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Old 05-15-2018, 09:50 PM   #1
molly
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Red face Stuck Slide

I'm new here, though I bought my 2002 Mountaineer298 RL 5 years ago to live in, not really travel in. As soon as I bought it, I got a job requiring me to live there, so the past 4.5 years I have had it moved once, torn out the carpet, thought very looonngg and hard about reflooring with vinyl click lock, which is sitting there for about 18 months now; fixed a leak and fixed the floor where the leak rotted it. I've cleaned it, and cleaned it again and washed off the mildew, ad infinitum, inside and out (this being Florida) and cleaned it some more and waxed it and waxed it and waxed it....but I have done little else. In fact, I don't know how to flush the toilet. No worries; I haven't used it. I'm a bit clueless, but not that clueless.

So, I am getting ready to have it moved again. Someone stole my battery, so I got a new one. I put it in and pushed the button to retract the first slide, which went in fine. I wanted to watch from inside to pull in the living room, so I went to the door and pressed the button again. It went about 3-4" and stopped. The noise part continued, or maybe complained - I'm not sure. When I tried to reverse and push it out again it wouldn't go back those few inches. I stopped after a couple of tries and decided to research before I caused an even worse problem.

Did I mention the rig has been parked and the slides out for 4.5 years? I now think I should have been paying attention and lubricating them and moving them, but that's water over the dam. I have researched and read every stuck-slide story I can find and may have to learn to retract it manually, but before I go there I wondered about something else. Well, a couple of things.

First, is there a hydraulic pump and a motor? Does the first run the second? Or are they completely different things? You can see I didn't major in engineering (though I did manage to replace my Dometic thermostat for another wildly inaccurate one).

Second, I measured to see if the slide is out square - the distances on both sides is the same within 1/16 of an inch. From the ground to the slide also seems level. But, the actual rails appear to slant about 3" down from where they leave the coach to the outside edge where they stop. Do they normally do that or has gravity had its way with them? I wonder if that slant is causing them to impinge on the -track?- where it enters. If that seems likely, maybe the first thing would be to try to raise the outside edge of the rail - is there a way to do that? Or would that raise the slide itself and cause the roof to bind? I have checked all the seals (and sprayed them with dry lubricant, as well as the rails) and cannot see or feel any debris. The seals are astonishingly supple and good for being 16 years old - much prettier than the tires which are my next anxiety attack. I can only handle one at a time.

Would appreciate any input. I have not found a story like mine, where the noise part (the pump or the motor or both? or how do I know?)runs but it just won't move. And "running start" won't work because it won't reverse either.
 
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Old 05-16-2018, 12:08 PM   #2
jcurtis934
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The electric motor is what operates the hydraulic pump. The rails under slides do have a downward pitch. Most hydraulic systems are located in the very front near the battery. The slides may have a hard time when not connected to park power and the battery in good condition. Trust you have keep it equipped with distilled water to the level ring inside each cell? If you used regular water, then the battery will die much shorter timeframe due to minerals in the water. Batteries usually only good for 4 years. There is also a "resetting" thermal breaker on the wall that feeds battery power to the motor. These will kick in and out when the motor pulls too much current. Usually the slides will shudder when it starts to do its resetting thing. Sometimes a slide will just stop and not move again until the breaker resets. The slide starting to move then stopping could be the breaker doing its thing or it could be the system pausing that slide to bring in another that is controlled by the same switch. There is no set rule to which slide will go in or out first.
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Old 05-17-2018, 08:52 AM   #3
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Thank you. It is a brand new battery and my charger shows it is fully charged. I'm also wired up to shore power at the pole, so both were operating.

So, I should give it more time to move even though in the past it has just moved without shuddering? I have only two slides - the bedroom always comes in first and then the living room slide follows - at least in the past. Now that I have lubed it, I will try it again, which entails putting the too-heavy-for-me battery in, as the thieves who stole it returned several times to take anything not bolted down. I have just learned about that breaker by the pump. I didn't know breakers could reset themselves though.
Maybe I will try a couple people giving a little push on the slide as well before I tackle the hand-winching attack.
So, is there just one motor for both slides, the one that runs the pump?
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Old 05-17-2018, 09:48 AM   #4
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Just one motor to drive the hydraulic pump and the 12vdc valves on the extend or retract manifolds will operate according to what you are trying to do. The orange colored hydraulic hoses are the extend ones and the black hoses are for retract. Since you had a brief movement I don't think you have a valve remaining closed on the retract manifold, but since it has sat for so long, you might want to pull off the wires on the valves...one wire at a time and put it back on before taking off another...just to make sure the valves electric contacts are not corroded. If a valve is stuck shut, no amount of force on the lower portion of that slide will have any effect. You are pushing against a brick wall as the old saying goes. If you do want to push it in, you have to open the valve on the return or retract manifold manually. On the end of the valve, there will be either a knurled know on the end of the valve that turns a quaternary turn or so to open or close it OR there will be an area on the end where you can put an 1/8" Allen wrench to do the same thing. Partial turn to left will open the valve to allow hydraulic fluid to be able to return to the tank from the slide out ram when it is pushed back in. Make sure to close it via a partial turn to the right afterwards. I do not know if there is a separate fuse in line with the thermal breaker on the old trailers. If so, it would be somewhere in between the pump and the thermal breaker and would be a high amp fuse rating like 50 amp. If you don't see one in the wire leading up to the pump assembly, there isn't one.
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Old 05-17-2018, 10:43 AM   #5
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Not sure about this but if the slide has the cross bar and a gear and track on the other side of the slide (i.e. fornt or back side opposite the hydraulic ram) I think you can put a wrench on this square rod and turn it to retract the slide. Others can chime in.
I had a 2006 Montana and it had the resetable inline fuse at that time. And another point, these fuses reset in 30 seconds to 2 minutes I think.
Oh, if you try to extend again, does the bedroom slide go back out? If not, perhaps the fuse went bad. If it does extend, then it is definitely something with this one slide.
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Old 05-20-2018, 07:29 PM   #6
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Thanks to both of you.
I looked at the manual today and it said if a slide stops moving, check the fluid first. The description of HOW to do that is just not clear. How do you check it?

If their drawing is not the front view but the top down view, they say "1. leave the red plastic cap in Port "B" (rear port)" - and I have no red plastic cap. I have fittings and lines front and back on what I'm guessing is an aluminum body. So....do you disconnect the fittings and lines first? Are you then pulling the whole cylinder apart? That's what the directions sound like. "Fill tank to within 1/2" of the top; extend the cylinder NO MORE THAN 1 FT. Refill, extend, etc.") I have never been so baffled by directions manufactured in the states. There is certainly no sign it has leaked out - there, anyway. or underneath the slides (not sure how visible it would be).
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Old 05-21-2018, 09:30 AM   #7
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Somewhere there must be a reservoir tank for the fluid. When the slides extend, it is used in the cylinders - when retracted it fills back into the tank. both my trailers had the tank right beside the pump in the front storage area by the batteries.
Your pictures baffles me a bit.
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Old 05-21-2018, 10:17 AM   #8
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I also would have thought that there would be a plastic container mounted on the wall nearby that the fluid goes into. It would be checked with slides in and the level would be below the lip of the fill cap and near a molded in line on the tank. Some of the other folks that have or have had this year trailer, please chime in on what you know of the early systems.
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Old 05-21-2018, 05:52 PM   #9
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I have the same year of trailer but a different model. The reservoir fill is the black cap on the right side of the pump motor unit on the top. I am assuming you are working on the couch side which I would think is a drop down side that is flush with the floor. When you say it is a 3" difference I believe that is normal if the slide is only in a few inches. When you first start bringing in the slide it will be at the angle you are describing. Also you should have a switch on the front of the pump assembly that you can operate while watching and listening to the pump operate. If the pump is making all the noise then I would assume it is low on fluid. My trailer had sat for a couple of years with the slides out and the seller said he had problems bringing them in for traveling so it could just be sticking.
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Old 05-22-2018, 05:23 PM   #10
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Stuckslide

I agree with Drifty1. The fill cap is on top of the tank above the manufacture label. It looks like a DeWalt pump in your picture. I have a1999 29rk that has the same pump. Low on fluid would be my frist guess. Also sometime afrer my unit has set for awhile there is a hesitation after the bedroom slide stops and the living room one starts. I don't know what fluid it requires. Some say Ford automatic transmission, you may want to find out for sure
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Old 05-23-2018, 11:32 AM   #11
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Thanks for all the replies. I did find much better schematics from Lippert which somehow identifies the breather cap as the fill cap also, so that mystery was cleared up. I read about someone who stuck a pen down that to check the level. I think I will do that too, but I may use a long hanger so I can't accidentally drop it in. With the LR slide stuck out, the fluid should be at least halfway down....I will just have to see. I am going with hydraulic fluid if I can find it - Lippert says no to Transmission fluid, though I read that a transmission is basically a hydraulic system, but I would just as soon have clear or whatever is in there. I plan to have a look at all that this weekend and will let you know if I make any progress.
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Old 05-23-2018, 10:46 PM   #12
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This is the link to the Lippert hydraulic fluid recommendations. They say to use transmission fluid, and the fluids can be mixed with no problem. The only fluid the say to NOT use is a type F fluid.


https://www.lci1.com/images/support/lipsheet/0291.pdf
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Old 05-24-2018, 09:15 AM   #13
Kyle and Lisa
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I would be careful not to use any trans. fluid that has a detergent additive, it may effect the hydraulic seals. Use the OEM fluid aka/clear if possible.
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Old 05-30-2018, 10:15 PM   #14
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Just FYI 10 weight oil will work. nAlso I had a hyd. line blow on the living room slide on my 2009 3400rl
So I cranked it in with a 12 inch crescent wrench, The oil was hard to see in the belly for a few days until it seeped through the thick belly insulation.

Also had a problem with the main remote control panel on the fire wall up front and nothing worked until it was changed out. on warranty.

Good luck.
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Old 06-03-2018, 06:06 PM   #15
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If your slides have been out 4.5 years did you check for limbs or other obstruction on the roof?
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Old 06-04-2018, 08:46 AM   #16
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Thank you everybody for all the help. I used a chopstick for my dip stick and I have beautiful clear hydraulic fluid a little less than halfway up the big(right side) of my pump - I think that is the reservoir in this model. With the slide out, I guessed the rest of the fluid was in the living room slide ram. I also lubed everything and cleaned under the awnings, making sure there was no debris anywhere.

I can't push the button and see the LR slide move at the same time so I had someone go with me, re-install the battery and first tried moving everything out. The noise of the pump (I think it's that, but perhaps I am hearing the motors) changed a lot once the bedroom slide was back out and the living room slide started moaning - but it moved! I had quit too early last time, worried that that unhappy noise was going to kill the pump. I then brought them both in. Again, the pump started making a complaining noise, kind of groaning, but I kept moving it in fits and starts and it finally went all the way in. I think it was feeling like I feel when getting up in the morning - not too spry. Maybe that complaining noise has always been there as the living room slide is so much bigger, heavier and looks more complicated. I hadn't run the slides in so long I have forgotten what they sounded like before.

So, I got some needed maintenance done, have no awful problem - at least there - and didn't have to hire a mobile mechanic. I really appreciate all the tips and responses.
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