another question

[huddleston81]

we have a 2005 ts select, 45 ft 500 cummins, 6 speed allison my question is now that we have had a bad trip i have lots of questions but one i have now is if we are out and the slides wont go back in is there a manual way of doing this. you all on irv2 are such great help to us and hope i dont drive you all crazy, and that you cant enjoy your coach because of us.

thanks so much

[RJay]

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with your coach do you have HWH slides or electric. But to answer your question there is usually an alternate way of manually retracting your slides.

[wa8yxm]

Slides come in different makes and types. .I have two different types on my coach

Power Gear Rack and Pinion (Main slide, main headache too)
Accu-Slide cable cars (Less of a problem, minor headache)

One thing I have found. .the Accu-Slides will not move if the batteries are not up to proper voltage.. Say one shorted cell.. Shore power fixes that one.

[Alleyman]

Most slide mechanisms, regarddless of make, have a lock on the motor where shaft protrudes. release and then the shaft can be turned with a wrench, or some have a hex head to turn & crank the slide in or out. check the manual for exact instructions for your model.
note of interest.. My last name is same as yours, except for the "T", which became lost back in the 1800's. Ancestors from your area.

[sailor_lou]

I've never seen any TS documentation on how to mechanically move a slide, but have looked over the setup closely. Most, if not all the TS's use a 12 VDC electric motor under the slide and a controller, which is located in the electrical compartment forward of the driver's front tire. The controller provides the correct polarity to either drive the slide in or out and secures power to the motor when the slide reaches the end of travel. It does this by monitoring motor current such that when the motor is mechanically stopped, the current rises and the controller senses this and secures the power before the fuse blows. There is an adjustment on the controller to set the stopping current so that it doesn't stop prematurely or cause the fuse to blow.

As I stated, I've never seen any documentation on moving a slide, but if I was faced with this problem I would try the following:

1) If the controller should fail, power could be applied directly to the motor leads to drive the slide, but the leads must be removed so that you don't backfeed the controller and fused to prevent motor damage at the end of travel.

2) On either side of the motor is a shear pin and coupling. If you remove the two pins and slide the coupling back you may be able to push the slide in or out. If you unable to push it, the drive mechanism is a square rod which could be moved with an open end wrench. The key here would be to turn them both (left and right side of the motor) equally so the slide goes in straight. It is IMPORTANT to remember to recouple the motor and reinstall the pins to reinstate the braking feature of the motor, so the slide does not move on its own (esp. when travelling down the road).

Now the disclaimer:

Once again, I have never found any instructions from TS on how to mechanically reposition a slide and what I stated above is what I would do if faced with the problem. I you do not understand the mechanical and/or electrical aspect of what you are doing I recommend you call a qualified technician for help. I am a power plant engineer by occupation and work with electro-mechanical devices every day, so I am comfortable working in this area. Good luck.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

[slabman]

Lou, You are correct in your assumptions. I seem to recall Bishop mentioning , when in the case of a loss of power, you could use a battery from your portable drill (12v.) or, of course, from your on-board batteries. I have a 12ga. Extension cord made up for this and other purposes, but haven't had to use it yet....and hope to not have to.

[rsflight]

We have had the shear pins on the bedroom slide shear off due to a high setting on the controller board. The slide can be moved when decoupled from the gearmotor. Two people can push it it or out, when equal pushing forces are applied at the edges of the slide. One person can move it using large visegrips on the driving shaft adjacent to the gearmotor. The shaft will move fairly easy using this method. Be sure to have the shear pins inplace or the driving shaft and slide securely locked before driving the RV.

Note that shear pins from Home Depot or Lowes are weak due to the many adjustment holes that they have. I ordered the correct size from McMaster Carr. Also getting the correct setting on the control board takes some trial & error, so be sure to have spare shear pins handy.

[wa8yxm]

Yes, there is a way of doing it manually.. HOWEVER.. Before you do that, are you still plugged into shore power? I had a battery problem recently and the first symptom was.. Slides would not come in less I plugged into shore power.

[RickO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wa8yxm One thing I have found. .the Accu-Slides will not move if the batteries are not up to proper voltage.. Say one shorted cell.. Shore power fixes that one.

Ditto with my HWH slides. Running the generator or engine works for mine too.

Good luck...

Rick

[Ann n Gene]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO Ditto with my HWH slides. Running the generator or engine works for mine too. Good luck... Rick

You can recall your slides with the engine running? Genny yes, but engine? My Travel Supreme and now my Entegra will not allow slide movement with the engine running. Ask me how I found that out when the Travel Supreme was new. lol Actually got a mechanic out (same lot as park I was in) to figure out why the slides would not come in, shut off engine to go get him and he tried it, sure enough in they came. Never did tell him I knew what happened, just went on my way. lol

[sailor_lou]

TS (and it sounds like Entegra too) provided an interlock between the slide controller and the engine ignition. It's a pretty good idea because the potential for severe damage exists if someone inadvertently bumped the switch or the contacts bounced on a bad bump while traveling down the road. Just another ++ for the TS design IMO.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

[drwyatt]

I have a TS DS14 45 and have had problems with the pin shearing on the passanger side bedroom slide. A quick way to get on the road is to put a wrench on the square shaft that drives it by the rear tires. Then I block the slide in with a 2x4 on the inside on both sides. I recently bought a hydraulic jack that will jack when on edge to put inside to pull the slide in. I put a hardened screw as a pin and put furnature slides purchased at Lowes under the slide front edge to ease slide fron digging into the carpet and slide easier. Works well. All the slides have the square shaft drive. Some times the main larger driver side slide struggles when just starting. I will manually tip the MH with the levelers jacks by raising the driver side and lowering the passanger side. This helps the slide when starting from the out park position. Dave W

[rhugh999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drwyatt I have a TS DS14 45 and have had problems with the pin shearing on the passanger side bedroom slide. A quick way to get on the road is to put a wrench on the square shaft that drives it by the rear tires. Then I block the slide in with a 2x4 on the inside on both sides. I recently bought a hydraulic jack that will jack when on edge to put inside to pull the slide in. I put a hardened screw as a pin and put furnature slides purchased at Lowes under the slide front edge to ease slide fron digging into the carpet and slide easier. Works well. All the slides have the square shaft drive. Some times the main larger driver side slide struggles when just starting. I will manually tip the MH with the levelers jacks by raising the driver side and lowering the passanger side. This helps the slide when starting from the out park position. Dave W

Can't say thanks enough for this post - had exactly the same problem and with 3 helpers manually pushed slide in. One inside pushing the top of the slide out, 3 outside pushing slide in. Apparently there is alot of friction between the two carpets ( floor and on slide ). Shear pin(s) had broken. In future I am going to get some 1/4" or 5/6" plastic sheet about 17" wide to put under the slide when it is extended so that it can slide on the plastic as it comes in and reduce friction substantially. Also I see the panel covering the motor, etc has come loose in several places, probably rusted screws and maybe let road dust, etc into the area where motor is - something for others to watch.

[Mr_D]

On our Dutch Star we have a motor going bad so my wife and I have to pull as the slide rides up, once over that it works OK. Going to cost over $600 for a new motor. I already replaced the controller as it was the cheapest to try.