Tongue Jack Wiring

[tbushmaker]

2018 Imagine 3170BH. Tongue jack works fine on battery and shore power but won't work on truck power alone. Before storing the trailer for winter I pull the battery out to trickle charge at home, but this means I have to use the manual crank wrench to lower the jack at the storage site, which is a big pain. The 7-pin powers the running lights and brakes fine but apparently nothing else in the 12V system (like interior lights)... is that normal or is something wired wrong? (FYI, doesn't matter the position of the battery disconnect switch, or if I "short" the battery connectors together). Always been like this (bought used last year) but only recently realized this probably isn't normal.

[Stealth13777]

*edit* re-read, as I thought you said it was making the interior lights work on the trailer. Most modern trucks do limit the power output, so if some 12v stuff was working then you had power. However, running lights and brakes are their own circuit. I agree with Hunter that it sounds like your truck is not supplying power to the charge circuit.

If it’s a Ford, some of them are missing the charge circuit breaker from the factory, depending on year.

An alternative is you just leave the battery in until the trailer is parked, then take it with you when you drive back home and put it on to charge. That’s what we do. But I would also want the charge circuit of the truck working.

[huntr70]

2018 Imagine 3170BH. Tongue jack works fine on battery and shore power but won't work on truck power alone. Before storing the trailer for winter I pull the battery out to trickle charge at home, but this means I have to use the manual crank wrench to lower the jack at the storage site, which is a big pain. The 7-pin powers the running lights and brakes fine but apparently nothing else in the 12V system (like interior lights)... is that normal or is something wired wrong? (FYI, doesn't matter the position of the battery disconnect switch, or if I "short" the battery connectors together). Always been like this (bought used last year) but only recently realized this probably isn't normal.

Not normal on an Imagine.

We haul all of our overflow units to a storage lot and just plug them in. It will run the tongue jack, and the interior lights /slides when the disconnect is turned on.

Could you have a blown fuse for the charge line on your truck?

[jmbopp]

What truck? To get power to the trailer GM's need a fuse added and a terminal screwed to a post on the fuse block. F150's need a fuse and relay added (part should be in a bag in the truck.) My F250 was OK from the factory.

[sande005]

And...why go through the effort of removing the battery? See my other posts for details, but in our winters, it isn't needed. Fully charge it, use it for the little the last operation of the jack requires, disconnect everything at the terminal (not the switch), and in the spring reconnect and operate the jack like normal. The battery will still be at or above 90% of fully charged....

[Rabbit]

Newer F150s don’t have a fuse in the battery charge circuit and the truck will not supply enough current to run heavy current consumption without an at least partially charged battery. The circuit just tops off the battery. The computer senses the current draw and shuts down if it’s too high.

[tbushmaker]

Thanks all. I'll have to double-check everything when I pick up the camper in spring, but my F-150 has the trailer charge fuse in place and working, so it must be something downstream. If nothing else I will probably keep the battery in place until after I drop the jack in storage. Have a great winter.