Troubleshooting Weak Ground Preventing Electric Jack EJ-3520-BBX From Functioning

Published 12/27/2016

Question:

Hi. I installed this on my car trailer per the video instructions. I cleaned the paint off the bottom of the jack mounting plate AND the trailer so there would be good metal to metal contact. I connected the power wire directly to the positive side of a 12V battery. The unit will not power up unless I also connect a ground to the negative side of the battery and touch the other end to anywhere on the jack - even the screws in the plastic housing will complete the circuit. What am I doing wrong that it is not grounding itself to the trailer? Could there be something wrong with the wiring in the power head and if so what should I look for. Im pretty much a novice with 12v wiring. Thanks

asked by: Jim W

Expert Reply:

You did some excellent troubleshooting and because of that we know the issue is ground related. What is going on with your trailer is that it does not ground sufficiently through the trailer frame. What you can do is ran a ground wire from the mounting plate of the jack to the main ground wire of the trailer connector or you can try improving the ground strap from the connector to the trailer frame and either way will get the jack working.

expert reply by: Jameson C