Slide out goes out but struggles and won't come in

[Terry26]

Hi,
I have a 2001 26' Fleetwood Terry and the slide out, although seems to go out fine tries to come back in but will only come in when pushed from the outside while wife presses the button. It seems to struggle in initially getting up and over the inside cabin but once about a foot in it comes in all the way without issue. It seems as though something is binding but I've looked under it extensively and cannot see to find the problem. Could the motor be the issue? It does work, however it just can't get over the initial "hump" when retracting.

Thanks

[big_jim_2]

I spent several hours trying to solve the same problem you have. Super cleaned all the tracks, checked electrical connections, replaced the slide motor,replaced the batteries. No success! Finally I crawled under the slide and had my wife retract it. A section of the lower gasket was being pulled into up into the slide area but would go back into place as the slide went in. I cut it out and the slide worked perfect. $1000 dollars and 5 or 6 hours it was fixed for nothing. Good Luck.

[Chuck_thehammer]

A Weak battery could do this.. even with truck plugged in.. or Power Pole...

truck and Power pole goes TO the battery, then to everything else..
also check the connectors and connections at the controller of slide motor.. and to motor itself.. and then the SWITCH itself.

have BATTERY LOAD tested at auto parts store.. ONLY the 100 amp test.. and only the 100 amp test.. others are not worth your time, and has NO VALUE.

[GaryWT]

I say it is the battery. One trip ours struggled some. I charged the battery on a different charger and have not had an issue again. Not sure why the battery was low that trip as we were plugged in but that was the issue, needed a fully charged battery.

[DownTheAvenue]

The issue is probably the rubber wipers on the side of the trailer that are supposed to be flexible enough to twist out when extending the slide and turn in when retracting. They have become hard and will not twist in and therefore become wedges against the retracting slide. A short term fix is to put baby powder all over the side wall of the slide as the slide retracts. The microscopic powder granules will lubricate the rubber against the slide.

Another option is to flood the rubber and sidewalls with 3303 protectant.

[MFL]

PackerBacker wrote:

Terry26 wrote:
Hi, I did forget to mention that I had Electrical AC connected as in doing so tried to eliminate a battery issue. So with only battery or AC electrical power is struggles the same.
Thanks

Does not matter, most slide systems require a good battery even if plugged into AC. The slides work on DC and typical converter/charger units do not generate sufficient power to overcome a weak or poor condition battery.

I agree,PackerBacker. Someone mentioned earlier, to plug cord into truck, with engine running. This will help, but not as much as good jumper cables, truck battery direct to RV battery, truck running.

Jerry

[Community Alumni]

Terry26 wrote:
Hi, I did forget to mention that I had Electrical AC connected as in doing so tried to eliminate a battery issue. So with only battery or AC electrical power is struggles the same.
Thanks

Does not matter, most slide systems require a good battery even if plugged into AC. The slides work on DC and typical converter/charger units do not generate sufficient power to overcome a weak or poor condition battery.

[bedell]

Hope this isn't a stupid response on my part but is your door wide open to allow for the air to escape when the slide comes in like a huge piston? Happy trails.

[bobndot]

Terry, then it may be electrical or a weak motor.
Are you able to move the slide back in manually without someone pushing it to help ?




do you think you have a Lippert slide ?

http://primetimerv.com/download/ComponentManuals/SlideOut-ThruChassisElectricbyLippert-OperationManu...

terry..this may also help . scroll down to " john b at 8.31pm" post (with great pics)

http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f71/problem-with-slideout-12130.html

[Bob_Sue]

Dont know if yours is cable or hydraulic, but return sequence may be fault of low hydraulic oil.

[Tiger8r]

If you have the type with the swinteck system I would find a good service department and let them check it out. I have a 2012 crossroads cruiser 330ss had a lot of problems with the bedroom slide went thru several service departments before finding one that was able to isolate the problem related to a water leak and fix the problem and that also entailed changing out both motors and the entire h- system. Spent several hours on the phone with crossroads and Lippert trying to synchronize the slide motors, adding a battery, new batteries etc. hope this helps and let us know what the final problem and solution is.

[rbpru]

I would try to find our why it goes out easier than in. Also if the shore power converted can supply enough power without the battery.

[Terry26]

bobndot wrote:
The engineering of slide outs makes it easier to put it out than bring it back in.

If that battery is ok, then I would next consider the slide track. Make sure its lubricated by using a dry slide out lubricate . Do not use a wet lube like WD-40 because it attracts dirt and will make things worse the day after tomorrow.
'Protect All dry slide lube' , makes one , avl. at Camping world or Amazon. about $18-20.00

After you lube it, see if its easier to bring it back in. If it is, then then you have an alignment issue. The metal tracks can be adjusted.

Then your options are ...go to an Rv mechanic or google 'how to adjust the alignment of an RV slide out' . There are many youtube instructional videos on how to do it using various types and mfg.'s.

I did lube the slide rails but no difference. I'm thinking it could possibly be an electrical connection issue at motor or inverter. I will be checking them too to eliminate that and double check the alignment.

thanks

Good luck, hope this info helps,
Bob

[Terry26]

bgum wrote:
Power could still be the issue. Check all connections.

yes, I agree to that. I'm going to disconnect clean and reconnect electrical wiring to motor. Likewise at the inverter.

Thanks

[Terry26]

amandasgramma wrote:
Are your slides the cabled kind? Our slides have 2 cables on each side, top and bottom. The kitchen slide groaned and slowed down for maybe 5-6 times and finally a cable snapped. The cable had been unraveling for some time. We ended up ordering the cables on Amazon and hubby repaired it. They were around $23.00 each.....sooooo much cheaper than a repair shop.

Hi, Mine is gear driven and ruled out bad gears.