Level Up Jacks Causing Me Grief

[Josh_713]

Been searching the forum looking to see if someone has experienced the same issue but no luck…

Here is what I’m up against…

Go to extend my jacks and all I get is that stuttering sound that you get when the jacks try and operate on low battery voltage. Obviously I have checked the voltage and the batteries are good. Where it gets interesting is when I select ‘retract’ and move the jacks, all works well. I then quickly go back to extend and all works well. As soon as I let off the button and try again, I’m back to square one.

Moral of the story is that the operation of the jacks is intermittent at best and you have to start a retract sequence, quickly followed by an extend to get what you’re looking for…

Am I crazy or does this make sense?

[DutchmenSport]

Are your jacks electric or hydraulic? What is the model of your camper?

[rohrmann]

When you 'check your batteries', you must have the power to the converter turned off, otherwise you are just reading the voltage from the converter and will not get a true read of the actual battery voltage. Even with the converter powering the batteries, when you run high loads the converter will not be able to provide sufficient power to overcome a weak battery. If you have operated the hydraulic pump with the batteries being low, you may have also damaged the contacts in the reversing switch, but I would make sure the batteries are good first.

[AZ Traveler]

Josh,

Since your rig is a 20 it may not have the 50 amp CB for the hydraulic pump replaced with a 80 amp. Could also be a connection on the CB that needs to be tightened.

[Mikendebbie]

Josh - in your profile i see that your unit is a 2020 3855 BR, so your living room slides are hydraulic and both bedroom slides are Schwintek slides. The leveling jacks and living room slides run off same circuit. As mentioned by AZ Traveler - have you replaced the OEM 50 amp resetting circuit breaker with an 80 amp circuit breaker? I have no idea if 2020 models came with an 80 amp breaker or not. This breaker is for hydraulic system only (nothing to do with Schwintek slides).

[Josh_713]

Originally Posted by rohrmann

When you 'check your batteries', you must have the power to the converter turned off, otherwise you are just reading the voltage from the converter and will not get a true read of the actual battery voltage. Even with the converter powering the batteries, when you run high loads the converter will not be able to provide sufficient power to overcome a weak battery. If you have operated the hydraulic pump with the batteries being low, you may have also damaged the contacts in the reversing switch, but I would make sure the batteries are good first.

Thanks for the input. With the trailer plugged in, would the jacks not be utilizing the shore power or are the still drawing from battery power?

[Josh_713]

Originally Posted by Mikendebbie

Josh - in your profile i see that your unit is a 2020 3855 BR, so your living room slides are hydraulic and both bedroom slides are Schwintek slides. The leveling jacks and living room slides run off same circuit. As mentioned by AZ Traveler - have you replaced the OEM 50 amp resetting circuit breaker with an 80 amp circuit breaker? I have no idea if 2020 models came with an 80 amp breaker or not. This breaker is for hydraulic system only (nothing to do with Schwintek slides).

I will check this in the morning. Will the breaker be visibly marked stating 50amp? From what I gather there are two breakers in line with the hydraulic system? Do both need to be replaced with 80amp?

Wondering if these 80amp breakers are widely carried at RV shops or require special order…. Hmmm

[Mikendebbie]

Look on the wall behind the battery. The pic below shows 2 red-capped 50 amp resetting breakers. The top breaker is an 80 amp. I bought my 80 amp breaker on Amazon for about $30. Take a pic of your setup and post it here…and you will get advice on the next step for what you need to replace (if anything).

[dieselguy]

Your pump motor turns one direction to extend and it turns the opposite direction to retract your cylinders. That is controlled by a reversing solenoid on top of the pump commonly referred to as a trombetta. It may be failing or have bad contacts. If your batteries are truly are in good condition, you might consider replacing the trombetta. The pump motor itself could be a far reaching possibility. Maybe check for a good battery ground.

[Carl n Susan]

To answer your other question, the converter, running off the shore power, does not have enough oomph (aka amps) to move the slides. A good battery is required. Turn off shore power for 15-30 minutes and then measure the voltage at the batteries.

The second most common problem is the 50 amp breaker. You can jump it with a battery jumper cable and it will tell you right away if it is suspect or not.

[RMcNeal]

Since there are several self resetting breakers on the back wall, trace the red power cable from your hydraulic pump to the first breaker it connects to. If that is one of the 50 amp self resetting breakers as shown in the picture above, your rig has not been updated to the 80 amp recommended replacement.
What you are describing sounds more like a low battery though. Does the stuttering sound you mention sound like a click on and off of the self resetting breaker?
If you can have someone operate the jacks while you put your ear close to the breaker, you should be able to hear the "clicking" sound as it stops and resets.

[rohrmann]

Originally Posted by Josh_713

Thanks for the input. With the trailer plugged in, would the jacks not be utilizing the shore power or are the still drawing from battery power?

The load from the hydraulic pump can exceed 70 amps at times,(the reason the 50 amp breakers don't work), and the converter can not supply that much amperage long enough to operate the pump. If your batteries are good and the breaker and reversing switch are all good, you should be able to easily level the rig and extend your slides without needing shore power. We always at least have the rig leveled before connecting to shore power and most of the time have slides extended too. Operating any motor on low voltage, whether 12 volts DC or 120 volts AC, can cause damage to the motor and/or switches and wiring. This is the label next to our slide switch on the main panel, which will also apply to operating the leveling system as it is the same pump.

[Carl n Susan]

I am never connected to shore power when leveling and rarely have shore power when extending slides. After we are level, between being old and slow at getting the anaconda out and connected, and the EMS taking 2 minutes after the power is connected before passing it through to the RV, management has already extended the slides .