Slideouts on household current

[Hemling]

I currently have my TT parked at my house, but have no way to hook it up to 30/50 amp service, so I'm doing the whole necked-down adapter to a 100 ft. heavy-duty extension cord. This works fine for using the lights and stuff as I do some work, but the slideouts certainly don't like it. I have a Sprinter 33bh, with one super-slide and a smaller one in the bunkhouse in the back. The superslide actually does better than the small one. It just goes really, really, slow but at least is tracking straight and even. The smaller slide kind of jerks and bounces a bit, and I can't get the bottom edge to go out all the way. There is about an inch and a half difference if you measure the top to the bottom. A slight amount of difference from side to side. Is this just a symptom of not having enough juice to get it done? Anytime we've been camping both slides work perfectly on 30/50 amp. Guess I can't remember the last time I had it hooked up this way or if something has gone wrong.

[StirCrazy]

Hemling wrote:
Wow - thanks I guess I learned something new today. So, essentially, if I am beating my dead battery I am charging it through the converter by having it plugged in, but it is not really sufficient to the task in any case then.

either that or your slide isn't adjusted properly. if your plugged in while you are trying to do it your converter should be able to keep up with the demands of the slide easy, unless you converter is severely undersized, which is highly unlikely, or you have dead cells in your battery which is causing most of the converter output to try charge your battery leaving just enough to operate the slide at a reduced speed.

now's a good time to evaluate your battery needs and upgrade as necessary since you have to replace one anyways by the sounds of it.

[Hemling]

Wow - thanks I guess I learned something new today. So, essentially, if I am beating my dead battery I am charging it through the converter by having it plugged in, but it is not really sufficient to the task in any case then.

[MFL]

wnjj wrote:

Hemling wrote:
Oh, ok. Yeah, I know the battery is toast. It's pulling solely household current I'm certain.

On truck camper jacks, there are explicit instructions to have a fully charged battery before use. I'd imagine slides have similar needs.

Yes, most cases, a healthy, fully charged battery is needed to operate slides correctly, or any major power draw, such as FW landing gear. OP needs to heed advice to replace battery, as other issues can result from using a failing battery. It will overwork the converter/charger too, even when ample AC power is available.

Jerry

[wnjj]

Hemling wrote:
Oh, ok. Yeah, I know the battery is toast. It's pulling solely household current I'm certain.

On truck camper jacks, there are explicit instructions to have a fully charged battery before use. I'd imagine slides have similar needs.

[CA_Traveler]

To be clear the slides don't use household AC amps.

So apparently your charger cannot supply the required DC amps. Bad batteries are the source of many problems. REPLACE it.

[Hemling]

Oh, ok. Yeah, I know the battery is toast. It's pulling solely household current I'm certain.

[MFL]

Agree, a strong battery should be all that is needed. If an old/tired battery, it may not get enough help from weak AC power to converter/charger?

Jerry

[CA_Traveler]

Slides use 12V DC and should work fine without any AC power. What is the battery voltage? Do you have AC power inside the RV? I'd suspect discharged battery or related problem.