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Quailguy's avatar
Quailguy
Explorer II
Aug 04, 2018

Slide out doesnt work

My 2005 Keystone Springdale 26RELL has been parked for 3 years. Went to open the slide and nothing happens. Batteries are fully charged and hooked up correctly. Interior/exterior lights work on battery power only. Rig is plugged into shore power. When I engage the switch, I get nothing; no motor hum, nada. I'm no electrician! I appreciate any help I can get.
  • It doesn't sound like the motor is getting any juice, no hum or click. I moved it out about 6 inches manually, but still nothing.
  • To me, battery power sounds good. I would try (if you have a helper) to have someone press the slide button and 2 people one on each side of the slide and maybe just give it a tad "help." I helped a couple on a trip, theirs would not come in. This did the trick for them.
  • Well, it would definitely be worthwhile reading
    "The 12 volt side of life" before you start trying things.

    Just google that, and read it before you begin. It might help you understand the electrical system. There is Part 1 and Part 2, but for this, Part 1 will likely give you a lot of information.

    If you have two parallel batteries, then both are 12 volt batteries. Taking one out and putting it closer to the slide motor wires will not hurt.
  • Ok, I have very little experience (read zero) with electricity. When you say to take the power from the battery to the slide motor, do you mean to run wires directly to the motor? I have 2 batteries in parallel, can I use either one?

    REALLY appreciate your help!
  • Your best option to troubleshoot it is to take the power from the battery to the slide motor. When I do something like this, I use a long jumper cable. If the motor runs when you connect assured power to the motor leads, then just find the connection points in between and work your way back.

    If the motor does not run, you have to figure out why.

    Let the battery sit unused and disconnected for an hour, then put your meter on it. Then turn on some fantastic fans, exhaust fans, and lights and check the meter. Your voltage should not drop very much at all if the battery is good. If it drops below 12 volts, your battery is toast. It should only drop about 0.2 or max 0.3 volts with a big load.
  • its hooked to the truck now and both batteries are over 14v.
  • I unhooked the shore power and the batteries were 13.62 and 13.55. Havent hooked it to the truck yet.
  • If you unplug your rig from shore power, what is the battery reading?

    When my slideout failed to open, there was a solenoid that was corroded. It was behind a panel in a storage area. Cleaning that or replacing it (I replaced) did the job.

    Can you hook it up to your tow vehicle and let the tv run about 5 minutes and try again? Or maybe just a little help on each side of the side from the inside while someone is operating the slide switch?

    Just things I learned along the way.