it with a mechanical "winder" which I had purchased a few weeks before. One problem eliminated, as the jack seemed on it's last leg, at least.

Jim
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Old 11-04-2014, 05:56 PM   #15
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More tunnel vision. I wound up replacing a good portion of the positive wire from the tongue jack/break-away back to the 7-way. That wire was very corroded. The copper wire was almost completely black for several feet. This indicates corrosion or overheating. No obvious signs of over heating. Meant dropping the belly pan. Nuts. See the difference between the old and the new? The new being in the center of the three?
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Old 11-04-2014, 06:08 PM   #16
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And then this is the "Doh!" moment. Did all that work and no "humming at the wheels" when I pulled the break-away chord. Then I ran across idroba's post. So here we go sports fans, the proper way to test your break-away switch is......

Have at least one of the wheels off the ground. Disconnect the Airstream from the TV. You do not want the umbilical connected as this may fry the brake controller in the TV. Also, don't have it sitting on the ball of the TV, may give you a false ground reading. Disconnect from shore power. Now, pull the chord to the break-away. Go try and spin one of the wheels. Wheel should lock up within less than one turn. Now go have a beer and stick yer chest out knowing you're smarter than ol' Jim.

Problem solved.

Jim
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