Front Jack Fuses - Montana Owners Club

bncinwv · 03-09-2007, 01:31 AM

Another one of my simplistic questions, fellow MOC-ers. During our initial walkthrough, as the technician was demonstrating the raising and lowering of the front jacks, a fuse was blown. His response was that he knew better because you should never raise and lower the jacks without pausing in between. Now obviously, I plan to keep extra fuses on hand, but back to my simplistic question, is this a common occurrence?? Comments, experience or your procedures to minimize blowing the fuses are as always appreciated. Eight days until delivery, 14 days until first night out, I think I can handle this agony. AGGGGGHHHH!
:-)
Bingo

tcorbitt · 03-09-2007, 01:54 AM

Hi Bingo,

Never once have we had a fuse blow on the front jacks. I can go up and down all day without this problem. Maybe the factory installed fuse was too small? If not, something else may be at fault. I would not accept this as normal....
Tim

c5racer · 03-09-2007, 02:11 AM

Doesn't seem right to me, never had a fuse problem.

bncinwv · 03-09-2007, 03:10 AM

What is the proper fuse rating for the jacks??

Garin1 · 03-09-2007, 03:11 AM

Doesn't sound kosher there Bingo

Welcome aboard by the way

richfaa · 03-09-2007, 03:16 AM

Your tech was a fast thinker..That is not a common problem.In fact a blown fuse is never a common problem.

rickety · 03-09-2007, 03:22 AM

There is something wrong in the system.

I wouldn't accept the unit until it is proven to me that the unit is working properly in all respects. As Rich said, a blown fuse is never a common problem. Fuses are designed to offer a safety factor, blowing shen something isw shorted, overloeaded, or hooked up wrong.

Cat320 · 03-09-2007, 03:22 AM

My landing gear fuse blew the first time I used it...been fine ever since, although I do keep a spare...40 amp.

BirdingRVer · 03-09-2007, 05:25 AM

I haven't had any issues with the fuses but, just in case; where is the fuse for the front jacks?

Bob & Lee · 03-09-2007, 07:08 AM

I blowed the fuse DUMMMMMM It was dark and I didnt see the pin was still locked and it was trying to pick up the truck. Know better now

Bob

bncinwv · 03-09-2007, 07:23 AM

On the 3400 the fuse is in the battery compartment, I assume the same for any but don't take my word for it.

WesWesthaver · 03-09-2007, 09:04 AM

Quote:

quote:His response was that he knew better because you should never raise and lower the jacks without pausing in between.

Your tech was telling the truth. I have seen this happen many times. I've done it on my rig a couple of times.

If you have your jacks running in one direction and then reverse them without letting the motor come to a complete stop the fuse can be blown.

When the power is removed from the motor it acts like a small generator and produces a reverse voltage nearly the same as the battery voltage. If you then flip the rocker switch to reverse the motor, this voltage is added to the battery voltage and you have nearly 24 volts present in the landing gear circuit and this can cause the fuse to blow. This is not unusual.

Tom Gina 06 · 03-09-2007, 09:39 AM

I ran my jack all the way to the top not paying attention blew the 40 amp fuse. Which is in the area of the hydralic pump for the slide outs. Anyway had a hard time finding 40 Amp fuses then stopped by one of those car stereo installation places. They use the 40 amp fuses on the some of the big amplifiers they install. Wouldn't sell me some but did give me a couple. Replaced the 30 amp I used just to get by about 4 times, now the 40 amp is holding up good.

ols1932 · 03-09-2007, 09:51 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BirdingRVer

I haven't had any issues with the fuses but, just in case; where is the fuse for the front jacks?

On our rig, there is an in-line fuse located in the line going to the switch. It should be somewhere behind the batteries (if your switch is located inside the storage compartment like ours is).

We blew ours once about 5 years ago and found that it was a 20-amp fuse. Replaced it with a 30-amp and have never had a problem since. By the way, it's a good idea to have the fuse available in case because it's a bugger to crank the legs up and down.

Orv

joe2speed · 03-10-2007, 12:14 PM

never had the fuse blow, but had the motor shut down. had to raise the rig 6 inches to hook up. the temp was in the high 90's. the motor quit, thought the fuse blew. continued raising with the crank handle they give you. When i arrived at the campgroung 3 hrs later, the motor was working again. the fuse was not blown, but the wire got so hot it melted the insulation a little by the fuse holder. never had the problem since.

BigAl52 · 03-11-2007, 04:56 PM

Just checked mine today after reading this thread. Mine is a 30 amp and is also located in the battery compartment of my 2980. I have never had a problem with it but I do now have spare fuses in the tow vehicle. Al

Old GI · 03-17-2007, 01:16 PM

That Tech is out of line, a blown fuse is not common. I have never had a fuse blow in my Montana, I wouldn't accept that rig until you are satisfied that they have fixed whatever the problem was. Never assume that the Tech knows what he is talking about. I would run those legs up and down several times. You are going to love that 3400..........Pete

Bill and Lisa · 03-17-2007, 02:23 PM

Well, let's see, we left the dealer with our new 2007 3000RK on 8 March and on 10 March I blew two fuses. First was the Landing gear jack. While unhitching on our second night on the way back home (didn't unhitch the first night) I ended up raising the front too high, started to lift the truck and blew the fuse.

In the picture follow the orange wire up towards the upper right and behind the hose like conduit you will see a rectangular black fuse assemble. The fuse was 30A blade type.

Sometime, either at the same time or when I cycled the battery disconnect I also blew the "short stop" fuse. This was the right hand "connector" on the wall in the photo. The left hand "connector" sends a main power line to the hydraulic pump for the slide outs. The right hand "connector" feeds the rest of the unit with DC. Replacing the 30 amp fuse for the landing gear restored my landing gear because following the circuit it taps off the "hot" side of the right hand "connector".

I do not know when that Short stop fuse blew because as long as we were hooked up to shore power the converter supplied all DC for the unit. The next morning as we were preparing breakfast and had an electric heater running we tripped the 30A CG pole breaker. Inside, we lost ALL lights which was the first time I realized my batteries were not providing DC to the coach. At first I thought maybe I had left the battery disconnect open but that was not the case.
One other thing I learned is while there was still DC power to the hydraulic pump the DC Control signals are generated down stream of the right hand connector so no was to operate the slides unless hooked up to AC (providing DC to the circuit via the converter).

The Short Stop fuses are 50A and if you look at the picture closely you can see the two differ slightly (mounting screws inline with the posts or perpendicular). If you think 40A blade fuses are tough to find try finding 50A short stop fuses.

I have completed my repairs and life is good again and I hope like others, I will not have any further problems with fuses. I "think" I know why the landing gear fuse blew but I don't have a clue how I blew the short stop fuse or when. As far as I know every time we used lights or anything else inside the unit we were hooked up to A/C so maybe the short stop fuse was blown before I took delivery but since the converter was always providing the DC supply I had no way of knowing it was blown......Hopefully this will prevent someone from learning the details of the DC wiring the hard way like I did. I could not find any wiring diagrams in my extensive package of manuals which might have helped. Never having seen or heard of a short stop fuse didn't help either - I kept following the main DC line looking for an inline fuse like on my smaller TT.....

Montana Rog · 03-19-2007, 04:16 PM

I blew my fuse when trying to jack and not having the legs level. It puts a twist and side load on jacks, and blows a fuse. I don't do that anymore, but fixed the fuse blowing problem by installing a breaker instead of carrying extra fuses. Have not had a problem since.

JH Sechelt · 03-19-2007, 08:46 PM

If you were lowering the trailer and went right to rising it without letting the landing gear motor stop turning in one direction first I could see it blowing a fuse. That would be a huge amount of torque. In our 2980, the fuse is in the wire going from the battery to the landing gear motor (inline).

J&D

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