Living room slide will not close. Too much weight or is the motor going south

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garyb1st

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Have had motorhome for about 18 months.  Probably added 7,000 miles before experiencing problems bringing in the main living room slide.  First time, after sitting for a month at the house, and ready to roll, nothing.  Removed significant weight DW placed beneath dinette table and it moved in.  Next two times, I had to remove most of the weight from bays.  The last time, we had to raise the jacks a bit to get the slide to go in.  So not sure if motor is beginning to fail or if there is some other problem.  Thoughts or suggestions. 

As an aside, noticed a fair amount of squeal when moving the slide in.  Slides serviced within last year. 
 
You didn't mention whether engine running or hooked to shore power, but your description sounds almost as if the batteries are being depleted.
 
We always have the engine running and jacks down when moving the slides in or out.  Both batteries show 12.6-7 volts an hour after charging. 
 
Weight has relatively little to do with slide movement - the motor seldom has to lift the slide weight more than a few inches.    It is moving it horizontally against the friction of the seal rubber and the rollers or skids it rides on.  Either something is binding (causing more friction drag), your batteries are weak, or you have a bad wire connection between slides and chassis batteries.

What does the chassis battery voltage do when you press the slide switch? If it drops too far, the motor loses most of its torque and can't do much work.
 
I recall the drivers side slide on our Pace (the one that has to lift a few inches to come in) stalling and not making it one time.  We had stowed some things fairly heavy over there.  We moved those off and it came in.  We?ve been mindful of the weight over there and haven?t had a problem since.  (But note: it works a bit and is slow until it gets ?over the hump? and can slide level.)
 
Could be chassis battery.  It's only a year old but there have been ongoing issues with the battery and battery control center.  I'll check for voltage drop next time we move it out.  If no significant voltage drop, I'll look at possible binding or wiring issues. 

 
Charles, the last time it didn't go in, I removed most of the weight from the bays.  It still would not go in.  We had to lower the jacks a bit more before it would move.
 
Right now the motor on my slide is shot.. I've had to bring it in with a wrench. It is "Heavy" by definition but... Turns out the slide is very easy to move. Overcomign the transmission is what strains my arms.  But if I relieve the drag of the tranny. Slide moves easily.
 
Make sure your slide rollers have not become damaged or detached.  They are hard to see, but if you lay on your side with your head on the floor and use a flashlight, you might see them.  You might have to remove some trim to see them.

Mine twice pulled loose from the particle board they were attached to.  Very expensive repair because it was hard to tilt the slides to get under there.  Eventually, they ended up putting a metal plate on the bottom of the slide and bolting it entirely through.  Junky particle board would just not hold them.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Either something is binding (causing more friction drag), your batteries are weak, or you have a bad wire connection between slides and chassis batteries.

What does the chassis battery voltage do when you press the slide switch? If it drops too far, the motor loses most of its torque and can't do much work.


Finally able to check voltage drop yesterday.  The voltage dropped maybe a half volt but the voltage dropped about the same on both the chassis or house batteries.  Of course the manual says to have the engine running when moving the slides in or out so not sure the volt drop is meaningful.  Also the motorhome is parked on the street and I don't want to run the slide all the way out in case it won't retract.  It's only failed when trying to retract the slide. 

A little background info.  The chassis battery was replaced a year ago.  So it is relatively new.  However, there's been a history of chassis battery problems and I'm not sure the last time, when my shop worked on the battery control center they solved that problem.  Three or possibly four batteries by previous owners.  One on December 2012, another on August 2013, possibly one in June 2014 (can't tell by service record, but $135.00 for something) and possibly another by second owner in May 2016.  On both the 3rd and 4th service record for battery work, the shop also worked on the battery control center which may have been replaced twice.  Once by the original owner in June 2014 and once by the second in May 2016 when the battery was likely replaced. 
 
JudyJB said:
Make sure your slide rollers have not become damaged or detached.  They are hard to see, but if you lay on your side with your head on the floor and use a flashlight, you might see them.  You might have to remove some trim to see them.

Mine twice pulled loose from the particle board they were attached to.  Very expensive repair because it was hard to tilt the slides to get under there.  Eventually, they ended up putting a metal plate on the bottom of the slide and bolting it entirely through.  Junky particle board would just not hold them.

Judy was this on your Tioga or a different motorhome?  Also when it occurred did you hear any squeaking? 
 
No squeaking, and Yes on Tioga.  Just scraping and horrible sound.  And it will tear up the flooring if you try to put slide in or out without positioning roller.  Roller is attached to floor and supports kitchen counter, oven, and cabinets--in fact entire kitchen except for refrigerator.  It is also a very big,very heavy slide. (Roller was sideway,  as shown in first photo, with sharp screws poking up, so I had to push it so the roller was rolling the right way.)  I was able to get it closed and left it that way until I could find someone who could repair it.  And of course, no one had any parts!!!  Roller was horribly bent and it was week before Christmas, 2017, plus only slide guy was going on vacation and I was headed to visit relatives. 

I will have to say Bakersfield CA Camping World did an excellent job of bending bent roller back into shape and screwing it back into position as a temporary fix--but at a large fee. (Takes a long time and at least two service people to move slide out and access rollers, etc. so it was expected to be expensive.)  Ordered new roller from Fleetwood, which was sent to me, and took RV to REV repair in Eugene, where it was fixed, at another large fee.  However, roller came loose again at 89 days into 90 day warranty on the April repair.  Junky pseudo-plywood does not do a good job of holding it, so back to REV again and re-repaired at their cost.  But this time, they screwed it straight through slide and through steel plates on top and bottom.  That was July.  It had BETTER NOT come loose again!!  Second photo shows the plate on underside of slide.

By the way, I strongly encourage anyone who knows they need a part replaced have the part shipped to them and not a dealer.  That way, you know it is the right part, and that it is actually, really and truly available. 

In fact, if you suspect a slide roller is loose, you need to get help putting the slide in and have someone use a piece of wood of something to slightly lift the slide and watch the roller so the screws in it do not tear up anything--like flooring or cabinets.  I had my son help me.  He thought I was nuts until he saw the sharp screws and the damage they could do. He ended up reaching in and removing the screws.  In fact, I don't think you should EVER force a slide in or out unless you know what is really going on.  That includes manually putting a slide in if there is resistance or weird sounds, etc.  Also, if you have a kitchen on your slide and the roller is no longer supporting it, use something to temporaily support it--like stack of books or magazines on the corner.  Don't want cabinets to droop and pull away from wall. 

I am getting to be an expert at slides!!
 

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Excellent write up.  I don't have rollers (a curved aluminum extrusion [parallel to the side of the coach] "slides" over the carpet) but 'twas interesting reading.  Looks like the last fix was really a nifty redesign ........ with a load-spreading plate like the factory should have installed.  Would have been nice to have them do the other side ..... but maybe the loads there are much less, so no sweat?

Thanks again..........your'e a good tech writer.

Safe travels.  ed s in Denver
 
Make sure you leave the RV's door open while moving the slide in or out.  The slide is like a giant bellow and it changes the air volume significantly inside the RV when it moves.

This was demonstrated to me in dramatic fashion several years ago.  Tahoe had a trailer with a manually operated sofa slide mounted on a set of heavy duty drawer glides.  You undid the locks, grabbed a handle on the outside and pulled or pushed the slide open or shut.

With the trailer's door open, moving the slide in or out was an easy one-handed operation.  But close the trailer up tight and you couldn't move the slide more than a couple of inches against the air pressure no matter how hard you pulled or pushed.

The same holds true for a motor driven slide.  Leaving the door or a window open while while moving the slides in or out greatly reduces the load on the motor.
 
I am not sure how other slides work, but it might be possible to get something stuck in the mechanism, so you might want to check to see if something like a hard plastic toy or bolt or something else might be stuck somewhere, preventing the slide from opening. 

I once bought a set of sockets because I needed to try to remove a toilet.  Opened the package and the exact size I wanted rolled out and under my couch!  Did not get it back until I had taken RV in for repair for something else.  And I know my grandkids lose a lot of things behind my couch and in various places in my motorhome. 

I have two big slides, one of each side, and loads are heavy on both sides. I did have them check the rest of the rollers, but getting them all repaired would have cost a fortune which I do not have.  Idea for steel plate top and bottom was my son's, but mechanics also came up with it independently. Good point about factory, however. 

Anyway, my whole point in describing my problems with slides is that there is a lot more that can cause one to not operate than the slide motor and electrical things, so check before you force anything. 

And thanks for the tech writer compliment. About 25 years ago, I developed and taught GM's corporate technical writing class to their engineers and other people.  Also worked as a technical writer, editor, and instructor in training area for a lot of years. I wrote a lot of courses on manufacturing things.  And, I currently teach business writing online for a commuter college north of Detroit, so I have a lot of experience, although I am often sloppy on forums.  Not too bad for an old lady!
 
When I moved my 5th wheel last year, the jumbo 16 by 4 foot slide was slow to come in.

We discovered one side was kind of warped (now fixed). We had to push and shove on the end to get it to move inwards.

Also we later noticed the undercarriage where the slides are was filthy. Possibly from super hard rains that threw up mud and muck under there.

I believe if I had cleaned and lubricated under there first, it would have gone a lot smoother. The rig had been parked 2 years when I bought and moved it.  8)
 
Judy, as a tech that spent 25 years reading GM service manuals, I wish they'd sent the people who wrote the books to you. 
I've always understood that it wasn't the engineers who wrote the manuals.  Pretty sure they farmed that out to former tech-line operators in some third world country.  ;D
 
Judy, thanks for the write up and pix.  Slide moves in smoothly once it's started so don't think (hope) there is no problem like the one you encountered.  Your point regarding potential issues other than motor and electrical is well taken. 

Gary
 
Lou, that makes perfect sense and can imagine the pressure building as the slide move in.  But the slide barely moves when we try to bring it in.  So motor or electrical seems more logical.  Still good to know. 
 
You might also check the connection to ground for both the motor and your battery. A ground that's dirty/corroded can have enough resistance so that light loads like lights work OK, but heavy loads can't get enough oomph.
(Notice that this non-engineer deftly avoided starting the volts or amps discussion  ;) )
 
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