Complete retrofit - swapping HappiJacs for Reico Titans-PICS
So, just shear co-inky-dink there's another post asking about it, I've been in the planning stages for a couple weeks now (and saving my beer money).
I have a VERY heavy camper, that I've made even heavier. I have a DOT scale very close to the house, it's ~6500lbs. Well, the HappiJac's aren't so happy with it. They have groaned, grunted and if it's the slightest bit heavy on one corner, frequently engaged the safety clutches, or just blown a fuse.
Next problem - where Eagle Cap chose to mount the controller. It's in the front belly compartment in front of the fresh water tank. **When** you blow a fuse lifting, you're up a creek, can't get to it until you get the camper off the truck with the hand crank.
And also worth noting - the main power line that EC put in is a whopping 12ga
So the mission -- relocate and completely rewire / upgrade the electrical cabling, and then swap jacks.
So, first task, with the camper still sitting on the HappiJac's, relocate the controller. Once that is done, use the Reico controller on the HappiJac's to then load it on the truck, so I can then swap the jacks themselves.
Step one - wire. I do electrical engineering as my day job, and as a hobby do many things 12v.. So I have a pretty good selection of wire on hand, 2ga, 4ga, 8ga, 12ga, 14ga, 16ga and 18ga. To have the absolute minimal loss, I chose 4ga for the main, 8ga for each jack, and recommended 60amp breaker on the main.
I crimp AND then solder every connection, not just for strength, but for corrosion resistance.
Then - loom. My 1/4" obviously no. Surprisingly, 1/2 inch was also no. Had to go to the 1 1/4".
So first - rewire the fronts. I could only get so far before pulling the cable through the belly and up into the electrical access meant I could pull no further, so there I tapped into the factory run 12ga for the final 3 feet through the wall itself.
From here I can go no further - I tried fishing it, no luck.
The controller is now relocated to the rear access/storage next to the batteries, so a relatively short run of 4ga is needed.
Now the Reico controller is wired to the HappiJac's, time to load the TC then swap jacks.
Drilling was required, as of course, the bolts don't line up, as well as trimming the top of the mount bracket to fit the Reico motorhead.
I literally went through almost a whole can of WD40 drilling because the brackets were so thick - I had a small mountain of shavings.
Now time to change the plugs...
And Who-La! New jacks, on MUCH heavier power cable.
Total time was about 10 working hours, mostly due to relocating and rewiring the controller. Drilling and remounting didn't take that long, and if I had just left the brain where the old one was, with it's existing wiring, it could have been done in probably 4 hours or less.
I have a VERY heavy camper, that I've made even heavier. I have a DOT scale very close to the house, it's ~6500lbs. Well, the HappiJac's aren't so happy with it. They have groaned, grunted and if it's the slightest bit heavy on one corner, frequently engaged the safety clutches, or just blown a fuse.
Next problem - where Eagle Cap chose to mount the controller. It's in the front belly compartment in front of the fresh water tank. **When** you blow a fuse lifting, you're up a creek, can't get to it until you get the camper off the truck with the hand crank.
And also worth noting - the main power line that EC put in is a whopping 12ga
So the mission -- relocate and completely rewire / upgrade the electrical cabling, and then swap jacks.
So, first task, with the camper still sitting on the HappiJac's, relocate the controller. Once that is done, use the Reico controller on the HappiJac's to then load it on the truck, so I can then swap the jacks themselves.
Step one - wire. I do electrical engineering as my day job, and as a hobby do many things 12v.. So I have a pretty good selection of wire on hand, 2ga, 4ga, 8ga, 12ga, 14ga, 16ga and 18ga. To have the absolute minimal loss, I chose 4ga for the main, 8ga for each jack, and recommended 60amp breaker on the main.
I crimp AND then solder every connection, not just for strength, but for corrosion resistance.
Then - loom. My 1/4" obviously no. Surprisingly, 1/2 inch was also no. Had to go to the 1 1/4".
So first - rewire the fronts. I could only get so far before pulling the cable through the belly and up into the electrical access meant I could pull no further, so there I tapped into the factory run 12ga for the final 3 feet through the wall itself.
From here I can go no further - I tried fishing it, no luck.
The controller is now relocated to the rear access/storage next to the batteries, so a relatively short run of 4ga is needed.
Now the Reico controller is wired to the HappiJac's, time to load the TC then swap jacks.
Drilling was required, as of course, the bolts don't line up, as well as trimming the top of the mount bracket to fit the Reico motorhead.
I literally went through almost a whole can of WD40 drilling because the brackets were so thick - I had a small mountain of shavings.
Now time to change the plugs...
And Who-La! New jacks, on MUCH heavier power cable.
Total time was about 10 working hours, mostly due to relocating and rewiring the controller. Drilling and remounting didn't take that long, and if I had just left the brain where the old one was, with it's existing wiring, it could have been done in probably 4 hours or less.
