mattyj

Long Island.New York

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My 20 year old Atwood electric jacks finally died, I have tried numerous replacement of parts to try to get them to work again, but no good. I’m using a drill and an attachment to crank up It takes about an hour real PIA my question is, is there any kind of switch on the jack that has to be activated in order to crank down jacks manually, if so, I hope I did not damage anything. If anybody can help, please reply thanks.
2006 Ford F 350, 6.0 PSD 8 Foot Bed 4x4 with Torklift Tie downs ,Stable Loads ,rear Helwig Swaybar,airlifts 5000 , Method 305 HD rims . 2019 Adventurer 89 RBS, slideout, Generator
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Grit dog

Black Diamond, WA

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Not sure. The old electric jacks on our camper had a lever that disengaged the electric motor.
If they crank up n down now from the manual attachment I don’t understand what the issue is.
I had one sticky jack I had to run with a drill for a while until I tore it apart and lubed it. But if I had to run all 4 that way, if 2 people were present it would make sense to run 2 drills at a time. So you don’t have to make 4x as many laps around the truck!
2016 Ram 2500, MotorOps.ca EFIlive tuned, 5” turbo back, 6" lift on 37s
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JimK-NY

NY

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I am surprised they lasted that long. Most of the older Atwood electric jacks were prone to water intrusion, killing the jack motors. If the jacks themselves are good, you should be able to get replacement motor units. The old jacks are no longer made but there are replacements. I had good luck with Tweety's getting information on the correct, upgraded part numbers.
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monkey44

Cape Cod, MA and Central Fla

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If you cannot get it repaired, try unplugging the feed wire from the camper on each jack. Then use the drill to raise and lower ... if you don't unplug it, you're raising and lowering, AND probably spinning the dead motor as well.
You may also be getting some resistance from the battery ... not sure how or if the battery would affect it. But, when I had a dead battery once, I had to life it with a drill to load it. Once I unplugged, the drill felt and sounded like much less a load on it and it lifted the camper much quicker.
Monkey44
Cape Cod Ma & Central Fla
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Grit dog

Black Diamond, WA

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^I’m pretty sure disconnecting the wires won’t make a bit of difference. Or am I missing something.
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KD4UPL

Swoope, VA

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The Attwood jacks on my 2003 camper came with cranks; I guess in case the motors failed. I tried using them once just to see what it was like. They worked, both up and down. I didn't change anything or unhook anything to do it. After that experiment I just always used the motors.
All 4 of my jacks still worked fine in 2018 when I sold the camper.
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jimh406

Western MT

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I've never used my manual crank, but from what I understand, there is no switch. Maybe your jack is corroded or bent. Try a different one.
'10 Ford F-450, 6.4, 4.30, 4x4, 14,500 GVWR, '06 Host Rainer 950 DS, Torklift Talon tiedowns, Glow Steps, and Fastguns. Bilstein 4600s, Firestone Bags, Toyo M655 Gs, Curt front hitch, Energy Suspension bump stops.
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monkey44

Cape Cod, MA and Central Fla

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Grit dog wrote: ^I’m pretty sure disconnecting the wires won’t make a bit of difference. Or am I missing something.
It does make a huge difference, Grit Dog ... personal experience. It sounds like it's turning the jack motors - some kind of friction thru the wires maybe, I don't really know. I do know it is much less taxing on the drill when the wires are disconnected. I just pulled the plug out of the camper for each jack and the spin rate on 18v Mikita drill greatly increased.
2008 Lance 845 ...
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mattyj

Long Island.New York

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monkey44 wrote: Grit dog wrote: ^I’m pretty sure disconnecting the wires won’t make a bit of difference. Or am I missing something.
It does make a huge difference, Grit Dog ... personal experience. It sounds like it's turning the jack motors - some kind of friction thru the wires maybe, I don't really know. I do know it is much less taxing on the drill when the wires are disconnected. I just pulled the plug out of the camper for each jack and the spin rate on 18v Mikita drill greatly increased.
2008 Lance 845 ... I did not notice any difference with drill on jacks plugged or unplugged Thank you all
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Buzzcut1

Norcal

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if you need to replace it. The Reico Titan is a 99% plug and play replacement. bolt holes are the same , motor speed is the same, capacity is the same. only thing you need to change is the plug receptacle on the camper.
2011 F350 6.7L Diesel 4x4 CrewCab longbed Dually, 2019 Lance 1062, Torqlift Talons, Fast Guns, upper and lower Stable Loads, Super Hitch, 48" Super Truss, Airlift loadlifter 5000 extreme airbags
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