Ultrafab tongue jack stops & starts in use

[myredracer]

Last season our Ultrafab jack began to repeatedly stop/start when jacking to get the TT hooked up or unhooked. During the first up/down cycle (one to get ball on or off, 2nd to get bars on or off) it works fine. But during the 2nd cycle it starts to sputter/hesitate repeatedly. It's sort of like maybe the windings or something inside the motor heats up and causes an intermittent connection. If I leave it alone for 15-30 seconds, I can get it to work but will start sputter/hesitate again and have to let it rest a bit again.

It's not the ground connection in the A-frame and not the positive wiring to the jack. Could it simply be a faulty mini-breaker? I have a spare that I should probably try. Or could the motor be defective? No issues with 12 volts on anything else.

This is our 2nd UF tongue jack on our 2014 TT. First trip out last season, the jack was locked solid and even a breaker bar wouldn't budge it. Took it apart and found these things aren't really designed to be serviceable/rebuildable. Replaced it with another identical one. Maybe the quality isn't all that good on this brand? We have a cover on the jack at all times plus the TT has a cover on it all winter.

[myredracer]

samsontdog wrote:
I bought a new Ultre Fab and it never lasted two years. I would not use another one even if someone gave me a new one

2 Ultra Fab 3502 jack problems in 4 seasons for us. Not a very good track record if you ask me.

The first one that failed was jammed solid after sitting over the winter. It was so jammed, even trying to turn it manually with a long bar on a socket on the top wouldn't budge it whatsoever. What kind of a jack does that?

The next one will be one with a ball screw like a Husky or Barker.

I replaced the circuit breaker in the A-frame today. Will have to wait until the next time it's hooked up to the truck and put it under max load to see if that's fixed it.

[wnjj]

SoundGuy wrote:

samsontdog wrote:
Like you said, It is supposed to go up and down . It would work some times but most of the times not at all. They sent me a new motor which helped but after several weeks it started with same problems.

Which would seem to indicate the problem wasn't the motor at all, more likely the switch. 😉

Sounds like the motor to me, otherwise a new one wouldn't have "helped" at all. Combine that with more than one who have had failing motors more than once.

[carringb]

SoundGuy wrote:

carringb wrote:
UltraFab uses bad motors.

The world is flat. :W

Both ridiculous, unsubstantiated claims. :S

So far I've had a 100% failure rate. I could tolerate it, if a set of motors didn't cost the same a whole stabilizer assembly.

[SoundGuy]

samsontdog wrote:
Like you said, It is supposed to go up and down . It would work some times but most of the times not at all. They sent me a new motor which helped but after several weeks it started with same problems.

Which would seem to indicate the problem wasn't the motor at all, more likely the switch. 😉

[samsontdog]

SoundGuy wrote:

samsontdog wrote:
I bought a new Ultre Fab and it never lasted two years. I would not use another one even if someone gave me a new one

And I wouldn't use anything but. 😉 About the smallest head out there, all metal construction, wires for both positive and negative, a base plate that allows rotating the UltraFab 90 degrees in order to clear the truck tailgate - which is why I replaced the stock Lippert that came with my current Coachmen with an UltraFab 3502. Goes up, goes down - just what it's supposed to do. Different strokes - yada, yada, yada. 😛

Like you said, It is supposed to go up and down . It would work some times but most of the times not at all. They sent me a new motor which helped but after several weeks it started with same problems.

[SoundGuy]

samsontdog wrote:
I bought a new Ultre Fab and it never lasted two years. I would not use another one even if someone gave me a new one

And I wouldn't use anything but. 😉 About the smallest head out there, all metal construction, wires for both positive and negative, a base plate that allows rotating the UltraFab 90 degrees in order to clear the truck tailgate - which is why I replaced the stock Lippert that came with my current Coachmen with an UltraFab 3502. Goes up, goes down - just what it's supposed to do. Different strokes - yada, yada, yada. 😛

[samsontdog]

I bought a new Ultre Fab and it never lasted two years. I would not use another one even if someone gave me a new one

[SoundGuy]

bobndot wrote:
Being the jack is always outside (even though it might be covered) I would think it's an interruption of the electrical flow due to corrosion. Moisture gets into places where you wouldn't think it could. fuses , switches, connectors.

This is why I remove the power tongue jack as part of my winter storage prep and keep it in my heated workshop over the winter, replacing it with a simple manual tongue jack during storage. As such, I've never had any electrical issues of any kind with any of the power tongue jacks I've owned. 🙂

[bobndot]

We always had to replace electrical connections on automobile power window controls because rain would hit the inside door panel and seep into places.
Being the jack is always outside (even though it might be covered) I would think it's an interruption of the electrical flow due to corrosion. Moisture gets into places where you wouldn't think it could.
fuses , switches, connectors.

[SoundGuy]

carringb wrote:
UltraFab uses bad motors.

The world is flat. :W

Both ridiculous, unsubstantiated claims. :S

[98coachman]

Sound like the switch might be going bad. Get some contact cleaner and flush it out good and work the switch as you do it. Moisture from the air gets inside and corodes the contacts. Good luck

[carringb]

UltraFab uses bad motors. I recently lost my 2nd one on my stabilizer jacks. And they want almost $300 for a replacement!

[SoundGuy]

If yours is an authentic UltraFab (lots of fake lookalikes on Amazon) then it will have a 2 yr warranty. I've owned 2 and the only problem I've had was with the 3502 I had on our current trailer when the stop washer fell out. I emailed UltraFab asking if I could buy replacement parts but was told they had identified this as a potential issue because the stop washer in question had simply been pressed in place during manufacture. New versions now have this stop washer welded in place so I was offered an entire new jack, all covered under warranty, including shipping and any customs costs. My new 3502 has cables for both positive & negative and works just fine ... can't say I've ever had this issue you seem to be having but it might be worth a call or email to UltraFab to see what they have to say.