Please Help -- Rats chewed slide-out wiring!

[ADP1723]

I just went to pickup our 2007 Keystone Montana Mountaineer (342pht) that I had been storing on someones property for the past month, and realized the slide outs won't come in...When I tried to move the slides out (extend), I could hear the motor spinning, but when I tried to move them in nothing happens at all (no sound/no movement). I saw a post on here saying that there is separate wiring for the in (retract) and out (extend) switches, which seem to be these yellow and white wires:



So I traced these yellow and white wires through the RV and found this at the power convertor:



First I noticed rat poop everywhere, and then I see that the yellow wire (that I believe is supposed to connect to the power convertor) had clearly been chewed on.

I also saw this black wire that goes through a hole in the wall behind the power convertor had also been chewed on, but it seems intact, so I'm guessing I can just wrap this one in electrical tape.



I tried to manually retract the sliders with a drill and a hex bit as it states in the instruction manual, but it didn't seem like anything was happening. Therefore, I'm hoping someone can confirm the following:

1) Is this wire actually supposed to plug into the power convertor, and if so, where it is supposed to connect? (any pictures would be extremely helpful)

2) Where could I find a replacement wire to fix this? Any tips? (I've worked on cars for a long time, but I'm completely new to electrical repairs)

3) Is there anything else I might have missed here that may be the cause?

4) Is there a trick to manually retracting the sliders with a drill? Does it just take awhile, or is this a sign that I have a greater issue than the shredded wire?


Any assistance would be GREATLY appreciated. Me and my girlfriend are supposed to start our year-long RV trip this week that we've been planning/preparing for a year. We already moved out of our house, so we're screwed if we can't get this fixed.

[ADP1723]

I also just read in another thread that I could potentially just reverse the wire placement on the Trombetta as a temporary fix to get the slides in (since the motor spins fine when extending slides...just not retracting).... Can anyone confirm if this could be a good temporary solution?

Thanks!

[RMcNeal]

Rather than reversing the wires, you could just manually open the trombetta valve using an allen wrench. I think it is 3/16's? Then run the motor to retract the slide, if the motor is working fine. On mine, the smaller two wires on the reversing solenoid go to the switch in the coach. Here's an excellent troubleshooting document I got recently on another thread. I think the document came from ChuckS.

[ADP1723]

That guide is amazing! Thanks for sending that! It looks like the yellow wire doesn't plug into the power convertor at all...it just goes straight to the switch on the wall.

How do you manually open the trombetta valve? Is this the same thing as this "manual drive" opening on the side of the motor that uses a 1/4" hex bit in a drill?


I tried doing this but it didn't seem like anything was happening. Maybe I just need to do it longer, but do you have any idea why this might not work??

[Daryles]

For the nicks in the wiring
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AXNOD...AZTQVSBZBSS9AQ

[RMcNeal]

If the motor will run and reverse, you don't need to worry about that part. The Trombetta valve is in the manifold of valves somewhere near the motor. There should be a "manifold" with 4 of these hydac valves on it. Three control the leveling system and one for the hydraulic slides. That manifold is on the top of page 3 in the document I sent you. On the end of each valve is a manual set screw with an allen wrench head to manually open and close the valve. Mine is like the one in that picture with blue and white wires. The hydac valve is circled in yellow. Here's what a single hydac valve looks like without the manifold for reference.
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Hydac...gaAsMnEALw_wcB
The exposed end of this valve will have the allen head manual open/close screw.

[RMcNeal]

Here's a video from Heartland of manually operating them. You don't need the drill since the motor is running, but you will need to open the valve manually then run the motor at the switch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBomTFBQJDA

[BB_TX]

I had a problem with squirrels (or rats or mice) eating the wires in my 2007 F350 and building nests under the hood. Three times to the tune of about $400 each time! Finally sprayed all the wires under the hood with Critter Ridder from Home Depot and no more problems.

[mhs4771]

Some no so bright engineer decided it was cheaper to use Soy in the wire insulation which is a nice food for Rats and Mice.

[BB_TX]

Originally Posted by mhs4771

Some no so bright engineer decided it was cheaper to use Soy in the wire insulation which is a nice food for Rats and Mice.

Must have been good. They ate the copper right along with it. And added vacuum lines for desert.