Electric Slideout Failure

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MikeNNRV

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Posts
84
Location
New River Valley, Virginia
We returned home last night and began unloading.  Neither slide would attempt to work.  Did not feel like continuing during a cold windstorm so left it for this afternoon.  No DC fuse is blown that I can find.  12v battery is new, good, and charged.  Autoreset circuit breakers for battery power seem to be ok; they are new also.  Everything works except the slides.  Owners' Manual from Keystone and Service Manual from NorCo were not helpful.  Tried again after connecting shore power.  I have never had any trouble from our small slide until this.  Even tried tightening the stabilizers, even though I don't think they have any sensors.

I'm not sure what else to try.
 
If it was a motorhome I would say it sounds like an interlock issue,( Key switch, transmission selector ).  I have not heard of an interlock on a TT.

Since both slide are involved then you can at least rule out mechanical issues with the gears.

Keep looking for something that would interfere with operation from a safety standpoint that might trigger an interlock type issue.

Good luck, you will figure it out and I think that it will be simple and not be expensive.
 
MikeNNRV said:
We returned home last night and began unloading.  Neither slide would attempt to work.  Did not feel like continuing during a cold windstorm so left it for this afternoon.  No DC fuse is blown that I can find.  12v battery is new, good, and charged.  Autoreset circuit breakers for battery power seem to be ok; they are new also.  Everything works except the slides.  Owners' Manual from Keystone and Service Manual from NorCo were not helpful.  Tried again after connecting shore power.  I have never had any trouble from our small slide until this.  Even tried tightening the stabilizers, even though I don't think they have any sensors.

I'm not sure what else to try.
Click to expand...

Not sure where the Controllers are but I would look in the bays below and double check all the easy stuff, Like Connections at the Wiring Harness connectors just to eyeball them before you jump off any cliffs.  It may be visually solved.  Hopefully you did not break any of the thin controller wires on the motor, if you did hopefully you can get at them yourself easily to repair them. 

You may just get lucky and see your problem.  Unlikely, but you never know.  Seems strange they both slides went out to me at the same time anyway.  Operator error? Do you have to have you door closed or something so the switch will run? 

Make sure you come back and let us know what did the trick? 

Hopefully it's not a few Hundred at the RV Repair Crew Place. 

Good Luck,

JD
 
Kevin Means said:
I agree with Bill. Since both slides are affected, it points to an interlock problem (Parking brake, slide locks etc)

Kev
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Or a pump failure if hydraulic.  Switch or relay if gear or cable operated.  :D
 
I considered that it might be a switch, However there is almost certainly a separate switch for each slideout.

It could be a motor as I do not think that a TT would have hydraulic slideouts, more likely gear driven or less likely cable.

You might consider signal tracing by using a test light and starting by checking from a known good power location and moving toward the motor.

There are probably two motors, one for each slideout.

I would put my money on it being an interuption of power to the motors since I think that there are probably two of them.

If you check for incoming power at the switches I think that you will not have power at either switch and they probably share a common hot wire which is most likely connected to the center lug of a two way rocker switch.  Follow that wire back and find out where you lose the 12 volt power. Just use a simple inexpensive test light to check.
 
Check that your battery connections are clean and tight. I had a problem with the slide on my fifth wheel not working - it turned out to be a corroded battery ground connection. Low current items like lights worked just fine, but the high current slide motor was DOA.
 
Good thought, However since he said that plugging into shore power did not help I would think that the charging voltage from the convertor would probably rule that out.
 
I am thinking there is an INTERLOCK.. likely a key switch, on the control panel for the slide outs

1: it may have been operated and forgot (Turned to lock)
2: Mine broke.
 
This is a cable driven system, NorCo, BAL, Accu-Slide.  Separate rocker switches and separate motors.  Wires are not easily traced; after the battery the wires go into the sealed underbelly.  From the control panel, the wires go up into the ceiling.  I agree that it seems like a safety switch, lockout, or similar, just don't know where to look.
 
Bill, 

Our Montana, A Keystone product, had hydraulic slides and a single switch and motor under the overhang and right above the battery.  Easy to get to.  When the switch broke I ran a jumper from the battery to the motor to retract the slides.

My theory is that of the system is hydraulic there will be one switch.  Mechanical, gear or cable, one switch per slide.

Mike,  we've never had a cable operated slide but it does seem logical that since all of them don't work the problem has to be in one place.  There may be a slide control board with relays and fuses somewhere.  A call to Keystone may be in order.
 
The power to the slide controller/motors is typically independent of other 12v, so I'd be looking for a separate, inline fuse, often NOT in a fuse panel with other fuses.  The switch likely just triggers a controller relay, which in turn sends power to the slide mechanism motor.  The controller most likely reverses polarity to the motor to change the direction (in/out).

Travel trailers typically do NOT have much in the way of lockouts because there little risk of being in motion and there typically is no built-in leveling system to interface with.
 
Finally convinced Keystone that taking it to a dealership was my last resort.  They gave me a location of some inline fuses ( tongue A frame below LP tank cover) to check when I get off work this evening
 
Update:  in case we had forgotten, Keystone Customer Service is poor!  Box with inline fuses was a goose chase.  The box is just the terminal block connecting hitch harness to the chassis harness;  No fuses.
Still no direction given what to check next.  I even went so far to offer to go through training as a service technician so I could get some technical documentation from them.  SMH

I truly thought an OEM of durable goods had to be better than this
 
I don't know that I would classify any RV as 'durable goods'.  :mad:

Were you able to open the black box?  What's in it?  A relay or two perhaps.  Is there power going into it?  Coming out?
I you can follow the wire that goes into the black box back to the battery you may find the fuse closer to the battery.  It may be tubular or flat & square.
 
I truly thought an OEM of durable goods had to be better than this
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In your dreams, maybe.  RV manufacturing is just an overgrown cottage industry making hand-built stuff, not much different than a local wood or steel fabricator. Just on a somewhat larger scale.  Lots of shade tree engineering to cobble together a product with enough bling and low price to attract buyers. They don't do any more QC, documentation, or customer service than absolutely necessary to get by.
 
MikeNNRV said:
Update:  in case we had forgotten, Keystone Customer Service is poor!  Box with inline fuses was a goose chase.  The box is just the terminal block connecting hitch harness to the chassis harness;  No fuses.
Still no direction given what to check next.  I even went so far to offer to go through training as a service technician so I could get some technical documentation from them.  SMH

I truly thought an OEM of durable goods had to be better than this
Click to expand...
Have you been able to at least manually retract the slides? There should be a square fitting on the motor for manually operation. 
 
MikeNNRV said:
This is a cable driven system, NorCo, BAL, Accu-Slide.  Separate rocker switches and separate motors.  Wires are not easily traced; after the battery the wires go into the sealed underbelly.  From the control panel, the wires go up into the ceiling.  I agree that it seems like a safety switch, lockout, or similar, just don't know where to look.
Click to expand...
I have a cable operated system by Bal or Accu-Slide. On the motor look for a hex shaft sticking out the end of the motor. Get a socket that size, a extension them use a drill and manually operate the motor to retract the slide.
 
@TinMania and Rene T:  yes, the manual override worked.  After I had moved the large slide out a little way and continued troubleshooting, both slides started working correctly.  I never found a controller, safety switches, or anything that would indicate the cause of the malfunction.  Been back camping several times with no recurrence.
 
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