Troubleshooting a Trailer Electric Jack That Will Not When the Switch is Engaged

Updated 04/12/2017 | Published 04/10/2017

Question:

The lift jack is for a 21 ft travel trailer. While getting ready to leave I put the toggle button in the up position, as I plugged in the electric to the hitch. The stand went up into the compartment and stopped on its own. I did not check the button after that, I had assumed all was ok. We I got to my new location to set up, the toggle button would not move at. It's frozen in the same position. I did figure out how to manually drop down the support leg to unhook my truck. How do I fix this?

asked by: Dawn

Helpful Expert Reply:

There could be a few things that could be causing your electric trailer jack to malfunction. I will give a few starting points to begin to troubleshoot the problem.

On some electric jacks there may be an inline fuse on the power wire going from the battery or power source to the jack. Check to see if the fuse has blown. You can use a tester like # PTW2993 to test the fuse will it is still connected to the power wire. Also inspect the wiring between the battery and the jack for any damage. Look for loose, frayed or broken connections. If you have a fuse and it and the wiring checks out to be ok, then you should move on to the switch.

Before you begin to check the switch, make sure to disconnect the battery to reduce any risk of electrical shock. An easy test for the switch will be to disconnect the switch and hook it up to a 12-volt power source directly. If the jack starts to operate in one direction, then reverse the hook-up to see if the jack will operate in the other direction. If the jack continues to operate after switching the hook-up, then the problem will be with the switch.

However, if the jack motor does not begin to operate after bypassing the switch and all the components and connections have been check, then the electric motor in the jack most likely has malfunctioned. Again, depending on the brand of jack, there may be a replacement motor available, but in some cases the whole jack will have to be replaced.

If by chance you need to replace your whole jack assembly, I have attached a link that lists all the electric A-frame jacks that we carry for you to review. If have any questions on the new jacks or more troubleshooting issues, please feel free to contact us back.

expert reply by: Jared P