Slide Out Problem Revisited

[Arizonacouple]

Sorry, this is repetitive but I've yet to discover how to retrieve my earlier post. That will be next on my list. Here goes again.

On June 21 my wife and I packed up the 2016 305rl, brought in the slides, raised the jacks and made the journey from Lake Havasu to Phoenix. A sedate 5 hours of driving.

Once I got my RV in the side yard I unhooked the truck, levelled the rig and attempted to open the three slides. The bedroom slide is about 98% out. The kitchen 2% out and the living room slide 0% out. There is "clicking" from all three slides and no movement.

I put in a new battery although I was told their was nothing wrong with the old one.

They will retract but not extend. The sound is reminiscent of trying to start a car with a dead battery. All three slides are making the same sound. What am I missing?

The slide out motors seem hot to the touch. But I have no way of knowing if this is unusual. I have disconnected the battery to be on the safe side.

I thought I could open the slides manually by inserting the attachment provided by Montana in the back of the motor but I must be misinformed because nothing happened. Any clues anybody? I can't think of any next steps to try.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by Arizonacouple

Sorry, this is repetitive but I've yet to discover how to retrieve my earlier post. That will be next on my list. Here goes again.


I thought I could open the slides manually by inserting the attachment provided by Montana in the back of the motor but I must be misinformed because nothing happened. Any clues anybody? I can't think of any next steps to try.

When you ‘inserted the attachment’ what happened? What did you turn it with? What kind of noise did it make? Did the gear box move or vibrate?
When you brought the slides in to come back home was there any strange noise?
It’s very unlikely all the gear boxes striped out all at once.
Lynwood

[Carl n Susan]

Your previous post is HERE

Can I assume these are all cable slides or ???

[Ahdmeyer]

I dont know if this will help and I have never done it on a fifth wheel but on a motorhome ,yes. on the keystone montana web page there are some how to videos, one is on the slides to work manually. maybe it will shed some light on your issue . good luck
al meyer
az

[Arizonacouple]

Yes. All electric.

And shoreline is connected

[Arizonacouple]

When I inserted the attachment or tool into the back of one of the motors I used an electric hand tool to turn the motor. It just spun as if it were in neutral. No movement from the cables, gears or chains

[Arizonacouple]

slides retract normally (used the bedroom as it was 98% out). Good healthy motor sound.

Re-levelled the rig. Extending the bedroom slide felt like there was resistance at the floor level? Extended a little but the motor started to click so I stopped.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by Arizonacouple

When I inserted the attachment or tool into the back of one of the motors I used an electric hand tool to turn the motor. It just spun as if it were in neutral. No movement from the cables, gears or chains

Sounds like the gear is stripped out. If the shaft is turning and the chain isn’t moving the gear hast to be stripped. Do you here a clunking noise?
The problem I’m having, all three at the same time. That’s almost impossible. The odds against that, I couldn’t calculate.
Tell us what happened when you brought the slides in. Any funny noises?
Lynwood

[Ram Montana High Country]

Originally Posted by carl n susan

Your previous post is HERE

Can I assume these are all cable slides or ???

yes - 305RL are 100% cable with leaky gear boxes - I haven't look to see if there is a place for manual movement like the leveling system

[Arizonacouple]

The slides retract normally as far as I can tell. The bedroom slide as an example was 98% out and I retracted to 25% out without any strange noises. I then attempted to extend the slide and it started its outward movement initially then the clicking or clunking noise started and I stopped. I did this this morning at around 70 degrees in case heat expansion was causing the problem but to no avail.

AS to opening the kitchen slide manually, nothing appeared to happen when I used an electric screwdriver with the tool provided. The motor seemed to spin.

If the gears are stripped would that also affect the ability of the slide to retract?

[mlh]

Originally Posted by Arizonacouple

If the gears are stripped would that also affect the ability of the slide to retract?

Yes that is what moves the slides. One direction the motor turns moves the slides in the other direction moves the slides out.
But still my problem is I can’t imagine any way all the gear boxes would have stripped out at the same time. Unless someone held the button for way too long after the slides had stopped when the were all the way on or out.
Lynwood

[Arizonacouple]

So it can't be stripped gears because they retract in the normal fashion.

When I used the tool to manually open/close the slide I could feel the connecting shaft between the motor and gearbox rotate. There was no other movement. Do we know if the connecting shaft has to be pushed in to engage the gears?

BTW, thanks for all your responses.

[mlh]

Ok when you rotate the shaft manually does the sprocket on the other end with the chain half way around it rotate? It will rotate very slowly. It’s a worm gear after you rotate the other gear several rotations you should see it’s rotated a few degrees.
Lynwood

[Arizonacouple]

the answer is yes AND no. When retracting the sprocket moves and the slide moves. When extending it seem to start then is reluctant to move and there is a cluncking sound. The slide does not extend. Go figure!

Even though I have levelled the rig, is it possible the frame is twisted?

[mlh]

Go figure!
I’m working on it but from what you are telling me it tough.
I forget, how is the battery? Is the camper on shore power?
I really don’t think you have a frame problem.
How much slack is in the cables? Is the same slack in the cables going out and coming in?
Are all the cables on their rollers.
It sounds like there hast to be a common source for the problem.
Do you have a volt meter. If so check the voltage at rest and while you move the slides both in and out. If you don’t have a volt meter Harbor Freight sells them for a few bucks, 5 I think.
Lynwood

[jsb5717]

It's almost as if the worm gear is loose on the shaft. It works in one direction but the slop, under torque, disengages from the gear? Just guessing at a possible cause. I suppose if you could get to the motor it might be possible to bypass the switch with 12 volt and test both directions with direct current. Again...just guessing.

[mlh]

Originally Posted by jsb5717

It's almost as if the worm gear is loose on the shaft. It works in one direction but the slop, under torque, disengages from the gear? Just guessing at a possible cause. I suppose if you could get to the motor it might be possible to bypass the switch with 12 volt and test both directions with direct current. Again...just guessing.

All three at once?
Just guessing. That is exactly what I’m doing!
Lynwood

[Arizonacouple]

Let me recap. I am on shore power. Battery has been tested by O'Reillys and found to be in good shape. I did take one of their battery's which I have now returned because it did not solve the problem.
There is no slack in any of the chains or cables and they move quite well when in the retracting mode. They stutter in the extending mode.
It might be a gear problem BUT this is happened to all the 3 slide outs at the same time. As one member responded if its the gears it has to be one heck of a coincidence.
I removed the bedroom mattress to reduce the load (not much, I know) but that didn't do any good. I will do some more electrical testing see where that gets me.
I will tell you I'm sitting on rock and not on a hard service but I've levelled twice so I'm sure that is not problem.
I guess me next step is to examine one of the gearboxes to see if there is trouble there.

[jsb5717]

Originally Posted by mlh

All three at once?
Just guessing. That is exactly what I’m doing!
Lynwood

Yeah, all three is the weird thing. But they are all on a separate switch with equal access to power. It may just be a big fat coincidence but they are all acting the same way...more or less. They are working to different degrees. If they were all built at the same time they may have had the same tech who didn't get something tightened to spec about the same way on all of them. Or they may have all received a faulty part from the same batch.

Mine all started leaking at about the same time so it must be possible to all fail about the same time. They are all likely used the same number of times. Still just guessing but it doesn't seem to be a power issue since they work one direction so it would likely have to be mechanical.

The OP might get a hold of Norco and see if they might know what the issue is. They were responsive when I got a hold of them for drip trays.

[Scootsk]

Had a similar problem on a different brand. Three techs attempted to repair the issue without success. The last tech change the ground to the motors started working normally. I asked why would the slide go out only a few inches and stop if it was a bad ground. I got a shrug in return.