# Slide Problem



## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Hello! 
We took possession of our FIRST RV yeseterday, a 2006 28' and are having trouble with the slide. A YOUTUBE info video mentioned low fluid in the hydraulic pump. Can't find it though to check.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Is it an outback? If it is then the slide is operated by an DC electric motor. No hydraulic system.


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## Todd&Regan (Jul 1, 2010)

I can't think of any travel trailer with a hydraulic system for slides. Electric motor only.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Yes it is. Thank you for responding. We are wondering now if perhaps the battery is low and thats why the slide only goes so far before it sounds like its struggling but after resting a few minutes and we try again it goes the same distance....eventually getting all the way out. Will try a new battery. Thanks again.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Thank you. We checked and couldn't find anything as described in this video. We will try a new battery to see if it solves the problem.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Thanks. We are going to try a new battery to see if that fixes things up.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Not the battery.







??


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## Leedek (Nov 28, 2010)

Welcome to Outbackers. This thread may help you figure out your slide problem. Slide Cable Adjustment Good luck.


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## IndyCamper (Sep 17, 2013)

SLUG said:


> Yes it is. Thank you for responding. We are wondering now if perhaps the battery is low and thats why the slide only goes so far before it sounds like its struggling but after resting a few minutes and we try again it goes the same distance....eventually getting all the way out. Will try a new battery. Thanks again.


I'm having the same problem. Thought it was a bad battery, but does the same thing with new battery. Moves about 6 or 8 inches then slide stops and lights and radio flicker. If I wait about 15 seconds, it will move another 6 or 8 inches and do it again. It works just fine on shore power. Very frustrating.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

It is very frustrating. Tonight we tried it with our truck battery attached by booster cables and it had a very minimal improvement but this time the motor got very hot. Didn't try power from the house. Will try that next. Checked the slide adjustment link posted above and all is fine that way.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Thanks so much Leedek. Checked this link out and all looks fine so no luck there.


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

IndyCamper said:


> Yes it is. Thank you for responding. We are wondering now if perhaps the battery is low and thats why the slide only goes so far before it sounds like its struggling but after resting a few minutes and we try again it goes the same distance....eventually getting all the way out. Will try a new battery. Thanks again.


I'm having the same problem. Thought it was a bad battery, but does the same thing with new battery. Moves about 6 or 8 inches then slide stops and lights and radio flicker. If I wait about 15 seconds, it will move another 6 or 8 inches and do it again. It works just fine on shore power. Very frustrating.
[/quote]

Have you checked the breakers that are at the front of your camper....it's what the main battery cable hooks up to...my camper has two...a 50amp that the battery hooks to, then a 30amp inline...yours could be different tho.....if it's an automatic breaker, they will reset themselves, but only after they cool down... from what you say, that it would move 6 to 8 inches, then stop, that to me sounds like the breaker is tripping, then after so many seconds, it resets itself allowing it to contintue 15 seconds later


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Erik K said:


> Yes it is. Thank you for responding. We are wondering now if perhaps the battery is low and thats why the slide only goes so far before it sounds like its struggling but after resting a few minutes and we try again it goes the same distance....eventually getting all the way out. Will try a new battery. Thanks again.


I'm having the same problem. Thought it was a bad battery, but does the same thing with new battery. Moves about 6 or 8 inches then slide stops and lights and radio flicker. If I wait about 15 seconds, it will move another 6 or 8 inches and do it again. It works just fine on shore power. Very frustrating.
[/quote]

Have you checked the breakers that are at the front of your camper....it's what the main battery cable hooks up to...my camper has two...a 50amp that the battery hooks to, then a 30amp inline...yours could be different tho.....if it's an automatic breaker, they will reset themselves, but only after they cool down... from what you say, that it would move 6 to 8 inches, then stop, that to me sounds like the breaker is tripping, then after so many seconds, it resets itself allowing it to contintue 15 seconds later
[/quote]

Thanks for this info. Thats a good thought. Any ideas what could be tripping the breakers? The slide doesn't seem as though its catching or struggling at all. Everything is greased/lubed, clean etc....also, after moving the slide in/out 3 times the slide motor was burning hot. Not sure if thats just because 3 times in/out was too much?


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

SLUG said:


> Yes it is. Thank you for responding. We are wondering now if perhaps the battery is low and thats why the slide only goes so far before it sounds like its struggling but after resting a few minutes and we try again it goes the same distance....eventually getting all the way out. Will try a new battery. Thanks again.


I'm having the same problem. Thought it was a bad battery, but does the same thing with new battery. Moves about 6 or 8 inches then slide stops and lights and radio flicker. If I wait about 15 seconds, it will move another 6 or 8 inches and do it again. It works just fine on shore power. Very frustrating.
[/quote]

Have you checked the breakers that are at the front of your camper....it's what the main battery cable hooks up to...my camper has two...a 50amp that the battery hooks to, then a 30amp inline...yours could be different tho.....if it's an automatic breaker, they will reset themselves, but only after they cool down... from what you say, that it would move 6 to 8 inches, then stop, that to me sounds like the breaker is tripping, then after so many seconds, it resets itself allowing it to contintue 15 seconds later
[/quote]

Thanks for this info. Thats a good thought. Any ideas what could be tripping the breakers? The slide doesn't seem as though its catching or struggling at all. Everything is greased/lubed, clean etc....also, after moving the slide in/out 3 times the slide motor was burning hot. Not sure if thats just because 3 times in/out was too much?
[/quote]

You're camper is 7 or 8 years old now....I have a 2006 Outback 28RSDS....last month I was camping up in Maine for 2 weeks....the day we got to the campgroun, I plugged in, and I could hear my breaker tripping every minute or 2.....it kept happening thru the evening...come morning, it stopped....but when I went to close up the camper two weeks later, I figured out that my breakers completely blew on me...I had to jump the breakers to put my slide in....NOT A GOOD IDEA...but it was the only way I could get it in....I think it was the campground power that did it...but then again, the breakers were over 7 years old......once a breaker trips the first time, it can no longer handle the amps it's rated for...the metals inside start to pit and start to trip at lower amps...I actually learned that on here LOL...if you're camper was brand new, I'd say there's a short somewhere....but since it's not brand new, it could just be the breakers are old and have started to break down inside...


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

SLUG said:


> Thanks for this info. Thats a good thought. Any ideas what could be tripping the breakers? The slide doesn't seem as though its catching or struggling at all. Everything is greased/lubed, clean etc....also, after moving the slide in/out 3 times the slide motor was burning hot. Not sure if thats just because 3 times in/out was too much?


The motor is a high amp draw item and it will get very hot even in normal operation. An issue that can exacerbate the situation is a corroded connection which drops the voltage. I would suspect based on the latest information from you is that the power connections to the 30 amp thermal auto reset breaker are corroded. Age also can be an issue as mentioned. These breakers are exposed to the elements and really should be in a weatherproof box.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Thanks all...we will check that next and update. Thanks for your patience...feeling like fish out of water.







AND TO RV'ing LOL.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

OK, so tonight we changed the two circuit breakers in the front of the trailer. The trailer dealer we purchased them from said to upgrade from 30 amp to 50 amps. The slide came in on its own, no stopping just fine. We tried putting it back out right away, and the circuit board fan came on about 1/3 of the way out....we stopped immediately and have left it there. Any thoughts?


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

SLUG said:


> OK, so tonight we changed the two circuit breakers in the front of the trailer. The trailer dealer we purchased them from said to upgrade from 30 amp to 50 amps. The slide came in on its own, no stopping just fine. We tried putting it back out right away, and the circuit board fan came on about 1/3 of the way out....we stopped immediately and have left it there. Any thoughts?


I'm no electrician, but to upgrade to a higher amp breaker may not have been a good idea. If it's meant to have a 30amp breaker, then changing it to a 50amp breaker in my mind would cause it to allow more power than it's supposed to have... Maybe I'm wrong..


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

Erik K said:


> OK, so tonight we changed the two circuit breakers in the front of the trailer. The trailer dealer we purchased them from said to upgrade from 30 amp to 50 amps. The slide came in on its own, no stopping just fine. We tried putting it back out right away, and the circuit board fan came on about 1/3 of the way out....we stopped immediately and have left it there. Any thoughts?


I'm no electrician, but to upgrade to a higher amp breaker may not have been a good idea. If it's meant to have a 30amp breaker, then changing it to a 50amp breaker in my mind would cause it to allow more power than it's supposed to have... Maybe I'm wrong..
[/quote]

I agree 100% Erik but went with what the mechanic at the dealer said to do. I am worried now that we may end up with blown circuit board and motor.


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

SLUG said:


> OK, so tonight we changed the two circuit breakers in the front of the trailer. The trailer dealer we purchased them from said to upgrade from 30 amp to 50 amps. The slide came in on its own, no stopping just fine. We tried putting it back out right away, and the circuit board fan came on about 1/3 of the way out....we stopped immediately and have left it there. Any thoughts?


I'm no electrician, but to upgrade to a higher amp breaker may not have been a good idea. If it's meant to have a 30amp breaker, then changing it to a 50amp breaker in my mind would cause it to allow more power than it's supposed to have... Maybe I'm wrong..
[/quote]

I agree 100% Erik but went with what the mechanic at the dealer said to do. I am worried now that we may end up with blown circuit board and motor.
[/quote]

I really hope I'm wrong... Good luck Slug with getting your motor issue fixed. Wish I had more ideas for you


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## Erik K (Aug 28, 2013)

robertized said:


> Slug The 30A auto reset breaker was sized to protect the wiring and the DC motor for this circuit. Increasing the breaker size to 50A allows 66% more current than this circuit was designed to handle. This leaves the wiring and motor unprotected by 20A which is a fire hazard on the wiring to the motor and the motor windings. Unless the wiring and the DC motor are rated for this higher allowable current this was bad advice.
> 
> To operate the slides you must have a fully functioning battery connected to the system. The converter is sized to supplement the battery and to charge it during low power usage. The slides are a heavy draw on the battery and the converter kicks in to help and recharge the battery and during this time. The cooling fan in the converter will kick in as needed to cool it, this is normal. The fuses on the converter are designed to protect it from overload, just as the auto reset breaker is to protect the slide circuit. Good Luck.


I would agree with Robertized...unless the wiring going from the 30amp breaker is 6GA wire, 50 amps is too much for it.


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## SLUG (Sep 15, 2013)

THANKS Robertized and Erik K - AGREED! Should have gone with my gut.... Will change out the 50s for 30s today. We load tested our battery and its strong so hopefully it is just that the old breakers were weak. Will update later. Thanks again all!


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

SLUG said:


> OK, so tonight we changed the two circuit breakers in the front of the trailer. The trailer dealer we purchased them from said to upgrade from 30 amp to 50 amps. The slide came in on its own, no stopping just fine. We tried putting it back out right away, and the circuit board fan came on about 1/3 of the way out....we stopped immediately and have left it there. Any thoughts?


The fan coming on is normal as it is based on current draw from the converter to the battery.

This is not a motor you want to run in and out like turning on a light switch. You should not have increased the breaker to 50 amp. A new 30 would have most likely worked just fine.


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