Stuck Slide out

[romack]

Hey, i'm a newbie to both the forum and RV's. I'm a Kiwi living in the USA and we don't have RV's where I come from so the slide outs are not familiar territory at all. It's been obvious that the Living room slider was starting to get sticky sliding in and it's never been lubed so assume thats what it needs. Problem is I can't find any obvious place to put the lube. Now of course it only slides in about a foot in and stops due to severe friction. can anyone offer a good explanation on where to put the dry lube. I have a 36ft 97 Damon Challenger 5'er. Thanks in advance!

[jimcumminsw]

Hi, and welcome to the USA and RVing.
The slide going in and out may not be a lube problem. The manufactures build them so they do not need to be lubed that much. What your problem maybe is a weak or undercharged battery in the coach.
What you need to do, is insure that the coach battery is properly charged and all of the battery cells are good. The battery can be load tested at a NAPA store for free. If the battery is good condition. Then make sure it is fully charge before you move the slide in and out.
You will next either plug the trailer into shore power or truck and have the truck engine running. This will supply enough electricity to the slide motors to ensure that the slide will be retracted or extended.
The slide motor will take enormous amount of amperage to pull the slides in/out and a weak or damage coach battery will not work the slide motor efficiently so the slide can stall.
If you still need/want to lube the slide gearing. Crawl under the slide and you should see a rack and pinion type arrangement at the rear of the slidout that can be lubed. This is only if it is a gear driven arrangement.
Good luck.
Jim W.

[romack]

Thanks for your response! Unfortunately the batteries are brand new, it used to have one but I now have two for piece of mind. The slideout is the type that the floor drops when it goes out and lifts on the way back in.. When coming in it begins to shudder a bit as it seems to stick and release as the floor is lifting then it gets more violent until it gets to the point where the hydraulic fluid obviously goes through the bypass as the motors do not seem to do extra work, then it just stops. I looked around under the slide and could not see a likely place that required lube as there are steel wheels that guide the steel bar and assume that bit is more for alignment but maybe have to look again. The underbelly of the RV is enclosed so maybe the problem is under there and I have to expose it before seeing the problem?

[jimcumminsw]

Since your slide out unit is hydraulic type, I would do the following to trouble shoot the unit.
I. Install gages hydraulic type pressure gages, at the lines form the pump to the cylinder or motor.
2. Use these to see what the hydraulic pressure is when actuating the pump. See if enough hydraulic pressure is building up from the pump to move the cylinders and or motor. You maybe leaking fluid internally in either the pump, cylinder or motor, bad seals. This would then prevent enough pressure in these components to retract or extend the slide fully.
3. If the pressure is above 1,500 PSI or 2,000 PSI, then the slide is stuck and will need to be adjusted. I am not sure exactly what pressure it will take to move your slide it might be even higher than 2,000 PSI (this should be in the O&M guide).
Check out this site for information on slides and adjustment.
Owners Manuals
Jim W.

[Ray,IN]

Have you checked the hyd. fluid level? Do not use grease, oil, or any other sticky lubricant(combines with road dirt to form a crude grinding compound), use only Dri-Slide on the mechanism. Use silicone spray or rubber lube on the rubber slide wipers/seals- both sides, to reduce friction when moving the slide room.

[RVhauler]

Check if anything is jammed up under the floor of the slide and/or a slide roller is stuck. Attempt to close slide and look under the floor with a flashlight. If not the problem then would as previously said to check hydaulic fluid level and if all well to procede with further check out as posted. (Many rollers have a plastic sleeve which wears and jams the roller)

[romack]

Outstanding, the link to the manuals has the system that looks identical to mine!! I will go thru the manual and do the checks mentioned and everything else necessary. Thanks a bunch guys!! Off to buy a pressure gauge!

[wa8yxm]

There are 3 kinds of Slides I've seen... The on on my Interuder is a Power Gear Rack and Pinion type... The lubrication points are more or less obvious. (Rails, Rollers,Gear teeth)

As for other slides I can't say.

Another issue though is the switch. One one of my bedroom slides the switch failed,and it was a witch to get it to come in... Different slide but THE SAME SWITCH.

The cure here is to remove all power from the system (Battery disconnect works for that on my rig) and push the stupic button 2-5 dozen times each way. This cleans the switch.

NOTE: if this does not work: Your FREE cheerfully refunded