No Batteries

[brettbernier]

I have winterized my 5th wheel and removed the batteries. I need to open the slides. Can I hook up shore power and open the slides or do I need to reinstall the batteries?

[RangerEZ]

I was at a dealer and wanted to see the slide out on a coach they had. No batteries in the unit. They went and grabbed one of those little $50 Harbor Freight battery jump boxes. It pushed out both slides and powered all the auto-leveling jacks. Pretty impressive for what it is and the cost. I plan to buy one for backup, so to speak.

[Itching2go]

...or just make it easy on yourself and keep the batteries in the rig over the winter. Just make sure your battery disconnect switch is 'on', isolating your batteries from any parasitic draw. Fully charged batteries will not freeze. I've left my batteries in our fiver over the winter for several years and have not had a problem. And it frequently gets well below zero here in northern Indiana. Just make sure they have a full charge when you 'put it to bed'.

[TucsonJim]

My FW came with a fancy crank handle to move the slides in or out when there was no power.

[shepstone]

My new fiver will open without batteries but the old fiver with hydraulic operated slide would not

[korbe]

My slide works while my batteries are disconnected. I have heard some do not.

[waltbennett]

Like Don, I don't remove my batteries any more, although I used to when they were just 12v deep cycle ones instead of golf cart types. They stay charged by the solar panels even without shore power, but the trailer stays plugged in anyway.

As to being able to move the slides without them, I've done that many times on both our current Montana and our TT before it. I'd bet your Carriage has an 80 amp converter and should be able to do it as well.

[Old-Biscuit]

Slide outs are wired directly to batteries due to 30A draw.

Jumper cables from your truck battery to slide out wires OR put batteries back in.

[donn0128]

If the trailer is at home and you have access to shore power, why did you take the batteries out? I have never once in 30 years taken batteries out of my RVs. I also leave mine plugged in 24/7, check the batteries monthly. Never had any issues.

[Wishbone51]

If that doesn't work, could you just use jumper cables to your truck's batteries? Might be faster.

[Roger10378]

You will probably need to install the batteries. The slides use enough current that the converter alone probably won't do the job. You can try first just don't expect success.