Forum Discussion

beeryboats's avatar
beeryboats
Explorer
Dec 12, 2013

Help! Two questions about my brand new Keystone

I went to show my new fifth wheel to a friend and the slides went out normally. However one hung up on the way in. I hope we caught it in time before it damaged anything. Is this due to cold weather, not broken in, or faulty workmanship?

As it is so cold, down to zero tonight they say, should I put a small electric heater inside? I have one of those oil filled electric radiant heaters.

Thanks,
Jay
  • OP.....

    Slide was out for 15mins tops?
    Not enough time for enough ice to accumulate to interfere with slide operation...unless it was liken to the end of days ice storm:

    Have you operated it since?

    And the BBB.
    All I have found out about BBB is it's a joke.
    If business doesn't acknowledge/respond to complaint it times out and is posted as 'resolved'
    Course I had already used all other methods (with same result....no action) before filing with BBB and then 2 months later get 'resolved' notification HAhahaha
  • Wow - how did we go from a problem with the slide to the BBB complaint! That will get you nothing but animosity with the manufacturer and dealer by being that quick on the trigger to bring in the BBB. Give the Dealer a chance to fix it.

    I've abruptly ended two relationships by going to the BBB. One with the biggest RV wheel manufacturer out there, and the other with my roofer. To get any warranty now if I have a problem will require a lawyer.
  • One thing most manufacturers really understand is a letter to the Better Business Bureau in the city where the manufacturer is located. It's amazing how fast they will respond to pressure.
  • Yes, the slide was out for 15 min tops, then back in. Ok, I'll stop worrying about the roof. Our old one had bad caulking that I didn't know needed attention. I do now!!!
  • Drained and winterized...no heater necessary. RVs sit on dealers lots thru winter

    Slideout working OK...then it may have had some ice
    How long did you have it out showing off to friends....from your post thought you had run it out showed rig to friend and then had problem retracting slide.

    ALWAYS clear roof of any snow/ice/leaves/twigs etc. BEFORE retracting slides

    Your old rig must have had a tear/bad caulking/poor seam etc. for roof of slide to have been water damaged

    We have had 2' of snow on roof for a week...2" of ice build up for days....bucket pouring rain events and no problems with roof.

    Enjoy your new rig and save the paranoid for UFO reports
  • Everything is drained and winterized, I was just worried about the inch of snow and ice on the roof. It turned out our trade in looked great but had a rotten roof. Now I'm paranoid about the roof. I just wonder if some ice got hung up in the slide mechanism as it came out. Once it went out and dropped down to where it should be, it came in nice and ended up flush outside. I'll call the dealer tomorrow.
  • The heater couldn't hurt anything. As to the slide: I had a Keystone Outback Sidney for 4 years and never had any kind of slide problem. Had a couple of other major problems, but not slides.
  • Cold weather.........
    Do you have water in the tanks and thru out plumbing system.
    If the answer is YES the run the rv propane furnace and open lower cabinet doors/drawers so the warmed forced air can circulate

    Electric heaters are great for supplemental heating but the propane forced heat furnace is what keeps things from freezing (without some mods/improvements to the use of the supplemental heaters)

    As for the slideout.......cold weather should have no affect on operation.
    We've been in snow/ice storms and they operated just fine

    Yours needs adjustment.
    They should go out fairly smooth and evenly
    They should come in the same way
  • The slide on my 2007 Keystone Cougar bound up, shifted sideways and took out the entertainment center. Come to find out, it was poorly built and horribly adjusted.

    After taking it to Beaudry RV for adjustment, it did it again. By that time, it was out of warranty and Beaudry was out of business. So I was stuck with taking is someplace else to get fixed or doing it myself. I couldn't believe how far out of adjustment the slide was.

    The slide was pretty much like the rest of the RV - JUNK. I'll never buy another product from them.