Electric Trailer Jacks

[Trump34]

I have a wheel house with electric trailer jacks.  Blowing fuses seems to be the theme when they are cold or bind slightly while retracting fully.   I'm getting sick of buying fuses and having to replace them.  My plan is to put an  inline 30 amp circuit breaker in the cubby that the jacks are in.  This would allow to to flip a switch versus having to replace a fuse each time.   Would I need a slightly larger(maybe 35 amp) fuse in the panel?  

[PurpleFloyd]

Sounds like you are putting too much load on that circuit. What amp load is the jack rated at? From there you would want to check what size wire and fuse are needed to run it without overloading the circuit and run a new circuit from the fuse box to the jack. You could always put an even bigger fuse and line and then put the proper sized inline fuse close to the jack if you want. Just make sure the inline fuse is rated enough to run the jack but lower than your main circuit fuse. 

[vtx1029]

I'll add to the above that you want to fuse as close to the power source as possible. This prevents your wiring from catching fire.

[Ufatz]

Both these guys area right.

[Trump34]

It sounds like I'm kind of on the right track.  Each jack has a 25 amp internal circuit breaker that is supposed to trip when overloaded and auto reset within 15 seconds.  The same guage wire was used from the panel as the pigtail from the jack(looks like 10 guage).   It is a little puzzling to me that it has never tripped internally and blows the 30 amp fuse in the panel instead.  This is a problem with all 3 jacks so maybe it is an issue with the panel?  Thank you for the replies.  

[vtx1029]

I would say your wire size is too small and or too long of wire run causing too much resistance. Go to an 8 or 6 gauge wire and you should be fine.

[Trump34]

VTX,  I will try that.  Thank you.

[Wanderer]

@Trump34

 

Is this happening with a production house (ie Ice Cabin) and LCI jack?  Left side as you’re looking at the back of the house from the outside?

[Trump34]

It is a production house but not a Ice Cabin.  I prefer not to mention the brand at the current time.  Still waiting for another reply from the manufacturer of the house.  Initially I talked to them and they hadn't been able to replicate the problem and didn't have a solution.  Time will tell.  I will be using the house again this weekend and my 30 pack of 30 amp fuses just showed up.. armed and ready.

[Wanderer]

Fair enough.  

 

I have a similar condition on my house running both jacks on battery power to lift it.  An internal overload trips and I have to wait a little bit to continue raising it.  If I run 1 jack at a time or am on A/C power there isn’t an issue.

 

I’m told the circuit powering that jack should’ve been a heavier gauge wire.  It’s just an annoyance for me since I’m not blowing fuses.  Just wondering if either were the same product lines.

 

Good luck.

[vtx1029]

This is far fetched but I wonder if your battery can't supply the current needed to operate both of them at the same time. If you have another battery to swap in there I'd try it.

[Hawg]

 My friend has a glacier house with those electric jacks. You can start them up or down, get in your truck and go to the bar and have a beer, and come back when they’re just about finishing. He hates them, God awful slow.

Edited February 2, 2018 by Hawg

[Wanderer]

On 2/1/2018 at 7:05 AM, vtx1029 said:

This is far fetched but I wonder if your battery can't supply the current needed to operate both of them at the same time. If you have another battery to swap in there I'd try it.

 

I do have an Optima battery in there this year and it improved but can’t say yet if it cuts out like last year since I haven’t put it through the same paces.  We’ve been using the True North so far this year.

 

@Hawg

 

Yeah the speed of the LCI electric jacks on the aforementioned Ice Cabin seem slow and were probably the biggest detractor from the quality of the house IMO.  But the new LCI jacks that are on the True North are a bit faster PLUS you can run all three at the same time if you want.  I haven’t had any overload/cut out issues on that one yet.  Very good system.

 

When we left Gull last weekend I got to do an unexpected test.  Our kids were in the Ice Cabin and it was the first time for the SIL to “run” the house in his own.  We were in the True North obviously and we had another friend with with his brother and his Ice Castle (nice custom built) that he’s still hand cranking.

 

We all started lifting our houses at the exact same time - I thought this was an awesome coincidence - a great chance to time them all.  Nobody knew I was watching and I honestly didn’t hurry my process at all.  I had the True North all connected and ready to roll on my truck and went over to check the SIL just as he was finishing up the Ice Cabin.  I helped him connect it to the truck.  Right at the time we finished that, or friend and brother  who were working in tandem the whole time finished up the Ice Castle.

 

I don’t complain about the speed of the Ice Cabin jacks too much anymore.

 

I believe you have the speed nuts on your cable cranks so you would’ve probably beaten us all, but I was pretty satisfied with our stock production results.