Front Landing Legs Worked and now they Don't

[Dhall]

Hello everyone. I'm having an issue with the front landing legs on my 2006 Montana 3500RL. I was able to operate them to hook up my truck today, they operated both up and down.

When I went to unhook I hit the switch and had nothing. I ended up extending the landing legs manually. My battery is fully charged and I'm hooked up to shore power. I replaced the 30A Fuse and the Re-settable Breaker but still have nothing at the switch.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Dennis

[dieselguy]

Try placing a jumper cable from the positive battery terminal to one of the power wires going to the jack motor ... if it runs either up or down, start with the landing gear switch to see if there is power there ... then if power goes thru the switch.

[Dhall]

Thanks, I'll try it and see what happens.

[mlh]

I think the landing gear has a shear pin. Is the electric motor running?
Lynwood

[sambam]

If you're using the toggle switches on the driver side of the camper, see if rear stabilizers work. If not, you may need to relocate the ground wire from the "brain" to the frame somewhere to get power.This is how I got mine working with similar issues. Also, you have an '06. If you have the remote, try operating them with that. If the problem is what I suspect, the remote will work.

[Carl n Susan]

An ’06 model doesn’t have a remote or electric rear stabilizers.

The front leg system is pretty simple. The DPDT switch in the driver’s side passthru feeds 12V to either one side or the other of the relays on the Trombeta (or and alternative supplier) switch using spade connectors. They are something like 14 gauge wire. The Trombeta switch has a 12V power cable from the battery (through the circuit breaker) to the center of the switch and two 12V cables to the motor. These are big cables and have bolts with lugs securing them.

If it is then the problem is in the gear set for the legs and a different set of repair instructions are needed.

The relays trigger the in and out (direction of the motor) of the legs. Check there is 12V to the DPDT switch and to the relay when each side of the switch is depressed. Check that the relay causes 12V on the large cables to the motor. I am assuming the motor is not turning now. You can jump from the center lug connector to either the left or right lug (use a battery jumper cable not some small alligator clip doodad) to check if the motor is functional.

[BB_TX]

You say you have nothing at the switch. Does that mean you checked it with a volt meter? Or it just doesn't do anything?

I am going on the assumption that your 2006 is similar to my 2007. No remote. No powered rear stabs. And my wire with the 30 amp in-line fuse is connected to the battery side of the auto reset circuit breaker, not the load side. Meaning power for the jacks does not go thru the breaker.

With a voltmeter, put your meter negative lead on the battery negative post. Then put the positive lead on the point the jack power wire is connected. Does it have 12 v there?
If yes, pull the in-line fuse and see if it has power to the fuse holder.
If yes, insert the fuse leaving enough contact showing to touch the meter lead to both sides of the fuse. Does it have power there?
If yes, then check for power at your switch. I would use a piece of wire to extend my negative meter lead so that you are still using the battery post for your negative reference for the meter. Do you have power at the switch? Probably the center terminal.
If yes, then check to see if you have power to the other terminals when you actuate the switch.
Hopefully by this point you will have found a point where there is a break in power. If not, then I would need to go look at mine farther to see exactly how it is wired past that point.
Anything connected to the frame is supposed to be grounded. But I would still use the battery negative post for my initial troubleshooting.
And while you are at it, make sure the battery negative cable is tight at the battery and where it connects to the frame.

[BB_TX]

I looked at my front jacks this morning. My jacks are electric, not hydraulic. There is no Trombetta type reversing contactor. The power wire with the in-line fuse goes direct to the switch, and two wires go from the switch direct to the motor, one red/one black. If yours is the same it should be easy to trace power with a volt meter to see if power is getting as far as the motor. If power is getting to the motor terminals and motor is not running you may have a bad motor. Or possibly (hopefully?) a bad ground to the motor.

[Carl n Susan]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

I looked at my front jacks this morning. My jacks are electric, not hydraulic. There is no Trombetta type reversing contactor....

Oops, brain fade on my part. I was focused on the hydraulic pump in my 2005 which had a Trombetta solenoid. I lost the part about jacks which are electric in 2006. Do what Bill says!

[Dhall]

Thanks to all who replied with advice. I ran a jumper wire from the battery to the positive wire on the motor and the motor functioned. This lead me to believe the switch was bad. I ordered the new switch and installed it yesterday, problem solved. Thanks again for all of the advice.

[BB_TX]

Thanks for reporting back on your findings. Sometimes frustrating when so often someone reports a problem, suggestions and recommendations are posted, and the OP never returns to report the results, solutions, or if the problem was ever corrected.