Truck camper electrical issue

As you mentioned 'remote' all 4 jacks have the potential to draw considerably more than 30amps, but normally in lifting (or stall). But it sounds though battery voltage was low, which causes excessive amp draw, which causes heat which increases draw...
Im suspecting thats the case, fuse might have let go at same time you decided to do something less, or surge from renergizing.
When plugged or gen running with the 12v fuse blown, jacks were using power thru converter power (hence the slowness). And not good for the converter Ive heard.

Mine will bog something fierce after a few minuets if I dont have power source on, either engine running or plugged in. When camping I dont turn engine off till jacks down/slide out. I always ensure truck starts 1st when packing it up, especially early morning when batts down.

I dont know, someone familiar with your remote jacks might chime in but I thought the controller boxes for the remote/jacks had their own fuses? That you have a single fuse on 12v source feed, no disconnect, is puzzling.
Unless Im misunderstanding, jacks on same feed line as feed to converter/fuse panel?. Does sound though your slide is on direct line. Wonder if P/O thing

I like the idea of the meter. I will definitely do that. I will also likely open up the jacks and grease the******out of them. Don't want to lift this camper by hand. What a nightmare that would be.

This is the first camper I've ever owned and it's been really good so far. This is my first experience with RV wiring. Not impressed. I appreciate the help from everyone though as it has helped me figure out how things are run. It would have been nice to use some good ol logic though. Some of this stuff just leaves me asking why.

Ok, let me backup and give some more background. The whole problem started this year when I was unloading my camper. I got my camper up in the air and everything was working just fine. I moved the truck out and went to lower the camper. I got it about 3/4 down and went to get the braces I put under it. I put the braces in and the jacks wouldn't work. I tried resetting the remote and nothing. The jacks were completely dead. The camper had been sitting for a couple of weeks on the truck, so I assumed the battery was dead. I plugged the camper in and everything was working. I let it sit for a while to charge up and came back and the jacks barely worked (plugged into AC), but it was enough to get the camper on the braces. The jacks acted like they were only getting partial power, but it was barely enough to move the jacks down to get the camper on it's braces.

I unplugged the camper and to my surprise, I still had zero power to anything 12v. Again, I more or less thought it was the battery being dead. By accident, I hit the switch on the slide and slide worked. That was my first incling that something wasn't right because the camper was not plugged in at this point. I began tracing power back and completely checked the jack system. All fuses were good. All fuses from the fuse panel were also good and no breakers were tripped. I still was not getting power to the panel when unplugged. That's when I continued to ask questions and began tearing stuff apart looking for a broken wire or fuse or breaker. That brings me to where I am today.

I replaced the 30A fuse and everything is now functioning as it should, jacks included. The jacks are not acting like they are barely getting power, but are operating normally. There is no signs of anything shorted out and nothing working improperly. At this point, the only guess I have is maybe one of the jacks was hung up and was pulling too much juice, which popped the fuse. Maybe the motor in that jack is going south. I see nothing and have no symptoms of something not working or shorting out that would lead me to the cause of the fuse going out, other than me being in the process of unloading the camper when it happened. I am certainly going to keep several spare fuses on hand until something else begins to show signs of issues. At this point, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'm sure if it is a jack issue, it'll show up in the spring when I load the camper up again.

Does this help? Anything I should check that would cause this under the conditions given? I can't help but think that this has to be related to the jacks, but then again, I've been wrong many times in my life and I wouldn't doubt being wrong here.

Typical of RV workmanship, all campers should come with a wiring diagram, any changes made due to optional equipment noted on the schematics.

You could buy a simple clamp on amp meter, they are very inexpensive, measure the DC current drawn by each jack motor and compare them, one bearing could be worse than others, or you could just take them apart and grease them all up.

These little meters are very good for checking the current drawn by your furnace, fridge etc., especially if you use solar.

Meter for troubleshooting camper electrical problems.

Just curious, you mentioned earlier no 12v at all on battery but only jacks not working on gen. Does this single (buried) fuse feed all 12v or for the jacks only?

So the fuse blew when I was unloading the camper. Would that be an indication of a jack motor going out? All of the jacks are working properly, but maybe a motor is going south? Maybe a good greasing is in order as one might be hanging up? Any thoughts?

Fuses don't blow for no reason. Something caused an excessive draw so you might want to keep your eyes open for problems down the road.

Ok, after the better part of a day, I finally got this thing figured out. So I went over to a buddy's house and looked at his 05 1150 and he has a 12v cutoff under his sink. I went and looked under mine and there isn't one. I then went to a dealer and got my hands on a 1999 1150 owners manual. According to that, the 12v switch is under the step. I checked again, it's not there. I was getting really frustrated at this point.

I started tearing out all the drawers chasing wires and nothing. In an effort to get to the compartment above the battery below the slide, I removed the waste house housing from the back of the camper. Right behind that was an inline fuse with a blown 30a fuse. I replaced that and suddenly everything works as it should. I don't know if that was factory or the former owner, but what idiot puts a fuse there? Anyways, I'm back up and running and will be relocating that fuse.

Thanks everyone for your help. Glad to put resolution to this.

Any Luck?
I dont know how yours is wired or if this will help. Ours, not an AF, has in line thermal breakers, they are mounted on the floor under kitchen sink. But our battery box is directly on other side. However they are supposed to be self resetting, they can fail. Not likely & doesnt sound like your issue, just option.
I also have one for slide and a pair for jacks (non remote) as neither go thru converter and wired direct to battery as RoyB described.

Agree it does sound like if most works on gen then I wouldnt think converter (short of fuses), something between it and battery. Unless someone has definitive answer where to look on your AF Id also start tracing from battery as Forrest said. Curious also as I find the jacks able to take down entire 12v to converter puzzling.

In case you are not aware, the jack fuses are not with the rest. They are in the jack controller box under the step up to the sleeping area.

I agree with the others that the issue is between the batteries and the distribution box. When the generator is on, you are getting 12V power from the converter, but when it's off, you get nothing because the power from the battery is interrupted.

My camper is very similar to yours, so I will be interested to know where the in-line fuse is. If you pull out the flat drawer right by the back door, you should be able to see the battery cables you can start tracing them.