Water in my LCI tongue jack

[ImTravis]

Last weekend went camping and enjoyed a great Thunderstorm or two..lots of rain, like a waterfall off the awning, and was able to use the jack to hook up, but now no power.. No lights or motor working on the jack. The rest of the trailer is fine, just the jack. I pulled the motor off, and it had a bit of water in it.. Can this thing be saved, or must I give in and get a new tongue jack? Any ideas?

Btw, you could hear the water sloshing around as I moved the motor housing around once it was off.

Thanks for reading.


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[Nagrompj]

Just stating the obvious, there is a fuse close to the battery. On my trailer the LCI jack would blow the fuse every time I ran it up to travel. I think it was a 35 amp fuse. I ran out of 35 amp fuses and replaced it with the next size up (40 amp?), never had a problem with it after. I normally would not recommend doing so but obviously 35 amps was not enough for normal operation.
12 volt dc motors are usually tolerate rain water as long as they are dried out before corrosion starts.

[LuvsPalmTrees]

We have the same problem. We keep blowing fuses and would have trouble putting it up and down. Finally it died - 3 years after purchasing the trailer. Our Atwood lasted 14 years and as far as I know it is still going strong. We were really disappointed with the jack.

[bitten]

When driving through a rv park recently I noticed a lot of TTs with buckets over the hitches. Maybe preventing wetness issues.

[zenbuck]

I had problems with my LCI blowing fuses with every disconnect. It then started to have lifting issues and died. After further inspection, the gear housing was full of water. It lasted 3 seasons.. Replaced with a Husky Brute..

[ImTravis]

Well Sunday I tied a black plastic garbage bag over the motor (was hoping to bake out more moisture). Checked today and still no go. There's no fuse inline, so I've come to the conclusion it's dead.. Went and ordered a new Husky 4500R with cover on Amazon. Should be in Friday, and I'll install the week I'm back from vacation (not trailer vacation though). Should have it installed before the 4th of July weekend, for a real field test.

Thanks for the input.


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[JRTJH]

A black plastic trash bag tied around the motor housing and left in the sun would probably "steam the moisture" into the motor rather than dry it out. Possibly removing the motor, placing it in a container with rice (or if you have one, a dehydrator) might have given you a bit more time before failure. Eventually, it likely would have failed anyway, so it's probably best to "bite the bullet" and replace it.

Many of us have constructed a waterproof "cover" to place over the motor housing. Whether it's a half gallon milk container, a plastic orange juice bottle, or something more elaborate, if you can conceive a cover that you can leave on the jack housing in storage and while travelling, you'll be a "step ahead" in the long run. Even "water proof" or "water resistant" housings have the potential to leak. A cover, no matter how basic, is just another "line of defense" against leakage...

During installation of your new jack, depending on the size of your existing circuit breaker/fuse, you may need to install a larger wire and CB from the battery to the new jack.

[ImTravis]

Thanks for the info. I ordered a cover for it for when in storage, figure that'd help a little. I'm actually looking forward to the better tongue jack.


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[TallEddie]

The stock tongue jack on my Laredo filled up with water. I disassembled the jack, and the electric motor, cleaned all the contacts and got it working again. A few months later the motor froze up again.

Replaced with an Atwood jack, and put a fabric/fake leather tongue jack cover on it.

The replacement jack is so much better. Quieter and slightly faster.