Manual crank for slideout - Montana Owners Club

trlrboy · 11-01-2012, 02:02 PM

How do I manually crank in the sofa slide on a 2010 3400RL?

1retired06 · 11-01-2012, 02:38 PM

You should have directions re the Lippert brochure in your owners packet. If you look closely at the motor at the hydraulic pump, you will see a removable decal, and you use an electric drill to manually turn the motor, which manually operates the pump. I cannot remember for sure, but think clockwise brings the slide in, counterclockwise takes it out. Best to test correct direction.

drsmart · 11-01-2012, 02:41 PM

Page 6 on this link explains how to operate the hydraulic slide outs if the pump fails.
http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/Ow...de-out-web.pdf
Can you hear the pump operating?

Dave

trlrboy · 11-01-2012, 03:19 PM

Sigh... Where do I get a hex drive that isn't shaped like an L? I tried to use a screwdriver bit set in the drill in backwards but that's too small.

dieselguy · 11-01-2012, 03:35 PM

Unless they've changed it, it's just a 1/4" allen wrench size. I just cut off a long reach allen wrench ... any screw driver bit "should" work put in backwards like you mentioned.

PackerFan · 11-01-2012, 03:55 PM

drsmart - Thanks for the link to the manual. I like having these electronically.

**DQDick** · 11-01-2012, 06:03 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by trlrboy

Sigh... Where do I get a hex drive that isn't shaped like an L? I tried to use a screwdriver bit set in the drill in backwards but that's too small.

I carry a four inch phillips head screwdriver bit just in case, for this reason. It also comes in handy once and a while for screwdriver uses.

CBTraveler · 11-02-2012, 01:43 AM

to drsmart- Thank you for the manual link. I don't remember even having a paper manual for the slide mechanism in my data package. I also like having an electronic copy since we always take a laptop on our trips.

Glenn the fifth · 11-02-2012, 07:41 AM

The best thing I have found for this use is a right angle adapter for my DeWalt driver. Made this much easier with the lack of room in there to work. I believe I bought the adapter for about $25.00 at Sears and it is well worth that in my opinion. -Glenn

trlrboy · 11-02-2012, 03:25 PM

Thanks for the tips everyone, I got my slide back in. Made a 1/4" bit that fit perfect in my cordless drill. By the way, to bring the slide IN you need to set the drill to counterclockwise.

RJI47 · 11-03-2012, 05:07 AM

I had a problem with the rooms going out, and tried the manual method. Put the drill bit in and tried it both ways, and nothing. Rooms didn't move a bit. about an hour, and then the normal switch worked. Called Lippert, and the fellow said he couldn't understand why the rooms wouldn't work with the drill. The switch would work on the "in" side, but not on the "out". Replaced the thermal CB and still nothing. Like I said, eventually, it just started working. The Lippert rep seemed to think it was a weak battery. After getting the rooms out, I left them out for 3 weeks. Upon putting them back in, the switch worked fine, but the CB tripped 3 times during the process. When I go back, I will replace the battery as suggested. I'm not real confident however.
Still don't understand why the drill didn't work.

**DQDick** · 11-03-2012, 05:09 AM

The only reason I can think of that the drill wouldn't work, but then the switch did, would be the bit wasn't in deep enough to turn the motor.

Ray Audet · 11-03-2012, 07:52 AM

RJI47: Rick, I had the same problem with the slides working intermitently. They would sometimes work going out, and always worked going back in. I called Lippert and the tech was pretty sure that it was the 'trombetta'. I replaced it and everything works fine now. It's an easy replacement, just make sure that you label the wires before disconnecting the old one. Also, make sure that you get the right trombetta. There are two flavors, one with silver posts and the other with copper. Mine were silver. Here are some links:

http://www.trombetta.com/cm/pdfs/D03508RevD.pdf
http://www.trombetta.com/cm/pdfs/Ins...-Contactor.pdf

http://store.lci1.com/polarity-rever...etta-p179.aspx

Good luck.
Ray

Exnavydiver · 11-03-2012, 10:43 AM

Just last weekend I helped a couple from Colorado get their slides in with my DeWalt 18 volt drill. They had 3 slides and we shut the valves on all but the slide were working on. It took 3 batteries to do all the slides. If you were trying it on all slides you would see almost any movement. It was a VERY VERY slow process. Close to 30 minutes to get all three in. I hope Steve Vannoy aka wisterdog is reading this as this very well may be the problem spot however the rear stabilizer ceased to function when the slide motor stopped so I am not sure.. But thanks for the PDF file, it will go into the emergency instruction file if I can find it...

RJI47 · 11-03-2012, 04:36 PM

Dick, I asked the tech about that, and he said the hex is right on the surface of the motor, and all you really need is about 1/4" inside the socket for it to work. He did say that it's a fast turning motor, and a drill may not be fast enough, so it would take longer. He didn't seem to think anything about the trombetta, just the battery.

RJI47 · 11-03-2012, 04:39 PM

Ray, this last incident produced a motor sound when the "in" button was pushed, but absolutely nothing when the "out" button was pushed. When it finally did work, the CB tripped 3 times on the way in. I think this is the reason the tech focused on the battery. Do you know the difference between the silver and copper colored terminals on the trombetta?

Ray Audet · 11-04-2012, 02:06 AM

Rick...Mine did the same thing. I could hear the motor when the "In" button was pushed, but nothing when the "Out" button was pushed. If you do a little research on the Trombetta, I think that you'll find that it governs which way the motor turns. The tech actually told me that I could reverse a couple of the wires as a test, so that pushing the "In" button would push the slides out. I didn't really want to try that-I preferred to just replace it.
In my case, I have 2 12 volt batteries on board. I didn't realize it at the time, but both batteries were low, very low and needed to be replaced. After replacing both, the problem still existed. I'm thinking now, that I may have damaged the trombetta by repeatingly pressing the in and out buttons when the old batteries were low.

Regarding the silver and bronze (I incorrectly said copper) posts, I don't think there is any difference in function-it is just a metal to metal and corrosion thing-so you want to replace the old one with a new one of the same type.

You might want to get the batteries load tested, then you'll have a better idea. At least that would eliminate the batteries. My money is on the trombetta, since the slides work going in, but not out.
Good luck. Let us know how you make out.
Ray

CamillaMichael · 11-05-2012, 04:30 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Exnavydiver

Just last weekend I helped a couple from Colorado get their slides in with my DeWalt 18 volt drill. They had 3 slides and we shut the valves on all but the slide were working on. It took 3 batteries to do all the slides. If you were trying it on all slides you would see almost any movement. It was a VERY VERY slow process. Close to 30 minutes to get all three in. I hope Steve Vannoy aka wisterdog is reading this as this very well may be the problem spot however the rear stabilizer ceased to function when the slide motor stopped so I am not sure.. But thanks for the PDF file, it will go into the emergency instruction file if I can find it...

Shortly after buying our Montana I attempted to run the slides in manually...just to test the process. After running the drill bit one direction and then the other without seeing any movement, decided I would opt out of the need to run the slides in manually:-)

drsmart · 11-05-2012, 05:07 AM

I haven't tried to use a drill yet but thought it interesting that the hydraulic pump for the slides has an 80 amp auto reset breaker in line. Even if the the pump draws half of that, it's a lot of current to run the pump. A portable drill would pack a fraction of that. I wonder what RPM the pump runs at while using the house battery compared to what a drill would provide

Dave

trlrboy · 11-05-2012, 06:00 AM

Having just done this over the past weekend I can let you know that you would be surprised as how fast the drill has to run to bring in the slides. Initially I was running it way too slow so that I saw almost no movement. I ran it at about mid speed and after about 20 seconds I could see the slide moving in but oh-so-slow. The drill ran fine but I can't imagine how long this would have taken with a socket set ratchet.

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