We have had slides in both of our last two trailers and never had a major problem or had to buy any parts. This is over a period of about 25 years and our current trailer is 15 years old with only one occurrence of a slight problem.
This problem happened while traveling. After an overnight stop, the slide would not go in evenly. One side would go in and the other would not move. It took two men and myself to push it back in so we could continue our journey. We left it in until we reached our Florida destination and called a mobile RV tech. He came out, crawled under the trailer, stayed about one minute and the slide worked great! Seems the shaft connecting the two sides from the motor had slipped out of its' connection because the keeper bolt had loosened up. He simply slid it back into position and tightened the bolt and we never had a problem since. Our trailer is now 15 years old.
We have always had a slide topper on our slideouts. They keep all the twigs and leaves off of it and also the rain. They also help keep the interior cooler durning warm weather. What twigs and leave do fall on it just drop off as it rolls up with the slide. If they are wet and sticky, I just stand there with a broom and brush them off as they come into view. No ladders needed.
There is no problem with putting them partially out during a lunch break. Just do it in an area where someone won't run into it. If you have room then I would put it all the way out. I would not leave it like that overnight or for a long period of time however since it will not be sealed up against the trailer wall and will probably leak during rain and let in bugs.
You have already discovered most of the "gotcha's". I put a piece of black elect. tape around our awning rod to indicate the distance our slideout projected.
That way I could make sure it would not hit a tree or power pedestal in tight quarter. Our slides have been almost totally trouble free for over 25 years and I would not have a trailer without one.
Hope this helps. :)
Barney
