Electric tongue jack...Dead battery????

[jjjandrbaker]

My new trailer has an electric tongue jack. I just went over to drop something off. The battery is dead. What does that mean for the tongue jack? Will I have to use a manual crank? Or, will it run if I hook it up to the truck?

I'm not all that impressed with the electric tongue jack. Takes forever to go up and down.

[dodge_guy]

rbpru wrote:
Come on guys, twenty years ago people our age did this kind of stuff and a lot more. That is why they invented these gadgets to make things easier.

My point is, it is not the end of the world if you find yourself having to do something that is a real pain. You just do it. You will eventually find the easiest way....in fact you might invent a better electric tongue jack. 🙂

True! But I`m too lazy for all of that! :Z

[rbpru]

Come on guys, twenty years ago people our age did this kind of stuff and a lot more. That is why they invented these gadgets to make things easier.

My point is, it is not the end of the world if you find yourself having to do something that is a real pain. You just do it. You will eventually find the easiest way....in fact you might invent a better electric tongue jack. 🙂

[TomG2]

Do we have to turn in our man cards when we start using impact wrenches to change tires, cordless screwdrivers and drills, electric air pumps, and those girly jackhammers?

[IBcarguy]

SoundGuy wrote:

IBcarguy wrote:
Plug in your truck and it will power up your tongue jack.

Not if the inline tongue jack fuse itself is blown it won't. :R

Nor will it work if your TV battery is dead, or if your wiring harness has been chewed in half by a rabid rodent, or if your rig is submerged in a flooded campground, or.....

[GrandpaKip]

They took my man card away with my old camper, I guess. Our new to us camper came with a power jack. Really haven't missed the manual one. Haven't missed the man card, either 😉

[dodge_guy]

Huntindog wrote:

rbpru wrote:
If you cannot crank a manual jack 30 rotations up to pre-load the bars, you loose you man card. 🙂 I am 72 years old and just do it because it needs to be done.

I suspect the manual jacks are on their way out because the electric model is a popular feature that can be advertised as "standard" and the market will accept the price.

Like power windows in autos, they are handy and popular enough to be installed on all models.

However, to say a manual jack is some form of drudgery is bit of an overstatement.

I would like to invite you to Phoenix next summer, when I am hitching up. I will install my factory manual jack just for you. If you can do it, I will buy the beer. My 1 ton crewcab dually fully loaded with 3-4K in the bed, plus 1400# of TW..... Oh yeah, it will be around 115 degrees.

I will watch you cry as you surrender your 'Man" card.

I agree 100%! I did it for 5 years. 4yeara was with 800lbs TW, not bad, but still a good work out especially with temps in the upper 90's! Then I did it one summer with my current trailer that had 1200lbs TW! After that I got my power jack! Money well spent! I still get my work out carrying out my coolers and mini fridge along with other stuff I probably don't need! Not to mention I'm on vacation and I lift enough heavy stuff at work!!!

[jjjandrbaker]

I camp every two weeks. The old camper never had a problem with running down the battery in that time. This new one has a lot more going on. It's a learning experience. I will disconnect the battery from now on. The battery is just drained too much to operate the jack. There are some very dim lights inside the trailer.

[jjjandrbaker]

dodge guy wrote:
Having said that, it's time to find out why the battery went dead!

I totally agree with you on that! It only stayed at the storage lot for two weeks. I can't think of anything that was left on that could have drained it. Next time, I will disconnect it before storage.

[Huntindog]

rbpru wrote:
If you cannot crank a manual jack 30 rotations up to pre-load the bars, you loose you man card. 🙂 I am 72 years old and just do it because it needs to be done.

I suspect the manual jacks are on their way out because the electric model is a popular feature that can be advertised as "standard" and the market will accept the price.

Like power windows in autos, they are handy and popular enough to be installed on all models.

However, to say a manual jack is some form of drudgery is bit of an overstatement.

I would like to invite you to Phoenix next summer, when I am hitching up. I will install my factory manual jack just for you. If you can do it, I will buy the beer. My 1 ton crewcab dually fully loaded with 3-4K in the bed, plus 1400# of TW..... Oh yeah, it will be around 115 degrees.

I will watch you cry as you surrender your 'Man" card.

[rbpru]

If you cannot crank a manual jack 30 rotations up to pre-load the bars, you loose you man card. 🙂 I am 72 years old and just do it because it needs to be done.

I suspect the manual jacks are on their way out because the electric model is a popular feature that can be advertised as "standard" and the market will accept the price.

Like power windows in autos, they are handy and popular enough to be installed on all models.

However, to say a manual jack is some form of drudgery is bit of an overstatement.

[SoundGuy]

Hornnumb2 wrote:
You need to add a battery cut off switch, while sitting the CO2 detector and radio have a small draw.

CO (Carbon Monoxide) Detector, not a CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) Detector.

[Hornnumb2]

You need to add a battery cut off switch, while sitting the CO2 detector and radio have a small draw.

[SoundGuy]

IBcarguy wrote:
Plug in your truck and it will power up your tongue jack.

Not if the inline tongue jack fuse itself is blown it won't. :R

[IBcarguy]

Plug in your truck and it will power up your tongue jack. As a rule I always leave it plugged into the TV when jacking up the trailer. That jack pulls a lot of juice.