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Old 06-24-2015, 08:36 PM   #1
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Electrical Set Up

We have a new 2015 27DSRL that we've had out twice now. Both times I've blown at least two 30 amp fuses while hooking up. I noticed that the same 30m amp fuse connected the entire 12 volt system in the trailer to the battery as well as supplying power to the electric tongue jack. I asked a friend of mine who wires police cars, ambulances, emergency vehicles, etc., for a living to take a look. What he noticed as a big problem, although not related to my problem, was that Jayco used a standard, household, INTERIOR, electrical box, devoid of any weatherproofing, as a junction box mounted to the outside front of the trailer to house all of the electrical connections. Has anyone else noticed this and thought it was a potential problem?

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Old 06-25-2015, 04:48 AM   #2
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Your friend is correct. I make my living in the 12volt world as a product manager, have 30 years of wiring experience, and now teach others. The wiring under these is horrible. One of my first plans is to get under ours, rewire, cover, and upgrade the wiring. You might ask, well why buy it then?? I have looked at a lot of these and even have worked in the conversion van business, I have to say there are very few vehicle outfitters that do a great job with wiring, even the marine industry has it's issues.
One of the first things I noticed was that same box he is talking about along with the use of residential wire nuts. Wire nuts were never designed to be going down the road with wind, vibration, and moisture present.

Now I do not know if that is why your fuse is blowing and I would deffinilty investigate further, but it would be very easy to replace that box with a plastic all weather box from Home Depot or Lowes for next to nothing.
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Old 06-25-2015, 05:39 AM   #3
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When your do the rewire, put the tongue jack on a separate 30a fuse.
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Old 06-25-2015, 07:10 AM   #4
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Thank you Chrislorl and Norty1. Yes, my friend also noticed the wire nuts. He's coming over later this week to put a proper junction box on as well as a separate 30a fuse for the Jack. I've learned from further research on this site that the reason for my fuses blowing is that apparently, a characteristic of the tongue jacks that Jayco uses, is for the fuse to blow when it reaches it's upper or lower limit instead of just stopping. I've never heard of such a thing, but I guess this is just the quality of build we're dealing with. Again, thank you both for your reassurance and suggestions.


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Old 06-25-2015, 07:24 AM   #5
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...the reason for my fuses blowing is that apparently, a characteristic of the tongue jacks that Jayco uses, is for the fuse to blow when it reaches it's upper or lower limit instead of just stopping. I've never heard of such a thing, but I guess this is just the quality of build we're dealing with. ...
The design you describe would require 2 limit switches and 2 relays. Plus build time. Near doubling the price of the jack.

Why not keep an ear on the sound of the jack and release the button as soon as it loads up. Not wait until the motor has completely stopped.

I've hitched and unhitched my trailer only 7 times. Haven't blown the fuse. Yet. But that is because I don't want to burn out the motor. If that will keep a $0.30 fuse from blowing too, I can live with it.

As far as how sub-standard RV electrical systems are. The industry agreed on a minimum set of rules back in the 1970's and they haven't been improved significantly since.

Class action lawsuit? Include the RVIA at the top of the list of defendants!
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Old 06-25-2015, 07:32 AM   #6
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When you add a separate fuse to the electric tongue jack, spend the extra few bucks and buy self-resetting circuit breaker style, not sure of the actual name. Also buy a few packages of the standard 15 and 30 amp replacement fuses. When you have an issue you will go through a number of them trying to resolve the issue.
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Old 06-25-2015, 07:56 AM   #7
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snip...
Why not keep an ear on the sound of the jack and release the button as soon as it loads up. Not wait until the motor has completely stopped.
I've hitched and unhitched my trailer only 7 times. Haven't blown the fuse. ...snip
You are a lucky man, my friend, if you get a change in sound before the fuse blows! I swear there is NO change in sound with my jack. It is running its noisy normal then... silent! ..... go get another fuse.

It is as though they installed a 'limit switch' that doesn't open the circuit, it just shorts directly to ground!
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Old 06-25-2015, 08:04 AM   #8
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Mike837go,


I had a 2006 Coachman that came with a manual jack. One of the first things I did was replace it with a 5,000 lb. electric jack for $175. I used that jack for 9 years and never blew one fuse. I just expected that when I paid $1,000 per linear for a brand new travel trailer, it would come with a better quality jack than one that shut itself off by blowing a fuse.


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Old 06-25-2015, 08:19 AM   #9
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Most have a thermal relay in addition to the 30a fuse. If you don't add one.
http://www.myrvtalk.com/redirect-to/...cuit%2Bbreaker

It is a cheap protection for the motor. Available at most auto supply stores. If you add it, cover it with liquid tape to protect it from the weather. It will open if it gets hot and reset when cooled off. Protect your motor and keep the fuse from blowing if you forget to move your finger from the switch.
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Old 06-25-2015, 08:33 AM   #10
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You are a lucky man, my friend, if you get a change in sound before the fuse blows! I swear there is NO change in sound with my jack. It is running its noisy normal then... silent! ..... go get another fuse.

It is as though they installed a 'limit switch' that doesn't open the circuit, it just shorts directly to ground!
My guess is that you are what is called "tone deaf" or you are just not used to really listening to mechanical things. My dad has been like that all his life. Worked on cars since he was 14 and could never adjust a carburetor. I read the book and now I have the near-useless skill of getting a smooth idle by adjusting a couple of little screws.

These jacks make several different noises. You just have to listen closely:
- High pitched grinding whine when the leg is being lowered but hasn't made contact with the ground.
- High to middle pitch shift as the pad contacts the ground and starts taking the load.
- Middle to Low pitch shift with increased grinding as the full tongue weight transfers from the tow vehicle to the jack. Concurrent with the metallic click or pop as the TT and TV separate.
- High pitched with lots of grinding as the tongue is lowered to level the trailer.
- Low to middle shift with decreased grinding as the tongue weight transfers to the tow vehicle from the jack. Concurrent with the metallic clicks, pops and grinds as the TT and TV become a single rig.
- Middle pitch grinding whine when the leg is being raised after losing contact with the ground.
- Sudden low pitch shift with quick increase in grinding as the jack hits its internal stop. Let go of the switch just as this sound starts.

Once you remember the last 2 second of sound just before the fuse blows, release the button at the start of that sound.

I know its all for a cheep fuse. But the bother of replacing almost every single time has to be considered.
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Old 06-25-2015, 10:32 AM   #11
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Mike837go, congratulations on your "pitch perfect" hearing and cat like reflexes on the jack switch. But you've already made the point I was trying to make. In your own words, "The design you describe would require 2 limit switches and 2 relays. Plus build time. Near doubling the price of the jack." If adding 2 limit switches and 2 relays doubles the price of the jack, what does that tell you about the quality of the jack? And that's my point. To save a couple of bucks, Jayco chose to install a jack that, under what any reasonable person would consider normal use, constantly blows fuses instead of turning itself off.

Thank you to all of you that have made constructive suggestions. I will be adding a separate 30a fuse for the jack and, if that continues to blow under normal use, I'll be replacing the fuse with a 30 amp ATC circuit breaker. I'd hate to run the risk of having the food in my refrigerator spoil and the freezer defrost all over the floor as I drive down the road over a $.25 fuse and the fact that my hearing isn't what it used to be.


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Old 06-25-2015, 10:54 AM   #12
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I don't understand why this is such an issue either. My jack came with a big piece of tape on the bottom that says "Do not raise the jack above this point".

And.......I don't. I have never blown a fuse. I don't even bother lifting the pad all the way. I just lift it high enough so that it is level with my WDH bars when hooked up. There is no point in going all the way until the fuse blows. You could even add your own piece of tape or paint if yours didn't come with it.

As far as going down. Put some blocks under the pad. It is much quicker than waiting for the jack to extend all the way to the ground and then replacing the fuse when you reach the bottom end of travel and then raising the jack and installing blocks anyway......
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Old 06-25-2015, 11:00 AM   #13
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Mike837go, congratulations on your "pitch perfect" hearing and cat like reflexes on the jack switch."

I'm good, But not that good

Also note I claim 7 uses of the jack (3 up and 4 down) and "Yet" on not having blow the fuse.

Thank you to all of you that have made constructive suggestions. I will be adding a separate 30a fuse for the jack and, if that continues to blow under normal use, I'll be replacing the fuse with a 30 amp ATC circuit breaker. I'd hate to run the risk of having the food in my refrigerator spoil and the freezer defrost all over the floor as I drive down the road over a $.25 fuse and the fact that my hearing isn't what it used to be.
You are quite correct that an electromechanical system like these jacks should have a limit switch or clutch (see: slide out drives).

Designing a system that blows a fuse (total catastrophic failure) because we are standing inches from the tailpipe of a running engine while children are running and laughing and the little woman is asking what is taking so long, etc. etc. ad nauseam?

A simple current limiter. Allow up to 30A for unlimited time. At 30A for .25 second it shuts off for 2 seconds. More than adequate and much cheaper than limit switches. And no maintenance for the clutch.
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Old 06-25-2015, 12:33 PM   #14
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I don't understand why this is such an issue either. My jack came with a big piece of tape on the bottom that says "Do not raise the jack above this point".

And.......I don't. I have never blown a fuse. I don't even bother lifting the pad all the way. I just lift it high enough so that it is level with my WDH bars when hooked up. There is no point in going all the way until the fuse blows. You could even add your own piece of tape or paint if yours didn't come with it.

As far as going down. Put some blocks under the pad. It is much quicker than waiting for the jack to extend all the way to the ground and then replacing the fuse when you reach the bottom end of travel and then raising the jack and installing blocks anyway......
This is what I do, and I too have never blown that fuse because of the jack. But I also recognize this may not be possible for all situations. And I will second that Jayco needs to re-examine the quality of jack they install. Not only do they blow fuses very easily, but they take on water; mine is probably DOA right now because of water intrusion. They should take all the money they put into the Denver Mattress and put it into a quality jack instead.
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Old 06-25-2015, 12:50 PM   #15
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I don't understand why this is such an issue either. My jack came with a big piece of tape on the bottom that says "Do not raise the jack above this point".
......
How do you see the label (line) and hold the switch at the same time?

I've never been that flexible.

Or is it all done with mirrors?
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Old 06-25-2015, 01:11 PM   #16
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How do you see the label (line) and hold the switch at the same time?

I've never been that flexible.

Or is it all done with mirrors?
It's not that hard. I can lean over and mostly see mine. If I want to get a really close look, I can squat down and see it all. And that's while holding the switch.

And trust me, I'm no gymnast!
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Old 06-25-2015, 01:31 PM   #17
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Yes I squat too. Maybe setup a camp chair next to it. It certainly travels slow enough you could probably enjoy a cold one at the same time. All while keeping a finger on the switch!

I also don't go all the way up. I usually stop it when it is level with my WDH bars. That I can see while standing.
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Old 06-25-2015, 02:08 PM   #18
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I don't understand why this is such an issue either. My jack came with a big piece of tape on the bottom that says "Do not raise the jack above this point".
And.......I don't. I have never blown a fuse. And neither have I.... raising the jack.

I don't even bother lifting the pad all the way. I just lift it high enough so that it is level with my WDH bars when hooked up.
I lift my jack higher than that without blowing a fuse.

There is no point in going all the way until the fuse blows.
Have you heard of anyone that does that intentionally? No one I know of does that.

You could even add your own piece of tape or paint if yours didn't come with it. True. Mine already had it marked. But, if it wasn't, how would anyone have a reasonable idea where to put the mark before the fuse blows?

As far as going down. Put some blocks under the pad. It is much quicker than waiting for the jack to extend all the way to the ground and then replacing the fuse when you reach the bottom end of travel and then raising the jack and installing blocks anyway......
As I usually do, I put a 2x4 under my jack in a storage lot. No problem. One Sunday, I took the trailer for a while and when I returned found that someone had taken my 2x4. Tried it without a 2x4 and blew my first fuse. I made the mistaken assumption there would be a mark in this direction, too. I returned the favor and took someone else's 2x4.

A week or so after that, my next fuse blew at my house... I used the 2x4 but found out it wasn't enough. Now I have the jack marked AND a 4x4.
As they say 'Excrement occurs.' Thankfully, this site had me prepared with a package of fuses. I still have most of them.
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