Forum Discussion

MR_MAC's avatar
MR_MAC
Explorer
Dec 21, 2014

Strange? slide went out by itself.

MH was in driveway about a wk., went in and turned on bat switch to on position, so as to turn on some lights, after a few seconds main slide went out, tried to bring in, came in half way and went out again. Did this a couple of times, then wouldent move at all. MH was not plugged in, ran gen. charged up batt. Now all is well-strange? Don't know if this could happen when driving, or if I had lock bars in place. Think I'm calling dealer. (2014 Coachmen Pursut)

10 Replies

  • TechWriter wrote:
    midnightsadie wrote:
    I don,t think a dealer will admit to anything. something like this... we never heard of that happening before.

    I've heard it happen in Newmars with Intellitec slide controllers (like my 2001).

    Many have speculated on the cause (electrical transient, fluorescent lights, etc).

    It happened to me when I plugged in one of those electric bug zappers -- the living room slide just started coming in on its own.

    Since then, I (along with other Newmar owners) just remove the slide out fuse after extending the slides.

    Newmar does not acknowledge the problem, but sooner or later someone will get hurt.


    Newmar was one of the first to change the wall switch from YOUR design. Your year you have a spring loaded switch and one push and the unit fully extends or retracts. In the mid 2000's (04 or 05) Newmar changed the controller to require that you MUST hold the wall switch to continue full extend or retract. Yes, there were reports that on YOUR type controller(intellitec), something would activate without pushing the button at all. Newmar DID admit they were aware of the problem back then and had us change the controller and/or the wall switch if a customer was concerned when under the 3 year warranty. We also added a separate additional ground wire(14 gauge)from a chassis frame TO the Intellitec control module. NONE of our customers we did this mod too ever came back with the complaint again. Doug
  • midnightsadie wrote:
    I don,t think a dealer will admit to anything. something like this... we never heard of that happening before.

    I've heard it happen in Newmars with Intellitec slide controllers (like my 2001).

    Many have speculated on the cause (electrical transient, fluorescent lights, etc).

    It happened to me when I plugged in one of those electric bug zappers -- the living room slide just started coming in on its own.

    Since then, I (along with other Newmar owners) just remove the slide out fuse after extending the slides.

    Newmar does not acknowledge the problem, but sooner or later someone will get hurt.
  • CA Traveler wrote:
    MR MAC wrote:
    MH was in driveway about a wk., went in and turned on bat switch to on position, so as to turn on some lights, after a few seconds main slide went out, tried to bring in, came in half way and went out again. Did this a couple of times, then wouldent move at all. MH was not plugged in, ran gen. charged up batt. Now all is well-strange? Don't know if this could happen when driving, or if I had lock bars in place. Think I'm calling dealer. (2014 Coachmen Pursut)
    Bad or low voltage batteries can cause strange and unexpected problems.

    Have your batteries load checked and then keep them charged. The batteries should also be charging when you are driving. If you can't plug in then use or install a full battery disconnect switch.

    It's also possible that you have a defective part (circuit board, relay or???) or even a poor design that doesn't work well with low voltage.


    Lets take your premise(low voltage). If so, WHERE would the current come from to extend the room fully? Sorry, bad batteries/low voltage will not cause such a problem. Circuit Board/relay or switch as you stated is the probable cause, but it should still not happen at all. Doug
  • Can't say WHY yours went out on its own, but on my coach, there's an interlock that prevents the slide drive motor from energizing when the engine is cranked or the transmission is not in (P)Park or when the parking brake is not applied. The leveling jacks won't go down in any of those conditions either.

    ....I found that out UN-intentionally because I tried each of those scenarios sitting in the driveway... DOH! ;-)
  • MR MAC wrote:
    MH was in driveway about a wk., went in and turned on bat switch to on position, so as to turn on some lights, after a few seconds main slide went out, tried to bring in, came in half way and went out again. Did this a couple of times, then wouldent move at all. MH was not plugged in, ran gen. charged up batt. Now all is well-strange? Don't know if this could happen when driving, or if I had lock bars in place. Think I'm calling dealer. (2014 Coachmen Pursut)
    Bad or low voltage batteries can cause strange and unexpected problems.

    Have your batteries load checked and then keep them charged. The batteries should also be charging when you are driving. If you can't plug in then use or install a full battery disconnect switch.

    It's also possible that you have a defective part (circuit board, relay or???) or even a poor design that doesn't work well with low voltage.
  • This needs to be addressed by Your dealer or Coachmen, pronto. About 10 years ago the RVIA issued guidelines that stated NO slide room could be run without HOLDING the activation button at all times. So, if your room extended without you doing anything, then the safety part of your system is malfunctioning. This may lead to a recall as you may be the first with this problem on your model. Doug
  • I don,t think a dealer will admit to anything. something like this... we never heard of that happening before.
  • If that slide is hydraulic I suspect you could seriously break something with any kind of "lock bar" device. If it wants to come out, there is very little that's going to stop a hydraulic piston.
  • Yes, I had a slide go out on me on time when driving my Fleetwood RV. I didn't have the lock bars in place and a shear pin broke on my slide out. I was going uphill and around a corner when the side came 1/2 way out, while on that long grade before you get to Yosemite! I had to pull over and the DW and I were able to push it back into place and I used the lock bars to keep it in place.