My 2020 camper came with HappiJacs which consume a ton of power from my 2 deep cycle batteries. Once the batteries are drawn down after removing the rig (3000 lb dry weight) from my truck, it's nearly impossible for the generator(s) to get them back up to an acceptable charge while camping so we're really limited in what we can do and for how long. We have plenty of power as long as we leave the camper on the truck, but that's highly undesirable. I have tried loading/unloading with gens running; have tried using power drill to get legs to/from the ground; batteries have been load & spec gravity tested several times and are fine; adding a 3rd battery and/or increasing battery size is not an option due to the size of the battery compartment and no other exterior storage options; the rig's entire electrical system has been diagnosed by a tech and it's fine; contacted the camper manufacturer and they simply shrugged their shoulders and have not offered any insights or solutions; adding solar would be an absolute last resort.Do any of you experience this? How do you get around it? What input/suggestions do you have for me to solve the power issue? Do any of you have an alternative method for taking the camper off the back of your truck? Anybody tried an impact driver?

Run the generator while removing the camper.

I leave both my camper and my trailer plugged in to my running truck (my cords are plenty long enough) until I get the thing where I want it. Then unplug and drive away............ No draw on the batteries at all as far as I can tell.Maybe your genny isn't large enough.

Having a 2020 camper and relatively new jacks I would suggest two things for you to try. First thing find someone with a good knowledge for electricity and have him figure out the amperage draw for what each jack is supposed to draw and put a clamp-on ammeter on it and run them separately with a load and see what it draws.I have a 2019 AF990 with Reico Titan 2500lb jacks and I have #10 awg wire connected to each jack and that wire is rated for 35amps for my case.If all the jacks dont draw more amps than they are supposed to it's probably your battery's.I replaced my two interstate group 29 battery's back in March of 2021. They were only 3 yrs old. They tested out good but would not hold a charge for long.I replaced with some LIFEpo4 battery cells and now have 560ahrs of capacity compared to 90 before.You should be able to remove and remount your camper a number of times with a good set of batterys.Another thing is make sure you keep your truck plugged in and maybe running when you offload but you shouldn't have to.Probably your battery's.

Use a battery drill w/adapter to run the jacks down to the ground first. Likewise use the drill to run the jacks back up once the camper is on the truck.

The solution is 100% not doing the jacks manually. You could have 4 year old batteries and they’re weak. But if your genny can’t get the batteries topped up just fine then the converter is probably lame. If you have a wfco converter that could be the issue or wiring. If you have 12v batteries you don’t have as much useable capacity as you might think. And if they have a few years of not being used and maintained right they can hold a charge but are likely quite reduced in capacity. If you’re not planning on a high $ LFP battery setup, a couple 6v 200ah or better batteries is MUCH better than the old 12V Fla batteries you probably have. If height limited in the battery compartment and can’t use traditional golf cart batteries, I had good luck with mighty max 200ah 6v. They are much shorter with flush mount terminals and were the only 6v I could fit in our Arctic Fox TC compartment.

Help - jacks are draining my batteries | Good Sam Community

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otrfun
Explorer II
Jan 21, 2023
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Dupa wrote:
I am using all 4 jacks simultaneously. Maybe a little overly simplistic way of thinking about it (and also maybe a little out of my element here) but it seems like the same amount of power/energy is needed to raise/lower the camper, so whether you break it into pieces (1 or 2 at a time) or do it all at the same time (all 4 jacks) shouldn't matter all that much. If I'm wrong, and doing 1 or 2 at a time would help solve my problem, please let me know.
When all 4 Happijacs on our 3000+ lb. 2019 TC are raising the TC up at the same time they draw approx. 25a in warm weather, 30-35a in cold weather (we have the direct drive units). Current draw drops approx. 15-25% when lowering the TC. Two fully charged, reasonably *healthy* group 24/27 batteries should easily power these jacks for at least 1.5 hours before discharging the batteries anywhere near 50%.

Unless you're taking more than 1.5 - 2.0 hours to unload your TC, there is a problem. Either the batteries are not getting sufficiently charged (for any number of reasons) and/or there's excessive voltage drop and/or current draw somewhere in the system. Bad batteries, wiring, connections, converter, motors, etc. can all potentially play a part in this problem.

One could write a small book on how to troubleshoot this. IMO, a good tech should be able to narrow down the source of this problem with a few voltage/current measurements fairly quickly.

Lots of good troubleshooting tips being provided here. Good luck!
3_tons
Explorer III
Jan 21, 2023
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3 tons wrote:
Dupa wrote:
3 tons wrote:
Regardless of the seemingly recent shelf date on your batteries or the voltage readout (at best, a marginal estimator of true battery condition…) using only the principle of Occam's Razor (from afar…) I’d say (from same issue past experience…) the root problem is that your batteries are near dead, yet ostensibly appearing satisfactory per voltage readout - Try as you might, wet-cells can act like this - this very situation is NOT unique or uncommon, and is a precursor to an internal cell or post connector failure.

The fact that the batteries ‘appear’ satisfactory yet are not (“say it ain’t so”!!) is from my perspective the true source of your dreaded frustration…JMHO

3 tons

This would certainly be the easiest solution, but I can't help thinking (perhaps because I'm a little out of my element on some of this) that if they were "near dead" this would/should somehow show up, at least a little bit, on either the load test or the specific gravity (both were fine)?

Specific gravity no, carbon-pile load test ‘maybe’ but not always - this is why in my previous I suggested (assuming you are slightly handy…) acquiring a clamp-on ac-dc type meter of sufficient amperage capacity (say, from HD or similar)…Note that not all clamp-on meters are dc capable, and ‘for dc’ service be sure to follow the meter’s clamp-on directional orientation instructions…Clamping it around one of the battery cables (while under load…) will tell the tale - but first try to locate jack motor amperage specs…Worse case scenario is that you’ll end up with a relatively decent meter for future use, yea!! (or maybe return it - I donno??)…

Note: the meter can also be used to determine receptive charge amps into the battery…No substitute for solid data…

3 tons

Having thought about this over night, an alternative to using the aforementioned clamp-on meter would be to obtain a Victron Smart-Shunt (w/ Bluetooth - installs in NEG batt cable) which would provide the same information (and much more!) via Smart phone - this would also provide you information on an ongoing basis with SOC (state of charge in %), volts, amps available and consumed and history.

3 tons
bighatnohorse
Explorer II
Jan 21, 2023
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Either you're leaving your refrigerator set for DC power (powered by battery) or you have a bad battery.
Or both by now.
enblethen
Nomad
Jan 21, 2023
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You should note that the wire size is number 8.
joerg68
Nomad III
Jan 21, 2023
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jack motor amperage specs

I was interested in the answer to that myself, but could not locate the info on the web. What I did find: the individual channels on the circuit board have 25A fuses

The actual current used will be a lot lower than that. Most of the time the jack motors are not under a lot of load (extending to the ground, retracting).
3_tons
Explorer III
Jan 21, 2023
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Dupa wrote:
3 tons wrote:
Regardless of the seemingly recent shelf date on your batteries or the voltage readout (at best, a marginal estimator of true battery condition…) using only the principle of Occam's Razor (from afar…) I’d say (from same issue past experience…) the root problem is that your batteries are near dead, yet ostensibly appearing satisfactory per voltage readout - Try as you might, wet-cells can act like this - this very situation is NOT unique or uncommon, and is a precursor to an internal cell or post connector failure.

The fact that the batteries ‘appear’ satisfactory yet are not (“say it ain’t so”!!) is from my perspective the true source of your dreaded frustration…JMHO

3 tons

This would certainly be the easiest solution, but I can't help thinking (perhaps because I'm a little out of my element on some of this) that if they were "near dead" this would/should somehow show up, at least a little bit, on either the load test or the specific gravity (both were fine)?

Specific gravity no, carbon-pile load test ‘maybe’ but not always - this is why in my previous I suggested (assuming you are slightly handy…) acquiring a clamp-on ac-dc type meter of sufficient amperage capacity (say, from HD or similar)…Note that not all clamp-on meters are dc capable, and ‘for dc’ service be sure to follow the meter’s clamp-on directional orientation instructions…Clamping it around one of the battery cables (while under load…) will tell the tale - but first try to locate jack motor amperage specs…Worse case scenario is that you’ll end up with a relatively decent meter for future use, yea!! (or maybe return it - I donno??)…

Note: the meter can also be used to determine receptive charge amps into the battery…No substitute for solid data…

3 tons
3_tons
Explorer III
Jan 21, 2023
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Dupa wrote:
3 tons wrote:
I’m definitely with Bigfootford, but my question is this..Are you using all four jacks simultaneously or just two at a time? Also, it’s not a common practice to use an electric drill unless your batteries are low or failing…Be advised that a Auto-Zone type carbon-pile load test is not always to be relied upon as a true representation of actual loading…If possible you could try measuring battery output (while under load) using a clamp-on ac-dc volt-current meter - make sure that your meter is ‘truly dc current capable’ and of sufficient amperage…A meter of this type is still cheaper than new batteries and should readily tell you what you need to know..

Also, when using meter in ‘dc mode’, be certain to position the meter in the proper current direction - follow carefully the meter’s instructions …

3 tons

I am using all 4 jacks simultaneously. Maybe a little overly simplistic way of thinking about it (and also maybe a little out of my element here) but it seems like the same amount of power/energy is needed to raise/lower the camper, so whether you break it into pieces (1 or 2 at a time) or do it all at the same time (all 4 jacks) shouldn't matter all that much. If I'm wrong, and doing 1 or 2 at a time would help solve my problem, please let me know.

I only asked the question to aid with diagnostics from a distance (available current supplied…). Having said that, my personal preference (due to TC weight) is to operate only two jacks at time per each end (say, inch by inch…) - JMO

Sorry for any confusion :)

3 tons
Dupa
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Jan 21, 2023
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3 tons wrote:
I’m definitely with Bigfootford, but my question is this..Are you using all four jacks simultaneously or just two at a time? Also, it’s not a common practice to use an electric drill unless your batteries are low or failing…Be advised that a Auto-Zone type carbon-pile load test is not always to be relied upon as a true representation of actual loading…If possible you could try measuring battery output (while under load) using a clamp-on ac-dc volt-current meter - make sure that your meter is ‘truly dc current capable’ and of sufficient amperage…A meter of this type is still cheaper than new batteries and should readily tell you what you need to know..

Also, when using meter in ‘dc mode’, be certain to position the meter in the proper current direction - follow carefully the meter’s instructions …

3 tons

I am using all 4 jacks simultaneously. Maybe a little overly simplistic way of thinking about it (and also maybe a little out of my element here) but it seems like the same amount of power/energy is needed to raise/lower the camper, so whether you break it into pieces (1 or 2 at a time) or do it all at the same time (all 4 jacks) shouldn't matter all that much. If I'm wrong, and doing 1 or 2 at a time would help solve my problem, please let me know.
Dupa
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Jan 21, 2023
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wnjj wrote:
bigfootford wrote:
Depending on the weight of your camper the amps needed for a 4500lb camera will be between 35-40 amps to raise the camper..

The OP said the batteries are drained from removing the camper, which makes even less sense. Other than the initial lift off the truck bed, most of the time the motors aren't even loaded when running to remove it.

I over simplified when I wrote that the issue was from removing the camper from the truck. More specifically/accurately, it's the round trip unload/load...then by the time we move to another camp site and unload again, it's toast.
Dupa
Explorer
Jan 20, 2023
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3 tons wrote:
Regardless of the seemingly recent shelf date on your batteries or the voltage readout (at best, a marginal estimator of true battery condition…) using only the principle of Occam's Razor (from afar…) I’d say (from same issue past experience…) the root problem is that your batteries are near dead, yet ostensibly appearing satisfactory per voltage readout - Try as you might, wet-cells can act like this - this very situation is NOT unique or uncommon, and is a precursor to an internal cell or post connector failure.

The fact that the batteries ‘appear’ satisfactory yet are not (“say it ain’t so”!!) is from my perspective the true source of your dreaded frustration…JMHO

3 tons

This would certainly be the easiest solution, but I can't help thinking (perhaps because I'm a little out of my element on some of this) that if they were "near dead" this would/should somehow show up, at least a little bit, on either the load test or the specific gravity (both were fine)?

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Help - jacks are draining my batteries

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