Our 1st trip

[brenkco]

Well, we took delivery yesterday and traveled all of about 5 minutes to the nearest CG. How exciting! Setup went well until I tried to unhook and blew the landing gear fuse. Couldn't get the truck unhooked and we were at a less than desirable angle. Told DW not to worry....we continued to get setup and as soon as we were done, I'd boot up the laptop and see what to do next.

Let me just say that this form is awesome! Over the past several weeks I have read just about every thread that I could and I remember a discussion on the landing gear and fuses. One quick search & I found the answers I needed. Found the in line fuse and headed off the the auto parts store (we happened to have a 2nd car with us). I bought several after reading the thread.....got back to camp, replaced the fuse and blew it again.

Turns out I had really lousy instruction on the use of our new superglide hitch (thanks again MOC, I chose this hitch based upon your feedback). Before I blew any more fuses, I pulled out the Superglide manual. It was clear and concise and yes, I was doing everything wrong. Once I followed the correct disconnect procedures, it was a piece of cake.

Bottom line is this...I have read that this is the best forum on the net...and guess what...IT IS!!!! Instead of getting all upset, waiting until the next day to call the dealer, I just got on line and check the forum. I don't know if there are any other similar forums for specific manufactures, but this one is sure a huge selling point for us. Thanks again for all who participate.

Ken & Marilyn

[mail2us]

Ken, it is a great forum with some very nice MOCsters. Reading manuals and trying on your own coupled with this forum works wonders.

Know too you could have used the hand crank provided if or when the fuse blows again to get your stabilizers working in a manual mode.

We too blew an inline fuse and our grown son was with us. He said,
"Dad when all else fails, read the manual" and "stay calm". He isn't listening right now but he was right. Good Luck and have fun. Dennis

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

Welcome! You probably have a lot of company in landing gear blown-fuse department. We didn't do it on the trip between the dealer and our first set-up, but when we began the hitch-up-and-move process, BAM! I'm sure a more savvy RVer would have known what happened and where that fuse was located, but we didn't. Naturally, this happened on a Sunday morning when help normally wouldn't be readily available.

Lucky for us, our salesman at Bish's RV in Idaho Falls had given us his cell phone number and told us not to hesitate to call at any time if we needed help or had a question. Bish's also has an experienced "dedicated walk-through" guy who'd spent nearly 3 hours with us before we left with our rig, and he'd also given us his cell phone number with the same instructions--call ANY time. It took only one call to find out what we needed to know.

My brother bought a new Montana last year and got caught like you did, in a "less than desirable angle," when he blew his landing gear fuse around midnight as he was backing his rig into a slightly slanted site. He wasn't as fortunate as we were about getting help because he blew that on a Friday night, in a remote area, and the dealership he bought from wasn't open until Monday morning.

By the way, I'm not embarrassed to reveal that we had no idea where that fuse was located because on this forum, you can read a lot of posts from experienced RVers who have had similar problems with other things, including the location of the galley dump valve on some rigs. For example, our rig's galley valve is up front and personal--we couldn't miss it, but that's not so on other models.

Whatever the problem, you'll have many MOC friends ready to step up and help you solve it. Had I been able to access the internet when the fuse blew, I'm sure I could have gotten help from a MOC forum member in less time that it took to place the call to our salesman. You're right--the forum is the best place to find quick answers from people who have been there, done that, and are so gracious about offering help.

[Wayne and Carolyn Mathews]

[quote]Originally posted by mail2us

Reading manuals and trying on your own coupled with this forum works wonders.

Read the manual? That's no fun! Just kidding--we did read that thing from cover to cover, and while it addresses fuses, it didn't tell us where the fuse on our rig was located. We did use the hand crank, but we needed to locate that darn landing gear fuse!

[muddflapp]

Welcome to the forum. As of yet, I have not blown the fuse for the landing gear. But, please tell me where it is. That way when it does happen, I will know where to look. Thanks

[Mudchief]

Ken and Marilyn, you are right this is a great forum. If you have a problem you can bet most of the time someone else has had that problem and knows the fix. Hope you have many happy times in your new unit.

[mail2us]

You're absolutely correct Wayne and Carolyn. The manual did not tell us where the inline fuse was located. Hmmm, I guess it was my son that found it, or someone at the campground told us!!

[Joe-n-Doe]

Hi Ken...Glad it all worked out. What where you doing when the fuse blew?

[brenkco]

I was lowering the landing gear. The setup guy had told me to use the landing gear to take the load off the truck 1st, then release the hitch....WRONG!!
The hitch manual sayssuperglide)

1. Lower the trailer jackes to the point of just touching the ground but DO NOT RAISE THE TRAILER AT THIS POINT (first mistake)
2. Open the Lock Jaw Assembly by first lifting then pulling the Release Handle towards you.
3. Lower the trailer jacks until the bottom of the king pin box is almost free of the top of the 5th wheel plate.
4. After lowering the truck's tail gate, disconnect the trailer electrical cord and breakaway switch cable, then pull forward (2nd mistake...forgot the tailgate....saw it before I caused damage...major luck....prior to 1st cocktail...thank goodness!)

The fuse is an in-line 30a mini fuse near the batteries in the front compartment. On my 3400 it is on the pink wire leading to the up/down switch (that is in the garage).

[sreigle]

Welcome aboard and congratulations on the new Montana!

Eventually all this will be second nature but beware the situations that get you out of your routine. Interruptions, in other words. That's when I'm most prone to forgetting something important. It happens to all of us so don't feel lonely.

[rving2us]

We lost our landing gear last year on our first long trip with our 2006 3000RK and did not no anything about the in line fuse. We were in Maomet, Ill. traveling west to Seattle from Ohio. First day on the road, bam! no landing gear. We cranked dollys until we ran into some great MOCers in Klamath Falls, OR. The O'Donnell's showed us the fuse and turned us on to the forum. Now we are ready to take on anything with MOC behind us.
This year we are heading to the east coast, Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. I have an extra fuse so we should be OK. Jon