power tongue jack

[raychris1]

Trying to place a bike rack on my tongue. It requires taking off the power tongue jack. Sounds simple. My problem is I put my batteries in about 3-4 weeks ago after having them off for the winter. The tongue and other stuff worked good with batteries back in. Getting the trailer ready for our maiden voyage (Bought it used in December). Put the jacks under the tongue and tried to raise the tongue to remove it temporarily. No power, just a warning tone when I tried the lights. Camping World said the battery could be drained in a short time. Didn't have the Trailer on shore power. After all that backstory my question is...can I raise the tongue jack without the batteries using shore power? 2009 Surveyor sport.

[myredracer]

Might check grounding of the jack first? They're often grounded via the mounting bolts with a serrated washers between jack & frame and they can loosen or get rusty. Some I believe use a separate ground wire and same thing there, the ground connection may not be good.

[bikendan]

All power tongue jacks should have a manual way to raise and lower.
Some use a supplied wrench or a socket.
What's the condition of the battery? Do you not have a multimeter?

[raychris1]

When I tried the jack and had no power I checked the lights in the RV. No lights and all I got was a warning tone. The dealer is charging the batteries and will let me know tomorrow. I hope all it is is dead batteries. We leave in two weeks and I don't think they can look at it before then.

[myredracer]

A voltmeter is a good diagnostic tool to carry with you for use on 12 & 120 volts. Available at Harbor Freight for a whole $6.39. No one can afford not to have one...

A ratchet wrench and socket to fit the top of the jack is another good tool to have. In fact, a complete socket set is something you should really have. Another can't afford not to have thing, starting at just $11.99 at HF. The top of our jack takes a 1/2" socket.

A few years ago, our converter and battery died at the same time on a long road trip. You just never know what will happen sometimes and suddenly 12 volt things won't work. It only takes a few days or less for batteries to get drained due to the parasitic loads like fridge circuit board & radio which are always on.

The co/propane alarm should beep when a battery gets low, but if completely dead won't of course. Hopefully all you need is a charge.

[russhd1997]

I've never tried using my tongue jack with just shore power and no batteries. I think it would be quite a strain on the charger in the converter and could cause it to fail. I don't think that you should try it.

[TheWolfPaq82]

I run mine on shore power every fall and every spring as I remove the batteries when I'm winterizing and I level the TT back up in the spring before putting batteries back in. There is also the "Manual" operation that you can use.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by raychris1

When I tried the jack and had no power I checked the lights in the RV. No lights and all I got was a warning tone. The dealer is charging the batteries and will let me know tomorrow. I hope all it is is dead batteries. We leave in two weeks and I don't think they can look at it before then.

You really should have the battery tested with a hydrometer, which i doubt the dealer will do. They'll just do a load test.