I have a friend who is having issues with his slide on a 2001 fleetwood wilderness (trailer). It just simply stopped working. We checked everything. Fuse, switch and motor. Here is the part that is stumping me, when testing the wiring at the motor with a light tester, we hit the switch and we get power going in and out but no movement on the slide. We take those some wires cut them and put them direct to a battery and the slide moves in and out. The house batteries are fully charged so thats not the problem.How does the ground work on these motors? What determines the ground on motor when the switch is pressed, the frame?Does anyone have any suggestions to what the problem can be?Thanks in advance,

i'm a simple things first kind of guy. do the jacks work? other slides work? check the hydraulic fluid reservoir and be sure that it's not empty or low. start the engine and they try...might be the battery is low and needs the extra voltage from the alternator/charger to pop open the slide.

rk911 wrote:i'm a simple things first kind of guy. do the jacks work? other slides work? check the hydraulic fluid reservoir and be sure that it's not empty or low. start the engine and they try...might be the battery is low and needs the extra voltage from the alternator/charger to pop open the slide.Im sorry I wasn't clear, but its on a trailer not a MH. The slide is electric no hydraulic fluid. Batteries are actually new and charged up.

Nearly all slide rooms have an external fuse in the positive line and usually located fairly close to the battery. That's where I'd begin to look.

Near your battery terminals should two or three BREAKERS looking items - One for each of your slides and your power jacks.One of those may have tripped and needs reset or has gone bad..my trailer is older and they look like like these...Some has three or four of similar breakers mounted together real close to the batteries...These devices should be auto reset but some may have a button to push to reset them...Roy Ken

skipnchar wrote:Nearly all slide rooms have an external fuse in the positive line and usually located fairly close to the battery. That's where I'd begin to look. I get juice in the wires at the slide motor when button is pressed either way (open or close)

Slide not working...Why? | Good Sam Community

judelaurenzo25g
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
RJsfishin wrote:
If it uses relays, then all the switch does is activate the relays, which is what does the polarity reversing. It seems to maybe have bad contact in a relay ?
There is no ground ! It doesn't need a ground. It needs a pos & neg, and reverse polarity.
When I say ground I mean negative. Its getting positive for sure... Thanks for the clarification. I will change out the relays and see if it makes a difference. Thanks again!
RJsfishin
Explorer
Apr 09, 2014
If it uses relays, then all the switch does is activate the relays, which is what does the polarity reversing. It seems to maybe have bad contact in a relay ?
There is no ground ! It doesn't need a ground. It needs a pos & neg, and reverse polarity.
judelaurenzo25g
Explorer
Apr 08, 2014
Tested the switch and switch was good. With all my testing it leads me to believe that the relays may be bad. Is there a way to test them? or the board? Again Im getting power at the motor so Im thinking its a ground problem. Does this relay provide the ground and reverses the polarity on the motor when the switch is pressed either in or out?
judelaurenzo25g
Explorer
Apr 06, 2014
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
Bad switch is the first and foremost culprit, no question. Like RJ's Fishing says.

When you check for continuity you have to check positive ACROSS the switch and negative ACROSS the switch, not just clip the test light clamp to any ground and start stabbing with the probe.

Most RV slide switches are garbage grade rockers. I wouldn't use one on a Rival blender. But most folks don't want to adapt to a heavier switch nor install a motor reversing relay. Carry spares. You'll need them.

How can I test the ground across the switch? Please advise
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
Bad switch is the first and foremost culprit, no question. Like RJ's Fishing says.

When you check for continuity you have to check positive ACROSS the switch and negative ACROSS the switch, not just clip the test light clamp to any ground and start stabbing with the probe.

Most RV slide switches are garbage grade rockers. I wouldn't use one on a Rival blender. But most folks don't want to adapt to a heavier switch nor install a motor reversing relay. Carry spares. You'll need them.
mikestock
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
fpresto wrote:
mikestock wrote:
I found the problem to be that one of the fixed permanent magnets in the motor had come loose and moved.

Mike, are you saying that with the loose magnet it would still work with 12v applied directly to the motor like the OPs situation? I would think that with an out of place magnet it wouldn't work at all.

No. It would not work. I started shopping for a replacement gearmotor and couldn't find one. I opened up the motor, out of desperation and found the magnet loose. It was apparently installed with epoxy and I just moved it back in place and reattached it with epoxy.
guamuchil31
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
dissconnect the wires at the switch and touch them together according to in or out if that works then u have a bad switch.the switch is in charge of changing grounds to pos.and pos.to grounds.
RJsfishin
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
Every DC brush type motor I ever saw has 2 wires going to it. There is no ground.
Hook up the 2 wires to 12v pos & neg, and the motor will turn one direction. Reverse the 2 wires, and it will turn in the other direction. This is being done either directly thru a multi pole switch capable of reversing the polarity of those 2 wires, or thru a relays capable of doing the same. Look for a bad switch, or bad relays
fpresto
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
mikestock wrote:
I found the problem to be that one of the fixed permanent magnets in the motor had come loose and moved.

Mike, are you saying that with the loose magnet it would still work with 12v applied directly to the motor like the OPs situation? I would think that with an out of place magnet it wouldn't work at all.
mikestock
Explorer
Apr 05, 2014
I had a similar problem a few years ago. I found the problem to be that one of the fixed permanent magnets in the motor had come loose and moved. I moved it back in place and re-epoxied it. It was still running three years later when I sold it.

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