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Old 06-07-2007, 04:39 PM   #1
dwells
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Landing gear fuse

2007 Montana 3400RL

I am having trouble with fuses blowing on landing gear. Any thoughts
would be appreciated.
 
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Old 06-07-2007, 05:29 PM   #2
ols1932
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by dwells

2007 Montana 3400RL

I am having trouble with fuses blowing on landing gear. Any thoughts
would be appreciated.
What size fuse is being used? It takes at least a 30-amp fuse. The only time my fuse blew was shortly after we had the rig and we had to raise the front quite a bit. When it blew, I checked and it was only 20 amps. Put a 30-amp fuse in and it's been there over five years now with no problems. However, now when I have to raise the front end higher due to uneven terrain, I stop and let the motor rest a little while I do some other things like getting the satellite dish out, water filters, hoses, etc. The motor will get pretty warm when it is a hard lift. On top of that, our front end is heavier than normal because we have two Lifeline D8 batteries which weigh 150 lbs each.

Orv
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Old 06-07-2007, 11:31 PM   #3
Glenn and Lorraine
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You are right Orv the older Monty's had 30 AMP but the newer Monty's have 40 AMP and your 07 should be 40 AMP. Be sure you release the switch as soon as the legs are fully retracted, Not doing so was the cause of our first blown fuse.
As Orv said, For long duration operations stop and give the motor a rest.

Whatever you do, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER be dumb enough to increase the amperage of the fuse. All wires have a specific rating for it's size (gage). A specific rated fuse is there to protect this wiring. The fuse blew for a reason. FIND the reason. Increasing the fuse amperage will in all probability stop the fuse from blowing but instead there is a very good possibility of causing a fire by over heating a now unprotected line. This type stupidity is akin to putting a penny behind the old screw in type household fuses. Having spent 25 years as a fire fighter I witnessed way too much of this kind of stupidity. Also, if you do such a stupid act don't be looking at your insurance company for coverage.


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Old 06-08-2007, 03:20 AM   #4
msmoonsatx
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This last weekend we also blew the fuse on our 2007 3475RL. I got the trailer off the truck using the manual crank (of course it was on a Sunday and nothing was open). I went to the dealer first thing Monday to find the location of the fuse and to obtain replacement fuses. The fuse was a 30 amp. I have now purchased several replacements to carry in my emergency kit.

The dealer indicated that the fuse will also blow if there is some torque between the pin and the hitch and the truck will not easily release from the pin. They told me that this would be the case if the release handle would not pull easily when unhooking the truck. When I unhook, I set the emergency brake while I am working around the hitch. I can release the tension when I let the emergency brake off and leave the truck in gear (manual transmission.)
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Old 06-08-2007, 03:25 AM   #5
bncinwv
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As was discussed on a previous thread, quickly reversing the ret/ext switch can cause the fuse to blow also.
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Old 06-08-2007, 10:29 AM   #6
Cat320
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My 07 3400 has a 40 amp fuse for the landing gear. If you have a tendency to run the motor after the gear has been fully retracted, raise the legs until they are about 1/4" from full up and draw a red magic marker line there. Then when bringing the gear up, run the motor until the legs get to the line, then stop motoring.
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Old 06-09-2007, 12:17 PM   #7
snfexpress
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I sent an email to Wes Westhaver, the maker of the Zaxis, because both my Dad and I had a fuse blow. His response made a great deal of sense. In part, he said:

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 quickly 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 a common phenomenon that occurs with electric motors. The only preventative measure that can be taken to prevent this is to allow the motor to come to a full stop before reversing its direction.


My Dad and I both did this, as having a remote in your hand, it is alot easier to go up then down, quickly. Now, we don't do this.
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Old 06-09-2007, 01:50 PM   #8
Charlie
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Michael, do you think this same sequencing of the switch for the hydraulic pump on the slides would react the same?
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Old 06-09-2007, 04:26 PM   #9
snfexpress
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Charlie,

While I am no expert, it would seem to me that based on Wes' explanation that ANY electric motor (including the one that runs the hydraulic pump) would exhibit this behavior.
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Old 06-10-2007, 01:37 AM   #10
jerrybb
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I did it once and the reason was ,,, change of direction before the motor has stopped ,,,, that should blow the fuse everytime !
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Old 06-10-2007, 02:42 PM   #11
Fire5er
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We too had a blown fuse, but ours was the 15 amp for the slide motor. It was our first outing this weekend and when my DW pushed the slide switch...nothing. She called outside to me that the slides wouldn't go out. Now we had just put the landing gear down so I knew we had good 12V DC power. We were plugged into 110V AC power. So what the He!!? Then I recalled reading this forum about blowing fuse. Went into the bathroom and opened the 12V DC fuse panel, had the DW push the slide switch which lighted up the red LED on that circuit, pulled the 15 amp fuse from that circuit, and sure enough it was blown. Replaced it with one of the fuse from the spare fuse kit I purchased (because of this forum) and we were back in service. You guys saved the weekend!!
Karl
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Old 06-10-2007, 03:32 PM   #12
William H. Collier
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Karl, I am not sure what the 15 amp fuse you changed was for but it was not the slide motor. The slide motor is protected by either 1 or 2 circut breakers that reset themself when tripped, they are mounted on the wall just below the slide pump and motor and are connected directly to the battery.
Bill
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Old 06-11-2007, 05:07 AM   #13
Fire5er
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Bill,
Your right about the slide motor circuit breakers, we have two in line in front compartment. The 15 amp fuse was the one that the red LED lite in the 12V DC panel when we pushed the slide switch. Tried to figure out which one it was but none of them are marked as slide (rocker) switch? Looks like another project, test and mark the fuse panel this week.
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Old 06-11-2007, 05:10 PM   #14
Fire5er
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Bill,

After going through all the 15 amp fuses in the 12v DC panel we found that the slide switch that activates the slide motor was marked Porch for the Porch lights. We now have it marked Porch/Slide.

Karl
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Old 06-12-2007, 05:08 PM   #15
Bill and Lisa
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The fuses you are talking about mounted on the wall underneath the hydraulic pump are called "short stop fuses". One of them provides power to the hydraulic pump. The other (MAIN) is in-line to the rest of the DC loads in the coach (feed to the DC Distribution panel via the disconnect switch) including the tap off (with it's own in line fuse) for the landing gear. Problem with the arrangement is the control signals for the pump operation (power to the switch on the wall) is powered through the main short stop breaker.

in this case it sounds like the fuse in the distribution panel that provides power to the slide switch blew. Power was still available at the pump but no control signal was getting to the pump.

BIll
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