Help - No Power - One Slideout Stuck

[oldgeezor]

Today was a nice day (39) in Mississauga, Ontario(Canada) and I decided to take a trip out to the storage facility where my RV is stored. I am planning to put a fireplace into my 3400RL in the spring and had just purchsed one at Home Depot and wanted to see if it would fit and what I would need to build around it.

While 39 is not the warmest temperature and the slideouts were a little slow going out. I managed to get all the measurements and placed the new fireplace into the space where I will be building it in.

I now started to bring the slideout back in and they where a little slow and there appeared to be alarms going off, so I stopped. I then restarted and got three slides in and the fourth was about to come in when I lost power completely.

As a newbie I was at a loss where to look for fuses or even a location where I can manually bring in the slide until I figure out what the power problem is. I didn't have the manual with me in the RV and had to come home (around 10 miles). It still didn't help me deciding where to look. So I am asking a couple of things:
1) Where are any fuses that I should look for? Are they down at the pump? There is a 30amp inline fuse(orange wire) here I couldn't get off to look at - is that the one? I.E. Picture attached

2) Where is the manaul control for the slides on a 3400RL?

PS. I was running off the truck batteries because I had the battery at home being charged up.

Thank-you

[DQDick]

Check and make sure you don't have the battery disconnect on. I just had a similar problem and that's what caused it. Otherwise, if your's is like mine you take the paper label off the end of the motor and put a 1/4" ( I believe) extended screwdriver bit in a drill backwards and then insert the flat end of the bit into the hole and use the drill to power the pump.

[oldgeezor]

Sorry to be a little stupid here...but where is the 'Battery Disconnect'?

[H. John Kohl]

Oldgeezer,
In your picture the black vent hose for the battery cover is blocking part of the view but is a good reference. Just to the right of the hose on the back wall should be two silver boxes with two terminal posts one each box. I see two yellow covered spade lugs just to the right of the vent hose. That is the location.

They are RESETTABLE (automatically reset) breakers. If they get too hot the open and reset when they cool off. If you do not get power back then I would meter them out and replace the bad one.

To manually bring in the slides you have to open the access port on the left end of the motor (farthest from the oil reservoir). You have to insert a bit that matches the end and then connect that bit to a drill to spin the motor.

I hope this helps. You can also pull information from Lippert web pages on some of your questions.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[DQDick]

My battery disconnect is located in my convenience center where my water and cable hookups are. It's confusing to me because it says Battery disconnect and then has off in big letters and on in small. Every so often I decided that the off and on is talking about the disconnect and not the power. On mine it's talking about the power and on means the power is on.

[wingerphil]

Try plugging your trailer into your truck and then try working the slides. Sounds to me like it is simply a depleted battery on the 5th wheel. If not in your tow vehicle you can get into position and use some jumper cables from your vehicle battery to the coach battery for power.

[oldgeezor]

Wingerphil...I was connected to my truck today...I had my battery at home being charged up! I also tried just jumper cabling but this didn't work either...this lead me to beleive it was a fuse somwhere!

John Kohl...thanks for your idea..I'll look at that tommorrow..when you say meter out..just exactly what does this mean? would they both be at 12volts? (reset fuses)..I am not the handiest with a voltmeter!

I will also open up that inline fuse and bring an extra 30 amp fuse for that just in case..

[snfexpress]

The slides use a lot of amperage. I would suggest that jumping from your truck did not give you enough oomph to get your slides back in - you said they were really slow. The breakers, as John said, are auto resetting so that should not be a problem. I would suggest that you put your coach battery back in and then your slides should operate properly.

[wingerphil]

the in line fuse should be for the front landing legs and would not have any bearing on the slides but check it to be sure. The breakers for the slide outs should reset in just a few seconds if tripped. Mine do that occasionaly when working the slides. I just count to ten and try the switch again.
I agree with Michael and would bring the battery back and hook it up and give it a shot.

Good Luck and let us know how it works out.

Phil

ps: I have blown that 30 amp fuse for the landing legs a few times as well so I alwaays keep a few spares on hand

[grampachet]

I am pretty sure Our 3000RK has a sticker that says the battery must be connected before using the slides.

[Phil P]

Hi

The configuration of the wiring and fuse setup varies on each trailer.

The 30-amp inline fuse on our trailer shut down all of the electrical convenience items such as Front legs, rear stabilizers and slide rooms. It did this by opening the control circuit not the main power to the motor.

Also the oil reservoir isn’t in the heated area of the trailer. The oil when cold will cause the pump to work harder.

Here is the information from Lippert that will help you.


http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/LI...-trombetta.pdf


http://www.lci1.com/images/Flyers/LI...ing-slides.pdf


Phil P

[NCFischers]

I agree with snfexpress, reinstall the battery first and try it again.

[MIMF]

Greg,

The hydraulic pump that operates the slide rooms, gets it power solely from the battery. The battery will need to be in place even when the Bargman is plugged into the back of the truck. Following is a brief description of the steps I would take.

First, with power completely disconnected, tighten all of the nuts on those 4 large lugs on that black solenoid switch on top of the pump motor. You will see 3 lugs sticking straight up in a row on top and one on the side. Also, tighten the two that are one each side of the motor. The 10 ga white wire that is connected to the lug on the side is the chassis ground. Make sure that nut is snug and check the other end at the frame. Loosen that screw then snug it back down which will renew the ground connection.

Secondly, The center lug on top of the solenoid switch is the power lug to the pump. On that lug are several wires attached but, there is a black 10 ga wire attached. Follow that heavy black wire toward the battery connection. The other end of that wire is attached to either a 30 or 50 amp 12 volt auto-resetting circuit breaker. NOT A FUSE! Use a volt ohm meter or, a simple continuty tester to check continuity between the two lugs on that breaker. If there is no continuity, that breaker is open and bad and obviously needs replaced. While there, test all of the lugs on all those breakers right there for tightness.

Next, hook up a fully charged deep cycle battery and hopefully, you will be in business.

Now, some schooling for everyone. There are two ways to use a set of jumper cables. From the battery of any vehicle to the battery in the Montana. Or, from the battery of a vehicle to the solenoid switch on top of the pump motor. That is, the positive cable clamped to the center terminal and the negative cable clamped to the chassis ground in the side of the solenoid switch.

A little info about the circuit breakers. They may say 24 volts on the side. That is OK because, that breaker will handle a 24 volt circuit. Also, the lugs on the breaker are marked "bat" and "aux". There terminal mark "bat" is the power coming to the breaker and, the terminal marked "aux" is power going away from the breaker to the appliance it is protecting.

I hope this helps.

[H. John Kohl]

quote:Originally posted by MIMF

Greg,

-snip -

NOT A FUSE! Use a volt ohm meter or, a simple continuty tester to check continuity between the two lugs on that breaker. If there is no continuity, that breaker is open and bad and obviously needs replaced. While there, test all of the lugs on all those breakers right there for tightness.

-snip -

Greg,
In a previous post you asked how to use a volt ohm meter. MIFI's guidance is great but this part could be miss-leading if you are not familiar with the use of a VOM (volt Ohm Meter). Since there are many ways to test this circuit I will suggest one that works the same for a VOM or light tester. This is testing for voltage, not continuity as MIFI suggest. The results are the same. "Determining if the re-settable breaker is working." [list_to_fix][*] Put the negative wire or clamp on the battery terminal. (use the battery terminal if possible for best connection. If not then a good metal frame ground)[*]Take the positive lead and touch it to the battery side of the resetable breaker. You should have light or 12 volts (+ or - 1)[*]Next move the positive lead to the Aux side terminal. Again you should see voltage. If not then I claim the breaker is bad.[*]Last check the center post on the pump for voltage if the breaker tests good.

Hope this helps.

[oldgeezor]

Went back out to the storage location this morning with all my tools and the charged up battery. I inserted the battery and checked to ensure all the connnections were secure. I then tested both breakers breakers and the motor as suggested by MIMF(Dave) and John Kohl. See pictures below. I then went into thge trailer and tried the slide return again and nothing happened. I tried turning on the lights and nothing happened. SO I assumed at that point it had to be inside the trailer and not at the motor/pump. I called Keystone Technical Support and they directed me to the distribution panel inside. Jamie (Keystone) indicated that if there is no power inside then there is a 40AMP fuse (The Orange one)in the panel. I checked that fuse and sure enough, it was blown. Went out and got the fuse and replaced. Power back on inside and slides retracted. I can probably say that just being connected to my truck yesterday probably put a strain on the power and hence the blown fuse. I will always ensure the battery is in the unit before attepting the slides again. My Thanks to all that advised me, particularly Dave and John. Cheers

[wingerphil]

Gregg,

glad you have it going again and thanks for letting us know the cause and the fix.

Phil

[MIMF]

Good deal, Greg! Glad it is taken care of. But, that orange 40 amp fuse is confusing me and why it has anything to do with the hydraulic pump. I always thought it was on a circuit by itself and gets it's power only from the battery. Unless....that fuse has to do with the power to the wall switch. In that case, I could understand.

Did that Keystone tech give any further details?

[oldgeezor]

Dave..apparently if that fuse is blown it takes out all power..you need that for power to the distribution panel!

[H. John Kohl]

quote:Originally posted by MIMF

Good deal, Greg! Glad it is taken care of. But, that orange 40 amp fuse is confusing me and why it has anything to do with the hydraulic pump. I always thought it was on a circuit by itself and gets it's power only from the battery. Unless....that fuse has to do with the power to the wall switch. In that case, I could understand.

Did that Keystone tech give any further details?

Greg, glad it is working.

Dave, with the battery gone the truck 12 VDC was routed through the control panel back to the battery terminal connection and the slide motor. Therefore the slide motor drew too much current and blew the fuse. The key was the battery was removed. I am surprised he did not blow the fuse in the truck that supplies the 12 VDC. Glad he got it working.
Also I am guessing the switch for the slide motor relay may be fused at the panel therefore a possible second reason it did not work. Now I am guessing and should not post guesses.

[oldgeezor]

John..Please note I had my battery back in the trailer when I tried the slides again after the testing and everything looked good but the slides didn't work nor did anything else. The tech says if that 40 amp fuse goes in the panel nothing will work!

Glad I found that out today!