Power Gear Slide-out System is failing
Whoa! I just hauled my Fleetwood Flair 2004 down for new tires, getting ready for a major trip. Got back and went to open the slides and 'nothing' - I can't find the controller for the slides. The boo...
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Correction: I wrote this last night or should I say early this morning after a long, long day only to have the site throw it away!
Thanks to someone who noted that we can back up through the stuff and return to what we had done. I did and it was there. I hope that it is useful to someone else - here it is:
Well I finally got in from working on the RV - we are leaving tomorrow afternoon.
When I left, I had just located the relays that operate the slides - it actually said 'slide'. I verified that they had power coming into them - the first one did on pins 30 and 86, but nothing on the other one. I tried to replace both but that did not change anything.
After some reading on the internet,I decided to use a controller from a winch that was a cast off from another project. It, along with a single relay used to determine which motor will run should do it.
I tested the proposed system by 'cooking up a small set up' to use to make sure it would work. It did and I spent all afternoon running the wires. I clipped off the old connector for the motor and attached my wires to them. I installed the controller and relay in the battery box, but now I am wishing I had done things differently because in part, there is nowhere to place to install the switch that is not in the way.
After that was installed, the switch is in the off state and the relay is not picked so when the motor control is told extend, the slide goes out and retract pressed makes it come back in. I couldn't run them for more than one out cycle because I had too much junk in the way. I had to clean out the bedroom to get at the motor.
You are supposed to be able to lift the bed to get at the panel that the motor is under, but the panel was under the closet doors and would not open. I had to remove the entire upper panel and stand it up out of the way. Then the middle panel was accessible and also the motor. I cut the only two wires going to the motor and connected a power supply to the motor's wires to move it out. Once I found the cable, I was able to located where the wires came out under the refrigerator so I connected everything back up which took a surprising amount of time.
I verified that I could move the slide in and out with the wires that I located by connecting my power source to it. I quit for the night with only two runs of 10 ft that I have to run. If I can figure out how to get to the location that I am using, it shouldn't be too bad. If I cannot, I can run the small slide with the power supply if needed.
It was sure neat how the remote control from the winch worked - I could stand outside and watch the slide as it was moving. I could stop it, reverse it, and finally stop it when it reached close position. This thing is so simple - it is a wonder that they mess with this other than to control the stopping.
I'm shot - time to sleep. (I did get in a couple of naps too)
Thanks to someone who noted that we can back up through the stuff and return to what we had done. I did and it was there. I hope that it is useful to someone else - here it is:
Well I finally got in from working on the RV - we are leaving tomorrow afternoon.
When I left, I had just located the relays that operate the slides - it actually said 'slide'. I verified that they had power coming into them - the first one did on pins 30 and 86, but nothing on the other one. I tried to replace both but that did not change anything.
After some reading on the internet,I decided to use a controller from a winch that was a cast off from another project. It, along with a single relay used to determine which motor will run should do it.
I tested the proposed system by 'cooking up a small set up' to use to make sure it would work. It did and I spent all afternoon running the wires. I clipped off the old connector for the motor and attached my wires to them. I installed the controller and relay in the battery box, but now I am wishing I had done things differently because in part, there is nowhere to place to install the switch that is not in the way.
After that was installed, the switch is in the off state and the relay is not picked so when the motor control is told extend, the slide goes out and retract pressed makes it come back in. I couldn't run them for more than one out cycle because I had too much junk in the way. I had to clean out the bedroom to get at the motor.
You are supposed to be able to lift the bed to get at the panel that the motor is under, but the panel was under the closet doors and would not open. I had to remove the entire upper panel and stand it up out of the way. Then the middle panel was accessible and also the motor. I cut the only two wires going to the motor and connected a power supply to the motor's wires to move it out. Once I found the cable, I was able to located where the wires came out under the refrigerator so I connected everything back up which took a surprising amount of time.
I verified that I could move the slide in and out with the wires that I located by connecting my power source to it. I quit for the night with only two runs of 10 ft that I have to run. If I can figure out how to get to the location that I am using, it shouldn't be too bad. If I cannot, I can run the small slide with the power supply if needed.
It was sure neat how the remote control from the winch worked - I could stand outside and watch the slide as it was moving. I could stop it, reverse it, and finally stop it when it reached close position. This thing is so simple - it is a wonder that they mess with this other than to control the stopping.
I'm shot - time to sleep. (I did get in a couple of naps too)
