Atwood Tongue Jack not working - Page 2

**ShrimpBurrito** · 04-20-2009, 04:30 PM

Yes, that's exactly what I was picturing, but that's a very nice, clear diagram.

On a side note, what program do you use to draw them? CAD, Sketchup, PSpice, what's your secret?

Dave

**Bill** · 04-20-2009, 05:54 PM

In another life, I had the opportunity (necessity!) to get good with Power Point. It suffices for things like that sketch.

Bill

jquarles · 10-18-2010, 07:31 PM

I guess this is one step forward, one step back with my TM this week. Got the plumbing fixed yesterday and today, I can't raise the Atwood Power Jack so I can't hook up and move the TM. I looked it up in the Atwood Manual and it says to remove the top cover, then remove the motor, then use a Hex wrench to manually do this. Has anyone done this before? That should help me immediately.

But long term trouble shooting. Today, the jack started to work and as I got the TM hitch almost onto the ball, I noticed it was a hair off to the left. And as I always do, if I'm that close I might just push the ball over a little or push the tongue over a little. In today's case, I pushed the tongue. When I did, the light on the jack flickered (I'm doing this at night) and then went out. I kicked the tongue (not near the jack) and if flickered and came on. So I'm thinking that it's the black wire that goes down to the frame. Then I use my finger and flick the plastic housing for the jack. And several time the light goes on and off. So it seems that there may be something in/around the jack motor. Now if I rock the trailer a little side to side the light would go off and on. In the end, my quest to figure out where it was loose killed it. Now it doesn't work and i have to take the motor off and raise the jack manually.

Any ideas? I will definitely check the ground wire as the folks here with swing tongues did, but any thing if that doesn't work.

10-19-2010, 02:04 PM

Sounds electrical to me so checking the wiring is a good start. My Atwood jack came with a crank that I can use if I run the battery down. Although a trick I've used (if the wiring is not an issue) is to connect the Bargman connector to the TV and use the electricity from the TV to operate the jack.

10-19-2010, 07:00 PM

If you have the swing tongue it might be the problem. The ground on the jack is connected to the front half of the swing tongue and the ground connection goes through the swing pivots to the trailer frame. Rust or corrosion on the pivots and pivot pins makes a poor connection, This would explain why it it intermittent. You can clean the connections, but the best way to prevent this permanently is to add a jumper wire ( 12 gauge) between the trailer frame and the front section of the swing tongue.

jquarles · 10-22-2010, 09:32 PM

Finally got back on the forum here to check.

Monday night when the jack stopped, it really left me in a bind since it worked to lower the jack onto the ball top, but not all the way down. I don't have the manual crank, never came with one since I got the trailer second hand. I had to create a makeshift tool by sawing a groove in a socket. with that I could manually move the jack.

Things still don't work, so I will post everything I know up until now.

There is no battery in the trailer. Took it out to winter the trailer
I didn't have the battery in last year, and the jack worked without it.
I don't have a swing tongue.
The inline fuse a few feet down from the jack is good.
The jack worked for about 10 seconds. Stopped. Sputtered a little if if shook the tongue. Hasn't worked since.

I was thinking of testing by hotwiring the jack straight to the tow vehicle where I would know for sure it is getting juice. Other than that I am out of ideas.

Wavery · 10-22-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jquarles

Finally got back on the forum here to check.

Monday night when the jack stopped, it really left me in a bind since it worked to lower the jack onto the ball top, but not all the way down. I don't have the manual crank, never came with one since I got the trailer second hand. I had to create a makeshift tool by sawing a groove in a socket. with that I could manually move the jack.

Things still don't work, so I will post everything I know up until now.

There is no battery in the trailer. Took it out to winter the trailer
I didn't have the battery in last year, and the jack worked without it.
I don't have a swing tongue.
The inline fuse a few feet down from the jack is good.
The jack worked for about 10 seconds. Stopped. Sputtered a little if if shook the tongue. Hasn't worked since.

I was thinking of testing by hotwiring the jack straight to the tow vehicle where I would know for sure it is getting juice. Other than that I am out of ideas.

If you hot wire it to the TV battery, it would be best to use battery jumper cables and have the TV engine running. This will get you the maximum voltage to the jack motor. I don't know why they don't use a larger gauge wiring to those jacks. They pull a lot of amps.

However, unless there is a problem in the TV wiring, there is a good chance that the motor is fried in the jack. Just because it worked yesterday has no bearing on it running today......people sorta work the same way.

I always carry a couple of hydraulic bottle jacks for issues just like that. If you have a Walmart or auto parts store close by, you can buy a 2-ton bottle jack for $10-$20..

ZekenSpider · 10-22-2010, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jquarles

..........

Things still don't work, so I will post everything I know up until now.

There is no battery in the trailer. Took it out to winter the trailer
I didn't have the battery in last year, and the jack worked without it.
I don't have a swing tongue.
The inline fuse a few feet down from the jack is good.
The jack worked for about 10 seconds. Stopped. Sputtered a little if if shook the tongue. Hasn't worked since.

I was thinking of testing by hotwiring the jack straight to the tow vehicle where I would know for sure it is getting juice. Other than that I am out of ideas.

You are getting lots of good advice so far. Maybe the attached Atwood manual will help with the troubleshooting.

It may not be your exact model but it should be close.

If it were me, and assuming you are handy with the use of a multimeter, I would start looking for where you lose the 12 volts as you move from the fuse on into the motor housing through the switch into the motor itself. First be sure you have 12 volts at the input to the fuse (use the frame as a ground). If you do not have it there, you won't have it anywhere else.

If you do not have a multimeter, let me know and I will be glad to work you through getting one and learning how to use it.

Jerry

10-23-2010, 06:16 AM

OK the "more information" helps. I agree with Wayne. The jack draws a considerable amount of current. This is no problem if you are drawing it from the TM battery, however if you are drawing it through the TV +12V pin in the Bargman, it could be. Most TV's have a relatively small gauge wire going from the battery to the +12Vpin and that would cause a significant voltage drop. i could either prevent the motor from running or damage it as Wayne said. It could also blow the fuse in the TV for the +12V pin. By running the power to the Jack though the TV connector you have introduced a considerable addition to the length of the power wire for the jack. Also without a battery in the TM, the emergency breakaway would have no power and towing it on the road is a violation in most states

Mr. Adventure · 10-23-2010, 07:59 AM

$.02 more: You need to have a battery in the trailer in order to operate the emergency disconnect brakes anyway, so you'll want to think of this as part of your solution.

While exploring the laws and liabilities of trailering for another thread in this forum, I found virtually nothing on the towing weights and ratings we were arguing about. But it's not too hard to find hundreds of cases where trailers got away from tow vehicles on the highways, resulting in a large number of deaths and serious injuries. This, of course, is why most (all?) states require emergency disconnect braking systems, and ours can't be operational without a working battery.

Think of your electric jack like the canary in the coal mine: If the jack doesn't have a power supply without the TV, your emergency disconnect brakes have the same problem.