Springdale Front Levelers Blows Fuses

swbouton · 08-12-2012, 04:39 PM

Every time I bring the front legs up too far the fuse blows. I'm thinking about replacing the fuse with a circuit breaker for my convenience, but that will only mask the problem.

How can I remedy this?

Thank you for your help.

therink · 08-12-2012, 05:38 PM

Hi. The trick is to not bring them up all the way. Mine are marked so I know where to stop. They do not need to be up all the way. I leave mine down about 2" from top.
Steve

**JRTJH** · 08-12-2012, 05:41 PM

Any time you overload a DC motor it will blow the fuse (if it is protected properly). What is happening to you is what is designed into the front jack system.

Many of us have marked the front legs with tape, paint or another system to allow us to see when we are approaching the upper end of travel. When we get "close" we stop and prevent the fuse from blowing. There is no need to force the jacks into the uppermost travel, adequate distance from the roadway is available even if the jacks are down 2 or 3 inches.

Replacing the fuse with a circuit breaker will allow you to continue to "blow the circuit" and may well eventually produce enough intermittent loads on the system to permanently damage your motor/gear system on the front jacks. Other members have reported destroying a $300 gear set, or a $250 motor by doing exactly what you're experiencing.

My advice is to realize that if the fuse is blowing, there's a reason and once you understand that it's from overloading the motor, then the best approach is to avoid overloading the motor, not keep replacing the fuse (or putting a "resetting fuse" called a circuit breaker) in the system.

It's sort of like the guy that went to his doctor and said, "Doc, every time I hit my head with this hammer, it hurts. And the doctor replied, "then stop hitting your head, dummy."

mobile42 · 08-12-2012, 09:43 PM

When that fuse is popped, you can replace it with a Atc-40 amp fuse, that's what I did with mine. As mentioned above, "When we get close we stop and prevent the fuse from blowing. There is no need to force the jacks into the uppermost travel.

**JRTJH** · 08-13-2012, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobile42

When that fuse is popped, you can replace it with a Atc-40 amp fuse, that's what I did with mine. As mentioned above, "When we get close we stop and prevent the fuse from blowing. There is no need to force the jacks into the uppermost travel.

The fuse on a Springdale is NOT a 40 Amp fuse. Mine is a 20 Amp and some are 30 Amp. Double check to make sure you only replace with a similar amperage fuse !!!!!!

swbouton · 08-13-2012, 06:41 AM

I think the root of the problem is how I set the camper up after returning from a trip. We are very new to camping having been on only 3 camping trips. It's been a "learning experience".

We keep the camper on our property. That area slopes downward which makes it necessary for me to lower the front quite a bit in order to level it.

I need to figure out where to place the pin in the legs so that I don't need to bring the legs up so high and I'm not sure how to do that yet. It's got to be high enough to get above the 5'er truck mount, let low enough to permit leveling without popping a fuse.

Is there some kind of calculation for this? Any tips?

Thanks to all for your help. You guys are great!

christopherglenn · 08-13-2012, 12:40 PM

Buy a spare fuse, and have some spraypaint handy. Clean the lower foot or so of the upper leg closest to the switch then raise the gear till it stops, then wrap masking tape all the way around the leg closest to the switch. Change fuse (if needed) and lower the gear several inches. Put a second layer of tape about 1/4" above the first (so you are masking about 1/4 inch more of the leg). Put a second band of tape, with about an inch gap above the top of the second layer, you should now have 2 areas masked, with about an inch gap between them. Paint the area between the tape. When you raise the gear, stop when the painted area is no longer visible. When the legs get dirty, you can do a simple wipe with a glove and see the edge of the paint.

swbouton · 08-13-2012, 02:59 PM

Good idea. I'll do it.

Thank you very much.

mobile42 · 08-13-2012, 08:25 PM

I bought my trailer new and it did come with a 30 amp fuse. It blew its fuse 3 times the 1st year. I never run my landing on the trailer batteries alone. I either have the trailer hooked to electricity or plugged into the truck with the engine running so the charge line is hot. It’s not a huge problem but just an aggravating one. Try making sure that your wheel chocks are holding the trailer in place before you lower the landing gear. If the 5er is pushing forward on the legs it may cause them to bind. Having all the weight on the two legs with the ground not level can put things in enough of a bind to throw the fuse.

While I do not know your landing gear, I know to replace a fuse with a bigger one is not a good idea. If you do that realize that you may very well burn up a motor or some other component. A fuse is there to prevent more serious problems. A much better idea would be to find out what is causing the problem. Simply replacing the fuse with the next size bigger, while tempting (but then, I've always live on the edge...so where are my 40 amp fuses) will only delay the inevitable. Better to fix it now than have it fail while on road. Hope this helps, not fun when this kind of thing happens takes the joy out of it.

swbouton · 08-14-2012, 05:35 AM

I'm not going to replace the 30a with a 40a.

I don't understand why the fuse blows when I retract the legs far. Should the retraction just stop before the fuse blows? It doesn't sound like something I can troubleshoot and repair though.

For now I'll leave the fuse in and will not replace the fuse with the circuit breaker and I will set up the marker on the legs to circumvent the problem.

Thanks very much for the information. I appreciate it.

**JRTJH** · 08-14-2012, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swbouton

I'm not going to replace the 30a with a 40a.

I don't understand why the fuse blows when I retract the legs far. Should the retraction just stop before the fuse blows? It doesn't sound like something I can troubleshoot and repair though.

For now I'll leave the fuse in and will not replace the fuse with the circuit breaker and I will set up the marker on the legs to circumvent the problem.

Thanks very much for the information. I appreciate it.

The reason the fuse blows is that when you reach the uppermost limit of travel, the motor stops turning and that puts a direct short to ground on the brushes in the motor. That "momentary short" before the fuse blows allows the motor to draw many amps more current than the motor brushes, armature winding and connecting wire bundle can handle. There may be upwards of 100 amps flowing through the motor at that time. That amount of current would overheat and melt/destroy the motor and wiring harness in a very short time. Hopefully, the 30 Amp fuse will blow within a couple of microseconds and protect the system BEFORE anything melts.

As for why the retraction doesn't stop before it reaches that point is simply because Lippert and Keystone haven't spent the extra money to build in a limit stop switch. Even if they did include that limit switch, they are prone to adjustment problems and other failures, so it's probably just as well that they didn't add something else that breaks easily.

Upper (and lower) motor travel has been an issue with blowing fuses since fifth wheel front landing gear were motorized years ago. We've all pretty much come to realize that avoiding the extreme ends of travel is the best way to live with the convenience the electric motor provides. The alternative, cranking by hand, is not something I'd want to return to.....

Ayotte · 08-15-2012, 07:30 PM

I have a roll of bright orange duct tape. I lowered the legs about 2 inches and put several raps of tape around the leg just below the top part. Only lift the legs to that height. Have never had any trouble.

dave-g · 08-16-2012, 02:33 AM

I think we all have blown our fair share of fuses. Put tape or paint on the leg so you do not get to the end of the travel.

And keep extra fuses with you because at some point- the wife will feel it necessary to talk to you while you are raising the legs and even a seasoned vet will blow the fuse.

good luck.

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