You didn't mention much about the slide locks. On ours if for some reason the locks don't fully extend or retract we get “nothing“ when we hit the switch. If we tap on the locks then it works again. I've pulled them apart to look at them and there was a microswitch inside. If for some reason the locks didn't opertate completely the microswitch wouldn't make contact and let the slide know it's all the way in. Tapping on the locks is just enough to make the switch “click“ and everything worked again. We have electric locks so I'm not sure if this applies. But I also agree with the battery needing to be charged and in place for it to operate correctly.