A slide question?

[WyoFree]

I was just reading a post about parking somewhere like Walmart. Someone said they put their slides maybe half way out and I have two questions about that.

1. Is a slide fully water and air proof like it is with it fully extended?
2. I've read that stopping a slide from fully extending can mess up the syncroinization of the slide. Is that right?

[Tha_Rooster]

Originally Posted by WyoFree

I was just reading a post about parking somewhere like Walmart. Someone said they put their slides maybe half way out and I have two questions about that.

1. Is a slide fully water and air proof like it is with it fully extended?
2. I've read that stopping a slide from fully extending can mess up the syncroinization of the slide. Is that right?

1) no they are not sealed against the walls unless fully open or closed.
2) never heard of that.

[WyoFree]

Yes I was very surprised to read it. I wanted to get up to speed on the prevalent slide systems and they all said fully in or fully out and nothing in between!

[HR2004]

If I was to overnight at a Walmart I would just put out the bedroom slide and park where there was a lightpole next to the slide so no one can come cruising by and knock off the slide while your sleeping.. run it all the way out for a good seal.

[dpinvidic]

You have a lot of open gaps when slides are part way out.

I have heard that you should not reverse your slides, and always extend them fully.

When my coach is parked on the street at home, I always extend the slide part way, then
retract when done loading.

The key is to hold the button in for 2 or 3 seconds after the slide is fully closed or extended.
This causes the controller to resync. No problems yet in doing this.

Regards,

Dan

[Rich-n-Linda]

I have never understood this nonsense about not putting out your slides when parked in a Walmart lot. If you're only there for one night, nobody cares! Just park your coach so it doesn't block traffic.

[powercat_ras]

Originally Posted by WyoFree

I was just reading a post about parking somewhere like Walmart. Someone said they put their slides maybe half way out and I have two questions about that.

1. Is a slide fully water and air proof like it is with it fully extended?

No.

Originally Posted by WyoFree

2. I've read that stopping a slide from fully extending can mess up the syncroinization of the slide. Is that right?

Some Slide Mechanisms like the Swintek have two independent sets of motors and tracks on the two end of the slide out. There is a complex controller that gets pulses back from the motors counting motor rotations to make sure the rotations aka movement match exactly on both ends. Letting go of the slide button mid movement can cause the two ends to get out of sync as one motor may spin down and stop faster than the other. The Swintek users manual says to try to always do full movements to avoid this. But its easy to get them back into sync you just hold down the slide operation button a few seconds after the slide movement ends and the board senses the motor current increase when the slide compresses the gasket and stalls causing current increase, then shuts down current to that stalled motor and keeps power applied to the other until it's current increases due to motor stall, so even if end side compresses before the other the ends get back together.

Some other Slide Mechansism have a single motor and a long rod that drives both ends at once stopping those mid-motion is not normally an issue.

[Gary RVRoamer]

2. I've read that stopping a slide from fully extending can mess up the syncroinization of the slide. Is that right?

I think "hogwash" would be an appropriate response to that.

Only very long slides, e.g. "full wall", have multiple motors to synch. Anything up to about 15 ft in length does fine with one, at least on the rack & pinion style design. I don't know about cable systems, but I wouldn't own one of them anyway. Hydraulic slides have no sync concern either.

[powercat_ras]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

I think "hogwash" would be an appropriate response to that.

Only very long slides, e.g. "full wall", have multiple motors to synch. Anything up to about 15 ft in length does fine with one, at least on the rack & pinion style design. I don't know about cable systems, but I wouldn't own one of them anyway. Hydraulic slides have no sync concern either.

All newer coaches with Swintek slides have separate motors on each end of slides no matter the length of the slide. So hogwash "not" at least for some of us.

[WyoFree]

Thank you all. As I've said before, a lot to learn and a lot to know. One thing interesting is a soon as you know there's and absolute, it changes. Crazy but fun if you don't weaken!

[MisterT]

on our slides you may have air gaps when the slides are not all out or all in, but other than that there is no reason the slide will not operate properly whether all in or all out. we have traveled 48k miles and have slides in all sorts of positions depending on the need - it's never been an issue, they always extend or retract as they should. The motors don't care, or don't even know, when they are 'all the way out' or not. They are just motors. When you bring your slide back in and hold the button for several more seconds, you are effectively counteracting any 'out of position' or 'out of sync' of either of the motors.

keep travelin'

[WyoFree]

This brings up another question. If the wind picks up and rain starts, do you leave the slides out? Or if their in, do you keep them in until the storms over?

I guess my real question is, once the slides are out and fully seated are they dependable under rain and windy conditions?

I've read you can get water under the slide awning and when you bring the slide in the water comes with it.

[1ciderdog]

The manual on my 2004 Journey says to fully extend the slides before retracting. IF the wind is really strong I'll bring in the slides, not because of a slide problem but because the awning above the slide really get loud.