Jack Remote Control Caution

[brholt]

I have a 2013 AF 1150 with the Rieco Titan jacks and the remote control. About 6 months ago I ran into an issue where when lowering the jacks to stabilize the camper on the truck at our camping site I pushing "lift" and the jacks wouldn't stop going down and I didn't know why. It was pretty scary and frankly I was in a bit of a panic as I open up the camper and went to the control box for the jacks to turn them off (its under the sink). While doing this the jacks were attempting to lift the camper and the truck. The lights in the camper dimmed and and came on again as I think the circuit breaker tripped and reset. I connected the wired emergency remote, reenergized the jack system and everything worked fine. I checked over the camper, fast guns, and the brackets and fortunately everything was fine ( I can now vouch for the strength of the tie down system and brackets). I used the wired emergency remote the rest of the trip. Thinking about what happened I realized it would have been faster to turn off the power at the storage compartment switch instead of hurrying into the camper (and note, the slide was in).

When I got home I checked out the remote and noticed the battery in it had very low voltage. I replaced it andI tested the system again and everything seemed fine. I didn't seem to have any more problems and sort of figured the problem was somehow related to the battery.

Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough to figure out I had a bigger problem.

Last week while pushing "lower" the jacks wouldn't stop. I realized the remote was continuing to send out a signal - the light on the remote was staying lit. I repeatedly pushed on the buttons and it finally stopped. Because we were leaving I went into the truck and drove off the level blocks. As soon as I got out of the truck to put away the blocks I realized the jacks had become active and were "clutching" as they were fully retraced. I ran over, unlocked and opened the compartment that had the switch to activate the jack system and turned it off. (Turned out the jacks are ok.)

I called Rieco Titan and they said I had a bad keypad. Sent the remote in to them and they have since confirmed that the keypad was the problem and have replaced the it (this is out of warranty so I paid for it of course).

A couple of lessons:

1. Don't engage in wishful thinking (but you probably know that).

2. From now on I'm keeping the outside storage door that has the jack activation switch open while using the jacks. Previously I would unlock it, activate the jacks, and close and relock it. When you are trying to stop the jacks seconds count.

3. I'm also going to shut off the jack controller after using it. I used to let the control panel "time out" but after having the remote start the jacks on its own I'm going to play it safe.

4. If you have a wireless jack controller be sure you have a wired emergency system. (I assume they pretty much a come that way).

This is probably a rare occurance and I may be the only one who runs into this (though Rieco Titan didn't have any problem identifying what was happening) but ......

Brad

[wnjj]

Do the Riecos have a manual release lever to disconnect the motor? That would stop the jack even if the motor kept running.

[billsnp5]

Had the same thing on my 2013 990 not long after we got it. Was raising camper and one jack would not stop raising the camper. I was in a big panic, luckily I thought about the plugs on each jack and unplugged the one that would not stop. It could have easily damaged or flipped the camper. It was also a bad remote. When I called Arctic Fox and Rieco they both said they had never heard of this happening, yea right! I keep a close watch now every time I load and unload. They sent me a new one and no problems since. I posted about the incident about 2 to 3 years ago.

[bigfootford]

This is the exact reason I installed a jack power switch just inside the back door of my camper.
I keep the power off at all times when the jacks are not in use. I used and recommend a 50+ amp switch.
After 50+ years in the electronics industry from every aspect imaginable I respect methods of stoping a disaster.

My jack controller acted up only one time in 16 years.... I reached in and pushed the button which reset the condition. Never happened again.

Here's what I use:

75 amp. I have measured 40 amps of draw from my jacks. Usually 30-35.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-75-AMP-PUSH-PULL-SWITCH-6-28-VOLT-/331366216551




Jim

[deltabravo]

brholt wrote:

2. From now on I'm keeping the outside storage door that has the jack activation switch open while using the jacks. Previously I would unlock it, activate the jacks, and close and relock it. When you are trying to stop the jacks seconds count.

3. I'm also going to shut off the jack controller after using it. I used to let the control panel "time out" but after having the remote start the jacks on its own I'm going to play it safe.

This has always been my method of operating the jacks on my AF 811