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Old 10-06-2016, 11:02 AM   #1
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Rockwood Ultralite 5th Wheel Front Leg Levels Fuse Burns

Hello. Last fall I purchased a preowned RockWood Ultralite 5th Wheel and really like the unit. One problem I have is that the 30 AMP fuse for the motor driving the front leveling legs burns out if the legs are raised or lowered past a certain point. There is about a 5 inch range on the front legs where the motor works well but beyond that the fuse burns. It appears the previous owner had the same problem because he left a good supply of 30amp fuses and marked the safe range on the leveler legs.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, is there a fix? I was thinking of using a larger amperage fuse, but am leary. Any suggestions would be great.

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Old 10-06-2016, 11:42 AM   #2
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The only thing I could possibly think of is the legs are bent and when they either retract, or extend into the bent area, it blows the fuse.

Other than that... I don't know?
The motor simply drives the shaft/gear mechanism that raises/lowers the legs.
It doesn't care where the legs are in relationship to height, except for maybe fully retracted or fully extended.
Same goes for the drive shaft (between the two legs) and the gears on top of each leg.

During the 5 inches you say it works, the motor and drive shaft probably turns 50-100 times. Not sure why it would then blow a fuse unless binding.
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Old 10-06-2016, 11:47 AM   #3
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Think about it, you already answered your own question. Moving beyond the screws limits caused the motor to become overloaded and blows the fuse. Quite simple really. DONT OVER EXTEND OR RETRACT IT!
Lots of folks paint a white stripe just short of the limits to give a visual aid to know when to stop. I went a step further and added an up limit switch which stops travel before damage can occur.
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Old 10-06-2016, 12:03 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by donniedu View Post
Think about it, you already answered your own question. Moving beyond the screws limits caused the motor to become overloaded and blows the fuse. Quite simple really. DONT OVER EXTEND OR RETRACT IT!
Lots of folks paint a white stripe just short of the limits to give a visual aid to know when to stop. I went a step further and added an up limit switch which stops travel before damage can occur.
It sounded to me the OP wasn't getting close the extend/retract limits.
And if so, only a 5 inch range is pretty dang small.

Our Flagstaff Classic Super-Lite 5th wheel has about 15-16 inches of travel.
I've marked mine at 1" from the retract and 2" from extend which still gives me well over 12" of travel.
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Old 10-06-2016, 01:29 PM   #5
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I was having the same issue with my Salem. Now that I have a supply of fuses and am careful to stop retracting about an inch from hitting the stop, I haven't had a problem with fuses blowing.
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Old 10-06-2016, 01:42 PM   #6
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Install a in-line fuse release.
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Old 10-06-2016, 01:48 PM   #7
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Mine had a similar problem, I removed each leg one at a time and dis-assembled the jack and removed the screw. Found out it had burrs all up and down practically the entire length. I removed the burrs with a bastard knife file and now they work the entire range with no problems. I also replaced the fuse with an automatic resettable 30 A fuse.
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Old 10-06-2016, 10:54 PM   #8
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I agree with OldCoot, first check the legs with a straight edge to see if they are still straight, if not, disassemble and correct. I also removed the fuse link setup and bolted a 30 amp circuit breaker to the sidewall and used that instead. Should you "pop" the breaker, it will reset. You can buy them at auto parts stores for around $10.
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Old 10-07-2016, 07:40 AM   #9
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We have a Rockwood Ultra-lite and we the breaker would pop and stop the legs from going up or down. We would have to go into the front compartment and reset it all the time. The problem was that one of the wires going into the Sidewinder hitch became frayed and was shorting out all the time. Taped up the fray and secured the wire properly, no more problems. Your problem tells me that possibly your circuit breaker for the legs is defective thereby causing your fuses to burn out. Why there is too much of a load on the fuse is another matter.
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Old 10-07-2016, 09:56 AM   #10
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Thanks for the response folks. Seems I am not the only one that has experienced the same issue. All of you have given me some suggestions on what to look for and ways to bypass or fix it. Love this forum! Much appreciated!

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