Happijac Issue -- Intermittent

[Old_Islander]

We have Happijacs on our camper -- this past weekend, there were intermittent cut-outs when running the jacks up/down. This is the hand-held controller:



The yellow light would come on almost instantly (instead of green), when the coiled cable to the relay module was plugged in, and the jacks would not respond to the buttons. Then a few minutes later, the light would be green, and the jacks would work normally.

The remote has been babied and kept in a warm place in the winter, and in a zip lock bag when we're on the road.

Any advice on what to check out?

If the remote needs to be replace, does the module located inside a storage cupboard also need replacing?

Thanks for your help...!

[BFL13]

This sort of came up before with those phone cable type connections. ISTR it was to do with an inverter remote that used the same plugs as those Ethernet cables. They reverse male to female or whichever so if it is a male-male cable you have to get tricky. The other end plug is upside down. Or something like that! 😞

[wnjj]

I think I read somewhere that the cable has the wire sequence reversed. I'm guessing (wishful thinking) this is because HJ wanted to ensure the proper wire gauge versus off the shelf phone cords instead of just wanting to sell parts.

[DrewE]

It doesn't take much of a bit of dust or debris to interrupt the connection on a modular plug and socket, from personal experience. A bit of fuzz in the plug on top of one of the contacts can be well-nigh invisible to the naked eye.

If you can carefully see the order of colors of wires on both jacks of the factory cable, it would be a pretty simple matter to make a replacement cable up using a modular crimp tool.

[Old_Islander]

I'm the OP of this thread, and have a strange follow-up.

I found a new 'coiled' telephone cord, and decided to try it with my Happijac system. Removed the old coiled cable and installed the new. Even though the wires appeared the same colors and in the same order, the hand controller was now as dead as a door-nail -- none of the lights would come on and it was utterly unresponsive. Tested the new coiled cable on a telephone handset indoors and it worked perfectly. So apparently the Happijac coiled cable is specialized and can't be replaced with the coiled cable from a telephone.

But that's not the strange part. Looking at the original cable, there was some slight oxidation to the 'hand controller unit' end contacts. Used a fine wire brush and some WD40 to clean it, re-assembled, and not much difference. The hand controller was still intermittent. So just for the complete, sheer hellavit, reversed the cable, so the recently cleaned end, was now plugged into the electronic controller box and the other end of the cable -- protected since 2006 in the camper basement -- into the handset. The intermittent behavior immediately vanished and the system has worked perfectly since.

This is bordering on voodoo... Go figure...! :?

[campingwiththor]

Update: today when I tried again plugging into the logic board rj-11
I got the frt and rear left jacks to work.
But- when I went back & plugged into the standard rj11
I had no power. So this makes it a bigger
mystery. Any and all trouble shooting ideas
appreciated.

[campingwiththor]

This is my issue:
8/5/18

2002 Bigfoot truck camper with HappiJac wired jacks and cable and remote. (the jacks are replacements put on in 2014)

In the last couple years the remote would only work intermittently.

Now- won’t work at all (this is the remote with rj11 coiled cable)

When I plug in the cable- the remote starts green then goes to orange then off and
cycles like this only. There is some sort of power reaching the jacks because when I hit reset
you can hear the jacks make a noise for only a second… the other day even with
the issues described here the front left jack was working for a while.

Happijac sold me a replacement remote and cable. This new remote offers the same results.

Also- as per Happijac - I plugged my cable straight into the logic board. I get the
exact same results when I do this.

Im hoping someone here has an idea how I might trouble shoot this issue. Happijac wants
me to buy a new wireless setup- I am on a fixed income and really want to fix what I have.

Please help- will try anything. Because its intermittent and/or some sort of loose connection
or power issue…there should be a fix???


Regards,

[wnjj]

Old Islander wrote:
CWT, I wish I had better news about mine, which are still intermittent. Since this started earlier this year, I've always been able to get them to work after the remote light turns yellow between 5 and 10 times. Then finally, it'll stay green and the jacks work normally. Clearly this is no good, as the day will come when the light won't turn green no matter how many 'resets' I do. Then I'll be looking at cranking the jacks by hand.

I've experimented, and all four of the jacks work normally when power is applied individually to them. So the issue is one of three things -- the controller box, the spiral cable, or the remote handset. I've brought the handset in the house and carefully dried it for a week in a container with several packets of silica gel -- no difference. The controller looks like a sealed unit so there is no fixing it. My bet is, the new wireless package -- controller, cable, and handset -- are inevitable. And I'll have to pay in Canadian dollars which adds about 32% to the price. 😞

Please let me know if you figure out what's wrong with yours...

For what it’s worth, my brothers handset failed the day he sold his camper. He swapped with mine to get the buyer going and had to beg a refurbished one out of Happijac to replace mine. If there’s any way to find someone else local to try swapping parts, that’s the easiest way to figure out which part is bad,

[Old_Islander]

CWT, I wish I had better news about mine, which are still intermittent. Since this started earlier this year, I've always been able to get them to work after the remote light turns yellow between 5 and 10 times. Then finally, it'll stay green and the jacks work normally. Clearly this is no good, as the day will come when the light won't turn green no matter how many 'resets' I do. Then I'll be looking at cranking the jacks by hand.

I've experimented, and all four of the jacks work normally when power is applied individually to them. So the issue is one of three things -- the controller box, the spiral cable, or the remote handset. I've brought the handset in the house and carefully dried it for a week in a container with several packets of silica gel -- no difference. The controller looks like a sealed unit so there is no fixing it. My bet is, the new wireless package -- controller, cable, and handset -- are inevitable. And I'll have to pay in Canadian dollars which adds about 32% to the price. 😞

Please let me know if you figure out what's wrong with yours...

[campingwiththor]

8/5/2018

I have the same issues you had in 2017. Were you able to fix yourself? I tried a new remote and coiled cable but still not working and/or works intermittently. BTW - the cable is not a voice cable. (cable specs available from HJ)

HJ wants to sell me a new wireless setup- I really would like to fix myself.

Thank you for your time.

CWT

[Old_Islander]

If the old controller must be replaced, this sure looks like the way to go -- 'Wireless'. It's pricy, but it would sure be nice not having to deal with the spiral cable from the button controller to the relay.

Has anyone here upgraded to wireless from an older 'cabled' relay?



Edit: since posting the above, I've learned that this wireless kit is all that Happijac sell now -- you can't buy the original controller kit. And the spiral cable is still required to charge the hand-held controller...

[Old_Islander]

wnjj wrote:
Actually everything I’ve read says it’s not a plain old telephone cord. The wires are swizzled.

Also, you likely won’t find a replacement remote. My brother tried a few years ago and ended up barely getting a remanufactured one from HJ after some effort. This was all to replace my remote when my brother had to let it go with his camper when he sold it. His failed literally the day the buyers were coming.

See if you can find someone to borrow theirs to confirm if it’s the cord or remote.

I think the only other option is a new wireless control board and remote.

That is great advice. Thanks...

[wnjj]

Old Islander wrote:

NEOK wrote:
You mentioned you may be having battery problems. Does the yellow light act the same when you are plugged in to shore power?

I thought that might be the problem, but I've experimented and it does it occasionally on a fully charged battery, when the truck engine is running, or when on shore power.

So I guess I'll start with the least expensive stuff... The cable between hand hand controller and the relay module is a plain old telephone cable (about 6' long) that looks like the pic below. If that doesn't fix it (and it probably won't...), then I'll try to find a replacement hand controller. 😞

Actually everything I’ve read says it’s not a plain old telephone cord. The wires are swizzled.

Also, you likely won’t find a replacement remote. My brother tried a few years ago and ended up barely getting a remanufactured one from HJ after some effort. This was all to replace my remote when my brother had to let it go with his camper when he sold it. His failed literally the day the buyers were coming.

See if you can find someone to borrow theirs to confirm if it’s the cord or remote.

I think the only other option is a new wireless control board and remote.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"was plugged in"



Try this next...

Spray both plug and socket...If it was just one button it could be a problem with the film switches on the key pad -- but it isn't.

[Old_Islander]

NEOK wrote:
You mentioned you may be having battery problems. Does the yellow light act the same when you are plugged in to shore power?

I thought that might be the problem, but I've experimented and it does it occasionally on a fully charged battery, when the truck engine is running, or when on shore power.

So I guess I'll start with the least expensive stuff... The cable between hand hand controller and the relay module is a plain old telephone cable (about 6' long) that looks like the pic below. If that doesn't fix it (and it probably won't...), then I'll try to find a replacement hand controller. 😞