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yankeeslover's avatar
yankeeslover
Explorer
Jan 25, 2014

Slide Maintence question

sorry about the newbie questions. purchased brand new 2014 Primetime Tracer 2670 last June. im just wondering what kind of maintence needs to be done on these slides? I believe its the cable slide? do I have to oil the cables at all or are they really self lubricating like the dealer says? I also read online that the seals can be coated with baby powder? is this all that needs to be done? I will be perfectly honest, I didn't touch the seals or anything my first season with it.. I really didn't know until now.. so this spring I will take the baby powder and use it on the seals. what else needs to be done?
last question, I have read online that the slide should be operated once per week to keep it lubricated? I have done that over the summer, but I live in upstate NY and the camper is at the dealer for the winter storage(outside) I have not checked the camper since October. will the slide be ok during the winter without opening it? its hard to stick to that once per week opening during the winter.. any hints, tips? what should I do?
im not a very handy person, but I also don't want to pay dealer to do stuff if its easy to do myself..thanks for helping..
  • You could get some spray lubricants like cable treatment, grease, and graphite spray to maintain the slide mechanisms and cable. You should have these on hand, anyway, since they can be used in other places around the RV, truck, and home.
  • When we had a trailer with a slide, the dealer said to use spray silicon on the seal and I lubed the jack screw with white lithium grease. Do you have an owner's manual? It might say in there what to use.
  • Your packet of information that comes with the trailer, should have information in it on how to take care of the slides. Or call the manufacturer of your unit. Many of them recommend you do nothing to them.
  • Living in upstate NY I would not open the slide in the winter if it was not necessary. I would wait until the temps were above freezing for several days. If there is water/ ice on the seals you may run the risk of damaging them. I think the slide will be fine without opening it every week. Upstate NY has had a tough winter this year with plenty of snow and very cold temps. I would leave well enough alone.
  • Ours has a gear mechanism and no cables or worm gear so we don't do anything except spray the track where the gears meet with silicone.If you ahve cables, go to Kano oil on the internet and order cable lube. It is sticky oil. The biggest maintenece item on a travel trailer is the batteries. Keep them filled with distilled water and fully charged. Don't let people tell you that a battery you can pry the lids off does'nt need distilled water either. I maintain aircraft and one requirement is to pull the battery, fill and charge for 24 hrs then test it. The batteries in my pickup last about 5 years.
  • Why would you put baby powder on the seals? Rubber seals need to be lubricated - there is a spray on product for this.
  • 2012Coleman wrote:
    Why would you put baby powder on the seals? Rubber seals need to be lubricated - there is a spray on product for this.


    So they will smell fresh:)
  • I have read all over this board that you should use baby powder on slide seals
  • yankeeslover wrote:
    I have read all over this board that you should use baby powder on slide seals
    Never read this on here so I searched and found a bunch of your posts. This included:
    If you are talking about the seals they are accessed from the inside with the slide partly retracted and talcum powder works great. Baby powder is just talcum powder with a scent added. If you are talking about the wipers on the outside then silicone or 303 works well. Many people confuse the seals which seal out air and water with the wipers which clean the slide when it retracts.


    So what seals are you talking about?

    I still don't see a use for baby powder so maybe someone will educate me. My manuals don't say to use it.