Closet Slide malfunction

[NorCal C&H]

I tried to extend the bedroom closet slide earlier today. I turned on the ignition key and got the normal panel light up and system sounds. I walked back to the bedroom and pushed the slide "extend" switch and got only a "click" underneath the coach. I tried "retract" with the same results.

I went up and turned the ignition switch off and on again and tried extending the slide with the same results. The coach is plugged in with relatively new batteries so I doubt electrical power is the issue.

My first thought was a fuse but I went back out a half hour later and everything worked fine!!!!

Any ideas?

Harold
2006 Alpine 36MDDS
being pushed by a
2006 Jeep Liberty Diesel

[zinom]

Harold, To repeat my reply on the GEN SLIDE STUCK thread; double check your LEDs. If they give you a good indication; check the connections on the motor,motor relay, and master relay (big and small wires). At FMCA HWH tech advised that thin oxidation drops the voltage enough to occasionally prevent operation. Loosening, cleaning and retightening can somtimes do the trick. It appears to have worked for me with similar "occasional" problems.
I lke your new photo; was that Montague? Great rally! Good luck. Matt

[EngineerMike]

Write down exactly what you did during that 30 minutes, and put it with your HWH docs for next time you have this issue.

[NorCal C&H]

Thanks Matt & Mike. And in response to your question and suggestion... No and No ! You're right Matt Montague was great but the picture is the 2007 Alpine ACA rally in Alberquerque. I didn't have my mechanical assistant (don't tell her I called her that) to push the switch so I could look at the lights and locate the clicking sound. Hopefully, the problem won't recur and I won't have to worry about it.

Harold

Mike, I was mostly rounding up things for our Alaska departure. Flying the 3 grand kids up and renting a 30' motor home. Will be gone 28 days...

[EngineerMike]

I've always said, if you can't cure an HWH problem by preparing for an Alaska trip, I don't know what would fix HWH.

[OldForester]

Since I have the same coach, I have had the same "click" twice. In both cases, I did not hold the "extend" switch down long enough to get the slide going. I found by holding it down for a couple seconds it would extend. Probably not your issue, but I occasionally forget to hold the switch down long enough before giving up and thinking I have a problem.

[gator67]

Our slides stopped working... pushed the switches and nothing happened. I called HWH and their tech walked me through checking voltages in the main hydraulic panel. When I jiggled one of the fuses, it worked, but I was leery, so we waited until we got to an HWH service center before we tried it again. Good thing, because the slides wouldn't work when we got there. We had lived for six days without putting the slides out. Turned out the main board was bad and had to be replaced.

[EngineerMike]

Jerry- where did you have the work done, & what did it cost? If I may ask.

[gator67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EngineerMike Jerry- where did you have the work done, & what did it cost? If I may ask.

You may certainly ask. We had the work done at Al's RV on Bell Road in Glendale Arizona. They worked on a couple of things for us and we were extremely pleased with the service. The board was $656.99, labor $255, overnight freight from HWH $40, and $55.84 tax for a total of $1007.83. We had some time left on our original extended warrantee so it only cost us $90 out of pocket (whew!)... the $50 deductible plus $40 shipping.

[ol pole]

I just tried to open my bedroom slide (07 36ft. Mid door) and the forward end went out a few inches and jamed. Will not extend or retract, any suggestions?

[OldForester]

Ol Pole,

Well, a number of us have been there and done that. You might want to check out this thread in this forum for more information:

Manual slide retraction difficulty

The same thing happened to us on our first set of hydraulic hoses for that slide on our '06. The front came out a few inches and jammed and would not go any farther. The fittings leaked hydraulic fluid down around the radiator and every time we tried to move the slide with the extend/retract switch we just pumped more fluid on the ground until we ran out of fluid.

What happens is the two cylinders that move the slide in and out become unsynchronized when fluid leaks from the hose going to one of them. The fix is to replace the leaking HWH hydraulic hose(s), and when you remove the plastic shower panels to connect up the new hoses to the front cylinder, keep the cylinders detached from the slide and run through an extend/retract cycle several times, and that will resynchonize the cylinder, before attaching the cylinders back to the slide. I've been the procedure with an HWH technician three times with three new sets of hoses and we determined this is the best way to get it back to normal. Our final (fourth) set of hoses from HWH had different fittings and they have worked well for a year and a half.

In the short term, the way to get the slide in is to loosen the solenoid valves for the rear slides, which are located in the HWH hydraulic compartment (there should be a diagram in that reply showing you where they are located), which will relieve hydraulic pressure on the slide, and then the slide should be relatively easy to push in manually from the outside. Be sure to close the solenoid valve when you get the slide back in to help hold it in place until you get it fixed, because the system relies on hydraulic pressure to keep the slides in as well as pushed out. I would also not use your jacks or the front slide until you get it fixed or the leaking hose capped off because you run the risk of blowing fluid out the leaking hose.

If you still can't get the slide in or are have other questions about this, PM me with your phone number and I'll try to help you out via the phone.

[gator67]

What does one do about the livingroom slide? You have to get it "up" before you get it in. Or, does one just not attempt to manually bring in the big slide?

[EngineerMike]

Jerry- if you are referring to the PS "flush floor" slide, you should have received two long jack screws (maybe 42" long) w/the coach for the purpose of retracting that slide in an emergency. IIRC you will also need patience, and beer.

[OldForester]

Jerry-if you have a big slide on the DS like we do on our 36 (can't remember the 38 configuration), you should have a hand winch in the bay and a round plastic screw out panel (like the panel for the sewer hose) between that winch and a connector on the outside edge of the slide, visibile from underneath. You pass the winch hook through the screw out window, and out to the connector, and having made sure you've released the hydraulic pressure on the solenoid for that slide back at the HWH pump, carefully and slowly crank the winch to pull the slide in. That's how my big slide comes in when it needs to manually; perhaps yours is the same way.