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

[Tom_Anderson]

I always leave the compartment with the jack control open while I'm using the jacks, but I think in an emergency, I could run around and unplug them all pretty quickly.

[garbonz]

trail-explorer wrote:

garbonz wrote:
What about happijacs? been using them forever and never had or heard of a problem? Used to be the only jacks in common use and then rieco came along. May they are just cheaper and less dependable?

Rieco has been around a lot longer then Happijac

Really? I never heard of them before the last couple of years. As a company or as a supplier of TC jacks? Learn something every day.

So my related question is whether the Happijac owners have experianced similar problems?

[hedge]

thanks for the warning. I have a cutoff switch in my battery compartment but it is usually locked. After your warning I think I'll have that cabinet open as a precaution.

[Kayteg1]

My system has no wired remote and will not turn off by pushing the switch again.
Still have plugs on each jacks.
I wonder if I can add wired panel to the system? It is Atwood.

[joeshmoe]

I never close the compartment door while loading/unloading. Just makes sense in the event of something going wrong.

Somewhat related, when we bought our camper, the tech doing the PDI
mentioned that if you are parked/camping nearby another camper with the same jack system, you should use the wired feature as the using the remote wirelessly can trigger the other campers jacks if they happen to be activated at the same time.

[Fisher_Bill]

X2, something like this would make me wary of a wireless remote..

Steve_in_29 wrote:
While I have never had an issue this makes me glad I have the older phone-corded version. Acts up and I can just quickly unplug it.

[bigfootford]

I mounted the cutoff switch inside the door low so I could reach it standing outside...

Jim

[mkirsch]

That is why I use one of these:

[Dirtpig]

I had a near identical experience happen to me on two different occasions in the 6yrs I had an AF811. Once at 3 yrs and once at 5 yrs. One jack would not stop extending. This was before they offered the emergency remote. I just hit the cutoff switch in the compartment door. The remotes problem is the ribbon cable they use inside the remote is highly susceptible to corrosion. Both times to get the remote working properly again I had to remove ribbon cable and clean off. Reattach ribbon cable. The remote design is not at all weather resistant and leaving it in camper compartment 24/7 365 probably caused my remote issues.

[trail-explorer]

garbonz wrote:
What about happijacs? been using them forever and never had or heard of a problem? Used to be the only jacks in common use and then rieco came along. May they are just cheaper and less dependable?

Rieco has been around a lot longer then Happijac

[wnjj]

bigfootford wrote:

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

What if all 4 jacks are out of control? That's what happened to me and some others.

Many versions of the various jacks have no release.

Jim

Good point. Though I'd still rather race around the outside than climb up inside if it's out of control. A cut-off switch in a compartment sounds best.

[garbonz]

What about happijacs? been using them forever and never had or heard of a problem? Used to be the only jacks in common use and then rieco came along. May they are just cheaper and less dependable?

I wonder?

[Steve_in_29]

While I have never had an issue this makes me glad I have the older phone-corded version. Acts up and I can just quickly unplug it.

[bigfootford]

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

What if all 4 jacks are out of control? That's what happened to me and some others.

Many versions of the various jacks have no release.

Jim