Electric Tongue Jack Installed - 2014 Wilderness 2175RB

[SailorDon]

I just installed a Bulldog 500199 Electric Tongue Jack on my 2014 Wilderness 2175RB.
Less than $250 if you search the internet.
$325 at my local RV dealer.

It appears to be a quality electric jack. Runs quiet and smooth up or down, with load or no load.
Nothing major, but when mounting in the preferred orientation, the overhang of the drive motor housing interferes with the cover on the propane tanks.
Solution is to mount it 90° so the motor housing overhangs left or right.
That makes it somewhat difficult to pull the spring loaded pin on the drop leg since the pull handle is now under the propane tanks (instead of easily accessible on the side).
I can live with that nuisance.
The level at the top of the unit now shows level from side to side instead of front to back. Kind of useless now.
The unit is powered by what looks like 10 gage wire coming out of the housing. No in-line fuse. Just a live wire when you connect to your battery.
I will be installing a 30 amp in-line fuse near the battery box.

I posted a video clip to YouTube showing the installation and operation.

I give it a 5 star rating.

 

[Silverado23]

Your jack should have an automatic circuit breaker which will protect the motor. It is still good to have a fuse added near the battery to add further protection to the wiring.

 

[SailorDon]

Your jack should have an automatic circuit breaker which will protect the motor.

There is no evidence of the "should have" circuit breaker for the Bulldog 500199.

Is this a "should have" I need to install myself?

I have installed the 30 amp inline fuse.
IMHO I don't need a fuse and a circuit breaker, so I will ignore your circuit breaker recommendation.
Since all the outside wiring, switches and connections are marine grade and weatherproof, it should work for travel trailer use.
In general, I don't do circuit breakers outside. Inside the travel trailer every circuit is protected by circuit breakers.

There is no way I'm going to wire an electric tongue jack inside just to use a circuit breaker. It is outside equipment so it gets an outside fuse.

The one exception to my "rule" is the electric awning. There is a circuit breaker at the main panel for the awning motor. That's the way it came from the factory.
I makes sense to have it wired that way since the switch for the awning is inside.
.

 

[danemayer]

There is no evidence of the "should have" circuit breaker for the Bulldog 500199.

Is this a "should have" I need to install myself?

I have installed the 30 amp inline fuse.
IMHO I don't need a fuse and a circuit breaker, so I will ignore your circuit breaker recommendation.
Since all the outside wiring, switches and connections are marine grade and weatherproof, it should work for travel trailer use.
In general, I don't do circuit breakers outside. Inside the travel trailer every circuit is protected by circuit breakers.

There is no way I'm going to wire an electric tongue jack inside just to use a circuit breaker. It is outside equipment so it gets an outside fuse.

The one exception to my "rule" is the electric awning. There is a circuit breaker at the main panel for the awning motor. That's the way it came from the factory.
I makes sense to have it wired that way since the switch for the awning is inside.
.

A 30 amp 12V DC mini-circuit breaker will do the trick without having to rewire going inside the coach. You probably already have several of these near the battery. They're usually covered by a red rubber boot.

Of course a fuse will work fine too. Just make sure you always have a spare or two, or three.

 

[Silverado23]

There is no evidence of the "should have" circuit breaker for the Bulldog 500199.

Is this a "should have" I need to install myself?

I have installed the 30 amp inline fuse.
IMHO I don't need a fuse and a circuit breaker, so I will ignore your circuit breaker recommendation.
Since all the outside wiring, switches and connections are marine grade and weatherproof, it should work for travel trailer use.
In general, I don't do circuit breakers outside. Inside the travel trailer every circuit is protected by circuit breakers.

There is no way I'm going to wire an electric tongue jack inside just to use a circuit breaker. It is outside equipment so it gets an outside fuse.

The one exception to my "rule" is the electric awning. There is a circuit breaker at the main panel for the awning motor. That's the way it came from the factory.
I makes sense to have it wired that way since the switch for the awning is inside.
.

The Automatic circuit breaker(ACB) is referenced in the owners manual for this jack and should be built-in to your jack. The ACB only protects the motor from overload. Adding a fuse near the battery will also add short circuit protection to the wiring.



Circuit breakers are commonly installed outside near the battery. I have a whole bank of them factory installed.



Owners Manual
http://www.bulldogproducts.net/support/installation/N500199.pdf

Reference to Circuit breaker Line 10 of installation instructions.

10. Connect the wire lead from the jack directly to the positive (+) terminal of the battery. This unit has a built-in circuit breaker which automatically trips and resets. ……

 

[SailorDon]

I missed that part of the owner's manual about the automatic circuit breaker in the Bulldog 500199.
As mentioned, it only protects the motor.
IMHO it is not safe to rely on that for the safety of the installation, since it doesn't protect the wire that comes out of the motor housing.
If that wire shorts out, then the wire from the motor housing can heat up like a toaster element.
Since that wire runs under the propane tanks, I want to make sure that is fused before it becomes an ignition source.
I installed the in-line fuse right where the wire comes out of the battery box.

I didn't know the connections under the red rubber boots were circuit breakers for the travel trailer.
When I bought the travel trailer, the dealer tech gave me a 2 hour "training session", but he never said anything about
circuit breakers under the red rubber caps.
5 years after buying my travel trailer and I'm still a newbie.
There are 3 of those red caps on the front of my travel trailer, on the steel beam right behind the
frame rails for the battery support.
That surprised me. I'm going to have to investigate that in more detail. Just looking under the red caps looks like a steel bolt-on connection plate.
There is no visible circuit breaker under the plate, but it could be hidden by the plate.
I thought the caps were just terminal covers, sort of like for the lug nut connections on storage batteries.
There are no switches on them, like I'm used to seeing on circuit breakers.
I'm assuming the bolt-on plates are live (12 VDC) when the battery is connected.
.

.

 

[Silverado23]

I missed that part of the owner's manual about the automatic circuit breaker in the Bulldog 500199.
As mentioned, it only protects the motor.
IMHO it is not safe to rely on that for the safety of the installation, since it doesn't protect the wire that comes out of the motor housing.
If that wire shorts out, then the wire from the motor housing can heat up like a toaster element.
Since that wire runs under the propane tanks, I want to make sure that is fused before it becomes an ignition source.
I installed the in-line fuse right where the wire comes out of the battery box.
.

I agree, the manual is lacking in safely protecting the wiring with a fuse or a circuit breaker near the battery and should not rely on the built-in circuit breaker as the only source of protection.

On the other hand, You certainly need to be aware of that built-in breaker so that when the motor stops running and the fuse is good, you can remember to wait a few minutes for the built-in circuit breaker to reset itself before you drive your self crazy thinking the jack went bad.

 

[SailorDon]

..........when the motor stops running and the fuse is good, you can remember to wait a few minutes for the built-in circuit breaker to reset itself before you drive your self crazy thinking the jack went bad.

Exactly Right!

I'll bet you I could have that whole motor/gearbox housing disassembled and void the 5 year Bulldog warranty before the automatic circuit breaker resets.
Now I will know it is time to take a break for a cool brewski and try again when things have cooled down.
.

 

[Silverado23]

Exactly Right!

I'll bet you I could have that whole motor/gearbox housing disassembled and void the 5 year Bulldog warranty before the automatic circuit breaker resets.
Now I will know it is time to take a break for a cool brewski and try again when things have cooled down.
.

I was nearly at that point twice a few weeks ago with my jack. I knew it had a automatic circuit breaker and inspected the fuse. First time, I manually retracted the jack and then was getting ready to put the jack down, Jack started working again. Second time, I just waited about ten minutes and decided that it was not working and needed to be repaired. Waited a few more minutes and checked it one last time and sure enough breaker reset and worked ever since.

Both times it was pretty cold out. At this point, the jack probably still needs to be disassembled and re-greased. Its been a while since I did the last greasing.

 

[SailorDon]

Of course a fuse will work fine too. Just make sure you always have a spare or two, or three.

I didn't think 2 or 3 spare fuses was all that important.
Apparently this Bulldog 500199 is a very high power consumption accessory.
SURPRISE!
3 days and 6 up/down lifts and the 30 amp fuse has blown.
No problem.
Insert new 30 amp fuse and do the countdown for 6 up/down lifts to blow the next 30 amp fuse.
The dinky little wire that comes out of the motor housing doesn't look like it is good for 30 amps, but the fuse went first, so I guess the wire is protected.

It sure would be helpful if Bulldog specified what in-line fuse is required.
(Or is that something else I missed in the owner's manual?)
.

 

[Silverado23]

I didn't think 2 or 3 spare fuses was all that important.
Apparently this Bulldog 500199 is a very high power consumption accessory.
SURPRISE!
3 days and 6 up/down lifts and the 30 amp fuse has blown.
No problem.
Insert new 30 amp fuse and do the countdown for 6 up/down lifts to blow the next 30 amp fuse.
The dinky little wire that comes out of the motor housing doesn't look like it is good for 30 amps, but the fuse went first, so I guess the wire is protected.

It sure would be helpful if Bulldog specified what in-line fuse is required.
(Or is that something else I missed in the owner's manual?)
.

Are you sure that you are pausing between up and down cycles? I found it somewhat easy to blow a 30 Amp fuse by running the jack (especially loaded) in one direction and then immediately reversing direction without pausing for a few moments(enough to make sure the motor has stopped).

 

[SailorDon]

Are you sure that you are pausing between up and down cycles?

When I unhitched my travel trailer last night, it was all up cycles. No down cycles required for unhitching.
But on the up cycles, I did pause (stop and start) a few times. Once when the spring loaded drop leg pin set.
I also paused when the tow vehicle started lifting the rear end with the friction in the ball hitch.
When the hitch released, I paused again. I had to raise it another ¼" for the hitch to clear the ball.

3 consecutive "up" cycles with no significant pause for cool down. I wonder if that is what blew the 30 amp fuse?

I didn't notice the fuse was blown until I hitched up this morning to move my travel trailer off its parking pad so I could put down
a layer of gravel. It took me a minute to figure out what happened since a blown fuse was the last item on my check list.
No frayed wires. No missing insulation. No evidence of overload. Just a blown out fuse. I thought that was very strange.
.

 

[CarterKraft]

I think you will find the trip current of a circuit breaker to be higher than a similarly sized fuse.

In all cases the CB will be more forgiving of "motor" current draw and that is the reason most are spec'd that way.


This article doesn't address ATC fuses but might be helpful none the less.

 

[Silverado23]

I think you will find the trip current of a circuit breaker to be higher than a similarly sized fuse.

In all cases the CB will be more forgiving of "motor" current draw and that is the reason most are spec'd that way.

In my case,

I don't think that the regular current draw that is tripping my fuse but instead a excessively high current produced from stopping and starting the motor quickly. I usually have extra helpers and they are in the process of being trained on how to run the jack and not immediately flip the switch either on/off or up/down.

The circuit breaker built into my jack is only 20 amp and my fuse protecting the wire is 30 amp.

 

[SailorDon]

A week ago (Aug. 12) I was preparing to break camp at Eisenhower State Park.
I remembered that when I had set up camp 2 days before, when extending the Bulldog tongue jack, I had "bumped top" on the jack, but thought nothing of it.
Coincidentally, it was the right height for leveling the travel trailer.
Ball hitch lined up and I pressed the "Retract" button and nothing happened.
The 30 amp fuse was blown.
I think that if you "bump" top or bottom (extend or retract) with the Bulldog tongue jack, it will blow the 30 amp fuse.

I believe a 30 amp circuit breaker replacement for the fuse is the best way to solve this problem.
.

 

[SailorDon]

After blowing out the 3rd 30 Amp fuse, I removed the fuse from the power supply wire to the Bulldog tongue jack and replaced it with a 30 Amp 12 VDC circuit breaker.

I was not a happy camper 3 weeks ago as I was hitching up to depart Eisenhower State Park and I had to stop in the pouring rain to replace the 30 amp fuse for the 3rd time.
The 30 Amp circuit breaker replacement should solve the problem.
.