Calling on the Montana mind trust.

[Fire5er]

Took the cover off the Montana from winter storage and started to open the slides. I got two and a half of the four slides open when I heard a click and the slides stop moving. I tried the slide switch again…nothing. It’s got to be a fuse I thought. So I checked the 12V fuse panel. Everything looked good. Got to be the 50A fuse by the hydraulic slide motor I thought. Checked the 50A fuse and all looked good, but they are 6 years old so I bought two new 50A fuses and installed them. Still nothing when I push the slide switch. Checked the battery voltage, it’s 13V+. So what am I missing?

[DQDick]

Make sure the battery is making a good connection, could have been corrosion over the winter. Then just to be sure I'd try to jump the battery. I've got one of those jump start batteries I used when this happened to me and even though it seemed to check out it still was the battery.

[HOOK]

Occasionally , a fuse will be blown and not appear to be. And as Dick said, battery connections.

[Fire5er]

Battery output is 13V+ and when check on the slideout motor it is also getting 13V+ at the motor. I already checked the connections and don't think it's a lose connection..I had that problem when it was new and have corrected the poor ground issue.

[bncinwv]

Check the manual operation of the slides with a drill and the proper bit at the end of the hydraulic pump assembly in the battery compartment. If the slides retract and/or extend, then you will know it is electrical. If nothing happens with the manual override, then it is probably the hydraulic pump. If it is electrical, you can jump the solenoid on the top of the electric motor next to the hydraulic pump to see if it is only the solenoid. If nothing happens then, odds are the electrical motor that operates the hydraulic motor is kaput. Those are the starting points. If all that fails, prepare for sticker shock at the replacement cost for the motor and/or pump. Keep us informed and hopefully a path forward can be determined with the input of those who have "been there, done that". I can say that on ours, the dealer replaced the electric motor and hydraulic pump since they could order the replacement as one unit. Luckily it was covered by our extended service plan. Good luck!!
Bingo

[Fire5er]

Thanks Bingo. I did operate the pump manually with a drill and the slides will retract and/or extend so I am almost sure it's electrical. I will go and try to jump the solenoid on the top of the slide motor to see if it's the solenoid.

[Carl n Susan]

I am betting on the switch or the power to the switch. Have someone next to the pump motor listen as you press the switch. You should hear the click of the relay that the switch energizes. No clicky, no openy/closey. Then it is trivial to determine if there is power to the switch or the switch itself has failed.

[Fire5er]

Carl - No click when the switch is pushed.
Bingo - Nothing but sparks when I jumped the solenoid on the motor.

[bncinwv]

A simple check of the switch is to bypass it jumpers with alligator clips on the wire connections on the back or to put a new switch in it's place. If you bypass the switch and the slides move, replace the switch.
Bingo

[bethandkevin]

It sounds like you could be past this, but Dick gives good advice to use a jump box on the battery. It is possible for a battery to show sufficient voltage, but insufficient amperage to drive an electric motor. Sometimes this is referred to as a "surface charge". I have seen this many times on automotive batteries and is the reason I do not fully trust electronic battery testers-they can be fooled from time to time. I like a good old carbon pile tester. Insufficient amperage can destroy any electric motor that is not protected.
I re-read your post and would add this: A 12 volt battery should not show very much more than 12.6 volts unless being charged while checking it. This is also a hint at a sulfated battery. How old is the battery?

[Fire5er]

Bingo - I did bypass the switch and the slides still didn't move.

Kevin - The power was plugged in and thus the batteries were being charged while I was checking the battery voltage. When not plugged in the batteries were 12V+. The batteries are 6 years old. I will try the jumper idea and let you know.

[bncinwv]

Did you by chance check to see if there was power to the switch? If not, I think like others that you are back to a supply problem, which means the batteries or the associated fuses. But I would think the slides would work when on shore power, regardless of the battery state?
Bingo

[Fire5er]

Kevin - Well I tried the jumper idea and still nothing.

Bingo - I did check and there is power to the switch. I am leaning to the bad pump motor.

[bncinwv]

Sorry I can't help you troubleshoot the motor, beyond my knowledge! My electrical engineering skills revolve around replacement. I am sure you can bench test it, but someone with more brainpower would have to guide you down that road.
Bingo

[sreigle]

If I recall there is an inline fuse in the line for the slides. It's in the front locker, usually near the pump. It's a bit hard to see but will be in the large wire going to the pump. A lot of us had problems blowing this fuse and replaced the fuse with an automotive auto resetting breaker, available at auto parts stores.

Good luck. I'm betting on that fuse.

-- on edit -- I believe I was confusing the fuse for the slides with the landing gear fuse. The resettable breaker I installed replaced the fuse for the landing gear, not the slides. Sorry.

[bethandkevin]

You stated you had a spark when you tried to jump the motor solenoid-that doesn't sound good. Power into it, but won't run sounds like it could be shorted. Take no offense to this anyone, but try the redneck method of tapping on the motor-just not too hard. Maybe it will go. Sounds like a motor replacement in your future though.

[Ozz]

I would go with low voltage, you can have 12-13 volts with no load, but when you apply a load, it will drop way down. Get an amp meter, put it on the motor wire, have someone push the slide button.
The 'click'you heard-could be a relay energizing, if you have low battery, it will energize, but will not move the slide.
But then you wrote 'nothing' when you pushed the slide switch. No 'click' even?
Is the battery water full?
Check the electrolite in each cell with a specific gravity tester.
Good luck with it.
Ozz

[bncinwv]

I can't help but go back to the question as to whether the slides work when shore power is present. I may be completely in left field, but I would think that with shore power the slides would be working off of the converter instead of the batteries? Am I wrong here with this assumption? If the above is confirmed to be true, then if the slides do not work on shore power either, that would take the battery supply out of the equation. Just thinking out loud here.
Bingo

[Ozz]

I helped a guy, (my friend) with his 5th wheel, his battery was completely discharged, his converter did not have the power to move the slides at all, just 'clicked'. A converter is just a battery charger and power supply for the battery.
It would be interesting to see how much just the converter would power.

[Slufoot733]

Lots of good ideas here. First, the battery could be bad and still show 12+ volts. Operate the landing gear under load (raise the front of the trailer) then the battery is probably good.

You state things were running fine, then SNAP, and things stopped. I doubt the motor failed that quickly. In my experience a motor going bad usually gives some evidence in advance, like grinding noises, burning smell, bearing squeal, etc.). A snap sound is probably a heavy fuse. I would go back and double check all the fuses AND circuit breakers. I have a couple circuit breakers on the wall near the pump. They are supposed to reset after a minute or so. But they can go bad too. I had one on my SOB that tripped and would not reset. $6 later I was up 'n running.

Good luck.

Kevin