Bounder: Bounder Slide opens a few inches while driving

[dvleemin]

Hi,
I have a 2003 35' bounder, and I'm having a problem with the slides. When we're driving the main slide will open a few inches from the shaking/bouncing of the road. The reason I know its because of the road is that if I'm on a rougher road, it opens up a lot more and lot quicker.

A couple of years ago when I bought it, the slides didn't open very well. So I cleaned them really good, and then lubricated them. The problem I'm having started after that.

Any ideas what could be causing this? Any options on what to do? It doesn't seem like Bounders have slide locks like some RV's.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Darryl

[Neumann]

Do you have a Power Gear electric motor for the slide??
Hal

[dvleemin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neumann Do you have a Power Gear electric motor for the slide?? Hal

Its a power gear. Not sure if its hydrolic or electric though.

[Elkhartjim]

The electric motor has a brake on it. There should be a black rubber boot covering the motor and under the boot is a lever that sets and releases the brake. Bring the slide in, crawl under the slide finding the motor. Make sure the brake lever is set. I believe you need to move the lever to the left aligning it with the tab.

I hope this hasn't totally confused you.

You can also check the Power Gear website for technical bulletins.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elkhartjim The electric motor has a brake on it. There should be a black rubber boot covering the motor and under the boot is a lever that sets and releases the brake. Bring the slide in, crawl under the slide finding the motor. Make sure the brake lever is set. I believe you need to move the lever to the left aligning it with the tab. I hope this hasn't totally confused you. You can also check the Power Gear website for technical bulletins.

Jim is correct as usual. Here is a manual for a pg slide ( not necessarily yours ) http://www.powergearus.com/documents...ideout_Sys.pdf . Look at the photo of a brake in figure #9. It will give you an idea of how the brake works

[dvleemin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by clifftall Jim is correct as usual. Here is a manual for a pg slide ( not necessarily yours ) http://www.powergearus.com/documents...ideout_Sys.pdf . Look at the photo of a brake in figure #9. It will give you an idea of how the brake works

Thanks!

My motorhome is in my back acre surrounded by 2' of snow, so going to have to wait a couple of weeks to check.

[dvleemin]

So I took a quick look at the link, and it seems reasonably straight forward. However, I don't remember seeing motor when I was crawling under the open slide to lubricate it. . .

[wa8yxm]

I will be a bit more generic.. and just ask what slide you have, electric (Gear driven) rack and pinion, hydraulic, or something else entierly.. Make and model if you can please

As others have said, On power gear there is a manual brake release in addition to the electrical one.. sometimes it is left in the wrong position.

I've only had my slide try to open on it's own one time (it failed since the lock bar was in place) but you do not have the problem I have (else you'd not be able to open/close it by the push of a button)

[dvleemin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm I will be a bit more generic.. and just ask what slide you have, electric (Gear driven) rack and pinion, hydraulic, or something else entierly.. Make and model if you can please As others have said, On power gear there is a manual brake release in addition to the electrical one.. sometimes it is left in the wrong position. I've only had my slide try to open on it's own one time (it failed since the lock bar was in place) but you do not have the problem I have (else you'd not be able to open/close it by the push of a button)

OK Thanks. Once Ican get to the motorhome (its in 2' of snow), I'll check.

Darryl

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dvleemin Thanks! My motorhome is in my back acre surrounded by 2' of snow, so going to have to wait a couple of weeks to check.

If that was me I'd grab a shovel and start digging to see that brake. Oh wait , I live in Florida

[Roger G]

I had the same problem on my 07 southwind. There is a manual release for the electric brake on the end of the slide motor covered by a rubber boot. Flipping the brake had no affect in my case and the lever felt loose to me. I took the motor off and removed the boot. There is an adapter plate that mates the brake to the motor and it had broken. It is made of very thin cast aluminum or some other metal. Power gear will not sell you this piece only a new motor for $400 so I took the motor , brake and broken adapter to a local machine shop and had one machined out of aluminum, $90. It is much stronger than the original and work perfectly. The only other option might be a RV shop that has changed a similar motor that kept the old motor that you could get this adapter off of it. Might not be your problem but it's worth checking.

[Elkhartjim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roger G There is an adapter plate that mates the brake to the motor and it had broken. Might not be your problem but it's worth checking.

Good info Roger, thanks for sharing.

[jbprac]

On my 2004 35E (Workhorse chassis) I had the same problem several years ago. Everything is under the bed, and although the brake was checked, it did not solve the problem. Turns out the rack & pinion frame was not adjusted correctly. It was a bear to get in there to adjust it, but that was 5 years ago and all has worked fine since. Good luck!!