Do I really need a limit switch?

jmcgsd wrote:

beemerphile1 wrote:
You can certainly use it without limit switches but probably for less than $3 each you could replace them.

Shop here;
http://www.newegg.com/

Well I decided to simply bypass the switch and life is good!

In response to your post as I think I said earlier, the cost of the switch was NOT the issue, it was the work involved in getting to the switch....

Sounds like a plan. It is your prerogative since you will be the one paying to repair any damage if/when the slide is overextended.

jmcgsd wrote:
At that point it would be possible to determine which of three different switches were used and then you could order the $3 part and hope it was still available.

If they are only $3, I would buy one of each and have them on hand, instead of waiting. The longer you wait, the bigger the risk of the switch not being available.

You may want to add a label near the slide switch indicating that the limit switch has been bypassed so if someone else is running slide, they have that knowledge...

mosseater wrote:
Mine has a ratchet clutch that trips when it reaches the end of the stroke, both in and out. I thought they all had that these days?

You mean like the electric Tongue Jack?

Not mine (RBW-ALKO).
Wish it did.

Just a too powerful motor that is supposed to stall when the welded-on stops hit the frame. Except I've busted 3 shear bolts, a drive shaft, and one of the stops doing that. So now I'm sure to stop it before hand.

Mine has a ratchet clutch that trips when it reaches the end of the stroke, both in and out. I thought they all had that these days?

beemerphile1 wrote:
You can certainly use it without limit switches but probably for less than $3 each you could replace them.

Shop here;
http://www.newegg.com/

Well I decided to simply bypass the switch and life is good!

In response to your post as I think I said earlier, the cost of the switch was NOT the issue, it was the work involved in getting to the switch.

In my TT the slide contains the sofa bed together with a couple of narrow tables at each end of the sofa bed. In order to get the the durned switch, the sofa bed would have to be removed and also the platform underneath that provided the mount for the sofa bed.

The slide is a Happijac, and after all the work of removing the sofa bed was complete, then you could finally get to the switch itself. At that point it would be possible to determine which of three different switches were used and then you could order the $3 part and hope it was still available.

I could picture my TT being in pieces all over the dealer's maintenance area for three months if I elected to go this direction. The service manager agreed. His advise was to wait until a more critical component needed servicing then maybe tackle this job also. That made sense to me.

PS The good news is that I now know more about that slide operation than I hope I'll ever need to know! :h

My slide is supposed to have limit switches but I have never had them cut power.

I move it "out" until it is fully extended and "in" until it is closed. You can see the side reach the ends of the travel and hear the motor load change.

It is not much of an issue and a lot easier than trying to find nd adjust the limit switches.

You can certainly use it without limit switches but probably for less than $3 each you could replace them.

Shop here;
http://www.newegg.com/

Mine doesn't have limit switches, just two big chunks of angle iron that the slide rack is supposed to stop against withe the motor stalled.

But the motor was strong enough to pop off one of the angle irons. I haven't replaced it. But it was *not* the stop protecting the slide from going out too far. If it was, I might have replaced it. Don't want the slide pushed out onto the ground!:E

So I'm just careful bringing the slide in. And out for that matter. Hitting the stops doesn't seem like such a good idea anymore.

Mine doesn't have one.
I would think that as long as you don't keep trying to move it at the end of its travel it would be OK.