Lippert jacks only work with generator

Question

Hi everyone, fairly new to all this and learning on the fly. We purchased a 2013 Montana 3750FL last year and have had issues with the batteries and the lippert hydraulic jack system when boondocking for 1 night and now that it's in storage.&nbsp; We were told that we could raise and lower our jacks using just the batteries but we cannot. The system just clicks on manual and when we do auto level it throws a code and times out. So we hooked up to our generator and that worked great. We just did this again today with 2 brand new batteries and same issue, had to drag out the generator. Was I given incorrect info on the jacks being able to run off the batteries alone? Any help would be appreciated!

ib853347201 · Answer

Sounds to me like you have a 12 Volt issue. Even though you tried it with 2 brand new batteries, were the batteries fully charged? The jacks are designed to work on the 12 volts supplied by the batteries however they require batteries that are fully charged. (Specifically 12V automotive/marine/RV batteries with a minimum rating of 500 CCA, and/or at least 60 AH). Fully charged batteries should read 12.8 volts. if the read 12 volts, they are almost dead. What code did the leveling display show?

mopargirl37 · Answer

We are good on the batteries, they were reading 14 volts.&nbsp; I am not sure on the code, I remember it did say aborted and timed out at some point.&nbsp;

way2roll · Answer

You reading them with a meter or the panel? 14V is the reading when charging and doesn't really indicate the at rest voltage. 14V while charging usually indicates the charge rate on a low battery. 13.5 would be a good charging rate for a healthy battery and 12.8 at rest for fully charged. You need to test them at rest/not charging and see what they read. My money is still on bad/low batteries.&nbsp;

ib853347201 · Answer

Yeah, I agree with way2roll's answer. The 14 Volts you are seeing is from the charger not the true voltage of your batteries. You need to unplug your RV, wait a day and see what each batteries true voltage is using a multimeter. If they have been charging since you installed them at the 14 volt rate, they must have been dead when you bought them (if they were new). Once they are fully charged your jacks should start working again on battery, as they should.&nbsp;

stircrazy · Answer

the most obvious question, what do you have for batteries, and how many and how old?
&nbsp; I have done my jacks and auto leveling from day 1 on batteries with my 5th wheel, but thee are several people I have seen that have had issues is simply not the right kind and/or number of batteries&nbsp;

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Lippert jacks only work with generator

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