What's wrong with my slideout?

[albow]

Yesterday, hooked up to the normal 15 amp service I plug into at home sometimes, I slid my bid slide out. I didn't notice any issues. When I slid it back in, it sounded very weak. So weak that it actually stopped about halfway. I waited a few seconds and tried again and it weakly finished coming in. I just brought the trailer home last week and noticed no problems then, nor never have. The trailer is level and it didn't sound like I would think something binding necessarily would. Is my motor getting weak? That's really all I can come up with. There was nothing else in use other than a light or 2 and I know to never attempt to use my a/c with this power. I was getting afraid I would have to find that long manual bar/socket combo and do it the hard way. Is it an easy replacement to swap a motor? How do I find it without cutting the covering and insulation under my camper?

[albow]

Thanks everyone. I still haven't had a chance to check it again but will soon.

[Tin_Pusher]

albow wrote:
..how physically difficult is it to slide it in or out with the manual long socket?

albow, when I had problems with mine a few years ago, I found it to be very hard to move the slide with a 1/2 drive ratchet. Yes motor brake was off. I later looked at my owners manual, where it said to disconnect from the circuit board first. Made A LOT of difference.

Suggest you check your manual first 🙂

[Crabbypatty]

The slide is designed to work without being hooked up, so even though your plugged in, its still running on the batteries. The first thing is to check the batteries. Perhaps they are old and no longer accepting charge and check water level if flooded cell. Check the ground. On my tt they lump all the grounds together and bolt tot he frame. Its gets all the road rain etc and I have found my ground to be rusty. Take apart, clean reattach and seal with terminal sealent. If batteries seem fine then perhaps your charger is not providing enough charge. After that you need to check the wiring from the battery all the way to the motor.

[svjim]

Slide out problems can be tricky. I had similar problems with our 5th wheel slide. After all sorts of testing it turned out to be weak slide switches ( the one on the wall that you use to push in and out) they would heat up during operation and the operation would stall. Usually waiting a minute solved the problem but eventually it just failed. Once they were replaced the problem went away.

Good luck

[albow]

Thanks everyone. Y'all are all pointing at electrical so far. I will check these out when I get a chance. By chance, how physically difficult is it to slide it in or out with the manual long socket?

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Senor Chris Byrant jumped right in with the right answer IMHO.

I've seen an awful lot of slide power wires connected directly to the battery. Start there. If there is the least amount of corrosion on the power wires, snip off the ends and install new ring terminals.

Then there are slide rocker switches - garbage with faston, push-on terminals. Operate the slide a little then feel the switch body and terminals for heat.

Check the wiring running to the slide motor. Slides love to slice things. A wire cut in half will cause your symptoms.

[RJsfishin]

Yep, what they said. If you can get at the motor, I would "hot wire" 12 volts over to it, then you'll know more. If you can't, try to locate the main motor wires where ever they mite appear, and hot wire it there. Polarity changes direction.
Unless its all hydraulic like mine, then a whole nother story.

[Chris_Bryant]

Because the lights didn't dim, I would look for a bad connection in the slide circuit. Most motor/mechanical problems would dim the light considerably, through increased current draw.

[albow]

Several 12v lights were on. They didn't dim or I would have suspected a power issue. Do they operate on 12v even when plugged in to shore power? Not sure if a dual system or something. It extended just fine 30 minutes before.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

X2 TucsonJim,

This is most certainly a loss of voltage issue. Turn on a 12 volt light that you can see when operating the slide, if it too dims or goes out, battery voltage has gone low.

[TucsonJim]

Check your battery voltage. You might have a charging issue such as a bad converter. If so, you battery is getting too low to drive the slide.