Forum Discussion

kennyd63's avatar
kennyd63
Explorer
Oct 11, 2014

What is wrong with my slides?

Good noon...

You ladies and gents probably heard of this before. In the spring we open the slides, and leave them open all season long till is time to winterized and call it quit for the season. Well this year we did our yearly routine on winterizing, well it was time to close the slides and to my surprise the slides will not close. So I read in the manual and it said that if the battery was dead to try to give it a jump with my Towing vehicle. I did and nothing, so the second thing they suggest it was to jump the motor of the slides. WOW it worked I was able to close the 3 slides. Now is there anyone out there that may know what may be causing the problem, or do I need I new motor?:?

Thank you in advance>>>

Kennedy>>>
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Oct 11, 2014
    Don't need new motors or they wouldn't have worked when you jumped them directly.

    Slides get DC power directly from battery
    If battery voltage is low they don't work
    IF in-line fuse/circuit breaker/relay is bad.slides don't get power from battery

    Jumping battery from tow vehicle can help.........depends on how low battery voltage is, demand on battery etc.

    Look under trailer tongue for fuse/relay
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Oct 11, 2014
    Well if you jumped it and the slides moved then the motor(s) are fine.
    Have you maintained the battery? Checked its fluid and made sure the terminals aren't corroded? Do you have a high quality 3 stage charger taking care of it or do you have a single stage charger that has destroyed it?
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Oct 11, 2014
    Your dumb charger has boiled the water out of your battery and your cheap jumper cables will take hours to partial charge your dead battery .
  • chevyman2's avatar
    chevyman2
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2014
    definitely the battery. Funny part is, you (possibly) could have plugged your (or someones) tow vehicle in to the 7 way "light" plug, and the rooms would have likely went in. (Assuming the truck had a "properly wired" plug receptacle)
  • Bears_Den's avatar
    Bears_Den
    Explorer
    Oct 12, 2014
    A few weeks ago, I was camping and had my DW close the two slides. We were ready to leave when I remembered there was something inside I forgot to do. DW opened the one slide and I did what I had to. This took all of about 2 minutes to do, when she went to close the slide it would'nt close. The other slide would not open. I even tried plugging into my truck and it didn't work. To my surprise, there were 3 relays between the battery and the body of the trailer which were mounted on the A frame. There was a loose wire and the slides got no juice. Once the wire was tightened the slides worked. Check that first before you spend any money.
  • LarryJM's avatar
    LarryJM
    Explorer II
    Oct 12, 2014
    Bears Den wrote:
    A few weeks ago, I was camping and had my DW close the two slides. We were ready to leave when I remembered there was something inside I forgot to do. DW opened the one slide and I did what I had to. This took all of about 2 minutes to do, when she went to close the slide it would'nt close. The other slide would not open. I even tried plugging into my truck and it didn't work. To my surprise, there were 3 relays between the battery and the body of the trailer which were mounted on the A frame. There was a loose wire and the slides got no juice. Once the wire was tightened the slides worked. Check that first before you spend any money.


    Yep those self setting relays are very common and basically take the place of fusable links found on high amperage automotive items for safety purposes. They are typically located very close to the battery, just like fusable links and a common place is on the bottom of the trailer, just behind the A-frame before the wiring goes into the main junction box or into the interior for further routing. They are often exposed and can really corrode up and fail.

    Larry
  • Community Alumni's avatar
    Community Alumni
    Oct 12, 2014
    We have a seasonal campsite in upstate NY and also in South Carolina where the RV just sits for months at a time. As a routine, I run the slides in & out about once a month and lube the systems as required twice a year.

    The big issue with sitting in one place is the battery(s). If you are plugged into 110v all the time, you need to check the water level about every 3 months or so and topped it off as required. My experience with an RV battery plugged in all the time is that it likely needs replacing about every 5 years or so otherwise the slides may not extend or retract.

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