Can batteries cause slide issues even when on shore power?

[MetalGator]

The last couple of times we have used our dinette slide, the slide will go out about half way and then either stop or one side will stop and the other continue moving. If I then bring in the slide a little and then extend it again it will continue. It starts extending fine and then sounds like the motors are struggling. We just arrived at our site and I plugged in to power before I extended the slide. This is on a year old Class A so the batteries are only a little over a year old. I remember one time on our old TT that our fridge quit working while it was plugged in. I couldn't figure out why but then I checked the battery and it was dead. I was surprised that this happened since the TT was plugged into shore power. Once I replaced the battery the frog started cooling again. I am just wondering if when I put out the slide, the battery voltage starts dropping which could be causing my problem? I have read that Thor puts cheap batteries in their RVs. Just seems odd that this would happen with the RV plugged in to AC.

Burch

[bikendan]

2oldman wrote:
Seems odd to have 2 motors on one slide. And I've never lubed mine, not supposed to.

Schwintek slideouts use a twin motor system.

[time2roll]

MetalGator wrote:
One of the reasons I suspect the batteries is on our last trip, when I turned on the inverter, instead of showing the voltage it showed three zeros. I turned it on and off and still 000. I started the generator and then turned on the inverter and it showed a little over 13 volts. I spoke with a local RV tech and he said it sounded like a battery issue. When the slide starts moving out the motors sound normal and it extends fine. But after a few seconds I hear both motors start to slow down and it seems to struggle. Doesn't do it every time but only the last two trips.

Well certainly get a voltage reading before and during slide operation.

[4x4van]

On my '04 Itasca, the slides (and levelers) run off the chassis battery, not the house battery. Plugging in to shore power does nothing for my slides/levelers. I run the engine when leveling and extending/retracting slides.

[2oldman]

Seems odd to have 2 motors on one slide. And I've never lubed mine, not supposed to.

[maddog348]

Just a quick note ~~ when we purchased our 2007 Itasca Sunova the salesman doing the 'walkthru' told us to "...have the engine running..." when extending or retracting the slides. which we usually do. Said it gave the Battery a little boost. In my understanding that would be the chassis batt ~ not house batts.

Upon reread ~~OP seems to have a much broader problem. Good Luck.

[SidecarFlip]

Been my experience that the most neglected system in any RV is the 12 volt battery system. Actually, in cars and trucks too.

[cummins2014]

MetalGator wrote:
One of the reasons I suspect the batteries is on our last trip, when I turned on the inverter, instead of showing the voltage it showed three zeros. I turned it on and off and still 000. I started the generator and then turned on the inverter and it showed a little over 13 volts. I spoke with a local RV tech and he said it sounded like a battery issue. When the slide starts moving out the motors sound normal and it extends fine. But after a few seconds I hear both motors start to slow down and it seems to struggle. Doesn't do it every time but only the last two trips.

Have the batteries checked , or put it on a charger, see if it will charge to 100%. As mentioned friend had the same issues, bad battery. Just the fact the motors slow down tells you its the batteries.

You have had some good advice, I would at least charge the batteries up, if you think its a battery problem.

[MetalGator]

One of the reasons I suspect the batteries is on our last trip, when I turned on the inverter, instead of showing the voltage it showed three zeros. I turned it on and off and still 000. I started the generator and then turned on the inverter and it showed a little over 13 volts. I spoke with a local RV tech and he said it sounded like a battery issue. When the slide starts moving out the motors sound normal and it extends fine. But after a few seconds I hear both motors start to slow down and it seems to struggle. Doesn't do it every time but only the last two trips.

[SidecarFlip]

time2roll wrote:
Sounds more like a mechanical issue more than electric power issue.

X 2.

Have you ever lubricate the slide? Just the word 'slide' indicates the it requires lubrication...regularly....and

Battery (s) are a year old.. You sure? A wet charged battery begins it's life when wet charged. You have no idea (obviously) how old they actually are. Could have been sitting on the shelf for some time.

Finally, did you maintain them properly during you maintain them properly during your last off season?

I'm guessing not unless you state otherwise.

If the slide extends or retracts crooked, that tells me you have a lubrication issue. dry sliding surfaces cause the motor(s) to draw an excessive amount of current trying to overcome you lack of lubrication.

[Fulltimer50]

From your description, you may have more going on besides battery issues. A slide should never go in or out crooked.

[time2roll]

Sounds more like a mechanical issue more than electric power issue.

[wa8yxm]

Short answer is YES. The slides may need more power than the converter can convert.. in fact I have seen this in real life. Was ask to help move an RV from a site to storage by park management.. The house (And chassis as well) batteries were .. Well. FLAT. I mean Completely gone. We dropped in a new chassis battery (Well the Landlord bought it and I installed it) but not the house. We put 3 people on the slide. Myself and another fairly strong park employee pushing and the camp host pushing the button and got it in..

Workhorse 8.1L vortec, been sitting for years.. Fired up and ran like it was brand new.. I drove it to storage and .. from there the former owner's family claimed it.

[cummins2014]

MetalGator wrote:
The last couple of times we have used our dinette slide, the slide will go out about half way and then either stop or one side will stop and the other continue moving. If I then bring in the slide a little and then extend it again it will continue. It starts extending fine and then sounds like the motors are struggling. We just arrived at our site and I plugged in to power before I extended the slide. This is on a year old Class A so the batteries are only a little over a year old. I remember one time on our old TT that our fridge quit working while it was plugged in. I couldn't figure out why but then I checked the battery and it was dead. I was surprised that this happened since the TT was plugged into shore power. Once I replaced the battery the frog started cooling again. I am just wondering if when I put out the slide, the battery voltage starts dropping which could be causing my problem? I have read that Thor puts cheap batteries in their RVs. Just seems odd that this would happen with the RV plugged in to AC.

Burch

Some RV's require battery power for the slide outs , if you have a bad battery thats your problem, shore power will do you no good, other then charging your battery.

My friend just went thru this with a fifth wheel ,bad battery , slides would not operate, even has a sticker stating such .

[Grit_dog]

Well, are the batteries low or not? We can’t answer that online.
Yes if batteries are low it will affect DC powered accessories. And no, plugging it in won’t instantly charge low or dead batteries.