Slides- Important stuff AND what they don't tell you.

Almost all slides have a manual crank for retraction if the motor goes bad.

Make sure you know how to operate it manually before you need to. Crawl under and operate the manual crank while it is in your driveway. Better to figure out how to do it before you need to crawl in the mud, in the dark, with flashlight in one hand while DW is reading the instructions to you...

Watch out for trees, fences, pedestals etc while positioning the rig in a site. I know mine extends 42 inches. I carry a tape measure in the glove box to check clearances.
While retracting, check for anything getting trapped between the slide and main wall.

OTOH under the slide is a dandy spot to stash large items in your campsite. Out of the way and out of the rain.

Our old 5th wheel 2002 bought new had it till just a few months ago. Only had a problem with the slide out one time a couple years back. It would not go out even and only a foot or so. Some how lost the bolt that connected the drive gear rod connecting the side gear rail together. Put in a new bolt no more problem.
One of the reasons we chose the floor plan on our new 5th wheel you have full access to everything in it but one section of cabinets when the slides is in.

I've had slides for the last 15 years and never had a problem. They do warn against using them partially out but we often put it out for lunch breaks on the road. They don't want you stepping on the unsupported edge.
As far as being able to use everything with the slide in, that's just not important to us. It's only a matter of pushing a button for a few seconds and they're out or in.

I put reflective red and white tape on my slide’s three sides....may save some grief.

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

It must be time to sell.
We made a 7K trip, nothing broke. A first time for 13 years.

buy all the spare parts you can. and learn how to fix it before it breaks,, cause it will break ,and just when you don,t want it too. and a rachet strap that,ll go all the way around your rv.