Slide not working

LKANER · 07-30-2012, 12:23 PM

When I went to close the slides on my 2006 Adventure 38j after camping for 2 weeks there was no response when I depressed the the rocker switches. I started the engine and made sure the parking brake was on and still no response. The engine started right up and the battery indicated 12.6. Reading the book it said to try holding in the Boost while depressing the Slide switch. After a few seconds the slides closed. The battery is only a year old. I took the rig to Interstate and they said the battery was ok. I have gone for longer periods and never had to start the engine to close the slides, just turn the key on. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanx. Len

RickO · 07-30-2012, 12:28 PM

You mention the "battery" tested OK. Do you only have one coach/house battery? What you describe sure sounds like low battery symptom.

At least for my rig, Winnie says to always have the engine running when operating the slides.

Good luck.

Rick

Sky_Boss · 07-30-2012, 12:49 PM

NICE RIG!

That does seem odd that the emergency start switch was needed. Has this problem replicated itself? Did all the slides react the same?

While a good battery should be able to handle the slides and still start the engine, we don't push that issue. Almost always we start engine to open/close slides.

When we picked up our rig about 4 months ago, it had a rather anemic 650 CCA coach battery that soon failed. We upgraded to an 800 CCA battery and haven't have a problem since.

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to go through all the slide wiring and see if there is some kind of corrosion or loose connection. Make sure your coach terminals are in good shape while at it. That would be especially true if all of your slides failed to move on the first try.

LKANER · 07-30-2012, 06:47 PM

Today I started the engine with a full battery charge before attempting to extend the slides and it still didn't work. There are 2 house batteries and one chassis. It is my understanding that the slides work off of the chassis battery, and when I hit the boost it is tying the 2 house batteries together with the coach. The chassis battery is a 1000 CCA interstate. I hate to visit the shop if there is something I can fix
Len

txdutt · 07-30-2012, 07:26 PM

make sure all of your battery connections are clean, I've learned to have the engine running when extending/retracting the slides-they'll draw alot of juice moving those slides..If your batteries are older than 3 years, it's cheap insurance to replace all of them---(have the same model as yours but on an Itasca)..make sure also all of your electrical connections underneath aren't gummed up with road grime (get underneath the liv room slide up front & you'll see the main electrical distribution), lube your slide rails with a dry graphite spray as well..if NONE of your slides are working then it sounds like shop time is in order, good luck!

DancinCampers · 07-31-2012, 08:06 AM

I would check all the connections and inline fuses on the pump/motor assy for corrosion. The slides and jacks use same motor, but separate solenoids and fuses.

Clay L · 07-31-2012, 08:57 AM

If I understood you right, you measured 12.6 on the engine battery when the engine was running. If so something is wrong. You should read over 14 volts since the alternator should be charging the engine battery.

LKANER · 07-31-2012, 02:13 PM

Sorry, 12.6 was before I started the engine. Today I tested all of the fuses and tapped on the solenoids to no avail. Plus today the slides will not work even with the boost. Hate to do it, but it's off to the shop. Thanx for everyone's help. Len

azpete · 08-02-2012, 08:41 AM

check the room switch. these switches are notorious for failure. if you hit the switch two or three times does it eventually work? i carry an extra one in my coach. have used five in the last six years. i have two rooms. failures on both rooms.

Bigd9 · 08-02-2012, 02:25 PM

Please let us know what the answer is. I learn so much from this forum.

Here is my 2 cents worth.
Question, do you have just 1 switch to open/close both slides? Since you were able to boost it and get them to work, and I'm assuming each slide has its own motor, it looks like a bad connection. You mentioned you tapped on the solenoids. Can you get a multi meter and check them? See if any voltage is getting to them? Voltage leaving the solenoids when you hit the switch(s)?Are the room slide motors accessible? Do you have voltage on these motors when you hit the switch(s)? Just be careful and don't get hit or crushed by the room suddenly moving. On my Discovery, I had to rebuild the room motor twice, but it was caused by the mounting location. Water/dirt/salt was being kicked up from the front tire bathing the motor in road stuff causing the room motor to fail.

If it was me, I would start at battery end of the electrical path and check each component to see if full battery voltage is present. Voltage at both legs of the fuse--- fuse is good. Full voltage at the switch, both sides when depressed---good switch, full voltage at both sides of the solenoids when switch is pressed --- good solenoid, full battery voltage at the motor and she doesn't work, maybe the motor is bad. If you see the voltage is way below the battery voltage, then you either have a bad motor or have a bad ground somewhere.

gMw · 08-03-2012, 04:33 AM

Hi, Our Journey had a similar problem, in that the rear slide switch would work sometimes and not other. I replaced the bedroom slide switch, which didn’t solve the intermittent problem.

I checked and tried a lot of the things mentioned in this thread. What worked for me was checking voltages, at the switch itself, no problem. At the pump/solenoid, the voltage was low, while I don’t remember the specific voltage, it was low enough that it marginally activated the slide. Starting the engine helped, adding a couple of volts to the circuit. Bottom line was a voltage drop between the 12v source and the pump/solenoid

What I did was add a relay to the circuit just above the pump. The 12v relay actually functions okay with a lower voltage, so now the bedroom switch activates the relay, the relay activates the pump/solenoid. Been working fine for years.

Second issue that happened recently (Spring time) was the rear slide switch failed activate the slide. I found the solenoid connector had separated. Once I reconnected the wiring, everything worked well. I put cable ties around all the connectors. So I’d check the wiring, at the pump, to be sure everything is making connect.

I also routinely clean ground connections for the pump and solenoids.

LKANER · 08-13-2012, 05:12 PM

Thanx everyone for your input. I took the chasis battery back to Interstate and even though it checked okay they replaced it for me at no charge. Thursday, After arriving at the camp ground, with the engine running, the jacks went down without difficulty. Then when I depressed the right slide rocker it hesitated and then extended. Same for the left rocker. The rear bedroom went out with no hesitation.
Today, when I was retracting the slides I had the same hesitation issue. Then, when I retracted the jacks, the rear hung half way up and I had to gently help them up with the aid of a board.
Does this additional info isolate my problem or do I need to head to the shop.
Len