I will explain a situation that happened today and see who knows the answer... putting in a new tv in our 04 TT with one slide. cutting a hole w/ a power hole saw through a cabinet to run the cord. went through like butter. went to take the saw off my drill and inside the hole saw was some chewed up wires. OH S.... go and look and i ripped a apart a black and white wire 10 gauge. Checked all breakers and fuses and NOTHING WAS TRIPPED. no sparks when i cut the wires in 2, NOTHING. turns out that the wires were to my slideout switch since that is the only thing that wasn't working. Wasn't sure if the slide out was run by 12v or 110v so i took out my meter and checked the 4 wires and got no reading for any type of electric, so i assumed that a inline fuse somewhere was burned out.had to remove some more of the wall and was able to get to the wires and was able to reattach the 4 wires with a small jumper wire and spade connectors.so i figured that it was now time to start searching for the inline fuse. but for the heck of it i went over to the slideout switch and pushed it and bingo the slide out was working again.SO MY MYSTERY IS, HOW DID NOTHING BLOW OR ARC WHEN THE 2 WIRES WERE BROKEN AND TOUCHING EACH OTHER AS WELL AS THE METAL SAW. MY METER SHOWED NO READING AT EITHER WIRE END FOR 12V OR 110 AND NO BREAKER OR FUSE BLEW IN MY PANEL? YET WHEN I REATTACHED THE WIRES THE SLIDE NOW WORKS. ANY IDEAS??????????????????/THE TT IS A 2004 KEYSTONE 30 AMP CORD AND THE TT WAS PLUGGED IN AT THE TIME AND MY A/C WAS RUNNING AND NEVER STOPPED AND ALL OUTLETS WERE STILL ENERGIZED. THANKS

"go and look and i ripped a apart a black and white wire 10 gauge"Could it be...?The wires play possum...?Until the switch is thrown...?

Best guess would be that wires are only carrying 12 volts while the slide switch is being pressed.

The hole saw is an intermittent contact and there may not be any power to the slide motor until switch is engaged. I'd bet it would be hard to blow a fuse if you tried. BTW, slides are typically powered directly from the battery. There should be a fuse close to the battery for the slide.

The wires may have been between the switch and motor. Therefore, no power until switch is activated.

Slide switches commonly have 5 wires attached, 1 that supplies 12-volts, and 4 that go to the slide motor/brake assembly. None of the 4 that go to the motor are "live" except when the switch is pressed. Most likely in your situation, the wire supplying 12-volts is routed separately from the other 4 wires.

SLIDEOUT ELECTRICAL MYSTERY!!!!! | Good Sam Community

RedRocket204
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
Would agree with those pointing out the DC voltage for those wires.

The slide motors, or at least my slide motor work by putting 12V on one wire for forward, then 12V on the other wire to reverse. So chances are, as already mentioned, the two wires compromised are not energized until the slide switch is depressed.
dougrainer
Nomad
Aug 05, 2017
1. NO slide system uses 120 volts. They are ALL 12 volts
2. When you cut the wires, you assumed they had 12 volts. The wires cut may have been output wires that were NOT powered until the wall switch was activated
3. Some Slide systems use a 12 volt Auto reset circuit breaker. That means IF you did cause a short(12 volt short will rarely ARC a big arc and besides with the drill running you would not hear it), once the wires cut and separated a few minutes later the Auto reset Circuit breaker reset itself. Doug
DiskDoctr
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
Sounds like you got your answer.

But...you attached with spades? Be careful. Out 2005 Keystone Cougar slides are listed up to 40 amps (!), so you might want heavier connectors ;)

Sorry to hear about your luck, hitting wires for such a small hole ;)
K_Charles
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
"go and look and i ripped a apart a black and white wire 10 gauge"

Could it be...?

The wires play possum...?

Until the switch is thrown...?

If an unwanted possum plays possum you shoot it, you don't drill it with a hole saw.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Aug 05, 2017
Slide switches commonly have 5 wires attached, 1 that supplies 12-volts, and 4 that go to the slide motor/brake assembly. None of the 4 that go to the motor are "live" except when the switch is pressed. Most likely in your situation, the wire supplying 12-volts is routed separately from the other 4 wires.
Mandalay_Parr
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
The wires may have been between the switch and motor.
Therefore, no power until switch is activated.
westend
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
The hole saw is an intermittent contact and there may not be any power to the slide motor until switch is engaged. I'd bet it would be hard to blow a fuse if you tried. BTW, slides are typically powered directly from the battery. There should be a fuse close to the battery for the slide.
EV2
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
Best guess would be that wires are only carrying 12 volts while the slide switch is being pressed.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Aug 05, 2017
"go and look and i ripped a apart a black and white wire 10 gauge"

Could it be...?

The wires play possum...?

Until the switch is thrown...?

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