svjim
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Mercedes 3500 sprinter towing electrical connections
I am going to be towing an auto with my 2023 Thor Delano. It is built on a 2021 sprinter 3500. In preparation for the towing I had the receiver cable tested and it showed no voltage on it. I have seen some post indicating that the Mercedes does not put voltage on the receiver pins until an actual connection to an auto or trailer that creates a load. Does any one authoritatively know if that is true. If not true, I have problems with my wiring for the hitch. Thanks, Jim392Views0likes2CommentsFlat Towing Ford Fiesta
Looking to tow a ford fiesta with auto transmission. Looks like this is doable but the battery has to be disconnected. Can you have a disconnect switch installed in the Fiesta instead of having to physically disconnect the negative cable? Also I would greatly appreciate any comments from persons towing a fiesta with an auto transmission,736Views0likes5CommentsRe: Happijac trouble shooting
billyray50 wrote: Jim, It was both when raising and lowering. 2 AAs replaced in remote and Still working great. I was trying to figure it out too and forgot to apply the KISS principle when my DW asked innocently about batteries in remote. All credit to her. I received a reply from Happijac and they say that there is no relay cutoff in the controller board and pleaded ignorance on the observed functioning of the remote and battery replacement. Their take on it was that maybe adventurer had a relay cutoff. I'll contact them, but don't expect much. I've replaced batteries a number of times in the remote, so like you say keep it simple. Could be the transmitter isn't very strong or maybe the antenna on the controller board has a problem, who knows. Just have to keep a cache of batteries and small screw driver around for changing them. Jim544Views0likes0CommentsRe: Happijac trouble shooting
billyray50 wrote: I will keep an eye on it Jim but so far jacks are working fine since I replaced the remote batteries. Sorry to bug you again on this issue with the batteries in the controller. Do you recall if the intermittent working of the jacks was only when raising the camper or if it was both raising and lowering of the camper. I have replaced the offending jack head with a new one, but the stalling when raising continues and I can't seem to come to a rational explanation of why replacing batteries in the remote controller would resolve the problem. Like you, it definitely seems to have an effect, but I can't make any sense of it. I have a question into happijac about replacing the batteries in the remote controller. I am also asking them if there is any sort of thermal or electrical overload in the controller board itself. So if you have anymore information or thoughts on the remote, I would appreciate it. When I get an answer from happijac on my questions, I'll post them here. Again thanks, Jim544Views0likes0CommentsRe: Happijac trouble shooting
billyray50 wrote: My Adventurer 910 DB happi jacs were intermittent too and I replaced the 2 AA batteries in remote. That was what was causing the intermittence. Been fortunate with the jacks so far. I perform regular maitanance on them twice a year. That is interesting. I have noticed when raising the camper on the jacks that it stalls quite frequently. I have replaced batteries and the stalling seemed to diminish. What is confusing about this is that there should be no difference in stalling whether raising or lowering the camper. However the stalling does not occur when lowering the camper. That has led me to believe that the issue is with my camper batteries but again as far as I can tell the camper batteries are fully charged and as I said the issue appears only when raising the camper. I did notice somewhere in the instructions for the remote that it was stated that if the voltage was not sufficient that the led would turn red I believe. In my case there has never been a change in the LED indication. I had my RV guy working on the issue yesterday and the jack suddenly started to work. He couldn't find any short in the wiring. When he started to raise the camper things went fine for a bit, but then the stalling started. I've ordered a new head, as this was the second time the offending jack had failed to engage. The first time was resolved in the same manner, it just started to work again. At the time it was believe that was probably because of a short in the wiring. I doubt that is the cause now. Once the new Jack is installed, I told my RV guide we could go ahead and open the motor casing to see what shape the motor is in. There was a small amount of rust around the two screws that home the motor casing to the gear case with the heads. Jim544Views0likes0CommentsRe: Happijac trouble shooting
joerg68 wrote: As far as I remember, you can remove the motor when the camper is on the jacks. In principle. But you may not be able to access both screws without removing the jack first. These HJ motors often quit working due to corrosion (even after just a year or two). But then they usually blow the fuse every time you try to operate them. There is a small (maybe 1" x 3") white plastic box next to each jack. It has a lid that is held on by 4 small screws. Take it off & you should then be able to unplug the jack wires. Take a multimeter to see if you get 12V at the plug when you try to operate the jack. With some luck, maybe there is just some corrosion in the plug... OK, I know the box that you are talking about. I definitely see if there is 12 volts there. Thanks, Jim155Views0likes0CommentsRe: Happijac trouble shooting
I'll definitely try tapping the motor head. I just want to be sure it is the motor head before replacing it. This is the second time this has happened. It happened once when I was having the camper repaired and it appeared that it might have been caused by a crimped power wire. it could have just been intermittent. The particular jack was also always slower at raising or lowering than the other three jacks. I guess that could have indicated a problem also. Thanks, Jim121Views0likes0CommentsHappijac trouble shooting
I have the remote control happijacs on my Adventure TC and one of them does not work. I suspect a possible short in the wiring from the controller to the jack. I have verified that if I switch another jack to the same port that the failing jack is on that the switched jack works. Also, the failing jack does not work on another controller port. So my conclusion is either the head is bad or there is a short or crimp in the wiring. I have a couple of questions for someone knowledge in the jack's functioning.. 1. how can I test that there is actually current running through the wiring to the jack head. I think I should be able to do that at the external 'box' where the wiring exits the camper and is connected to wiring to the jack head. If so, what should I look for? 2. If there is current flowing at the box, how can I check that it is actually getting to the head. (i.e. flowing through the wiring from the box to the head. Is it possible to do that without removing the head itself? 3. OK, the camper is not in the Truck bed, so If I have to remove the head, can the jack itself be locked or am I going to have to manually raise the jack and put it in the truck bed? Thanks Jim4.7KViews0likes33Comments
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