Community Forums

purduepete97 · 06-06-2017, 06:54 AM

2013 Palomino Solaire - both slides have worked well for us over the last 3 years. This past weekend, the larger LR slide came in VERY slowly.

I do keep them lubed regularly (2-3 times per season) with dry silicone spray. My thoughts are that either something was twisted because of the way the trailer was sitting, causing some binding and thus putting extra drag on the motors. OR, I had a voltage issue.

Re: the voltage issue, I know (Mr. Obvious here) that if I am disconnected from shore power and trailer plug disconnected from tow vehicle, obviously I'm counting 100% on the on-board battery to run the slide motors.

In the following scenarios, am I getting additional 12 v "power" to the slide motors above and beyond what the battery alone can provide? OR, in these scenarios, is the shore power and/or TV feed simply recharging the battery and I'm still using just the battery to run the slides?

1. Shore power connected but trailer to TV plug disconnected
2. Shore power disconnected but trailer to TV plug connected
3. Shore power and trailer to TV plug connected (I don't do this as a rule b/c I've heard it can do bad things)

I'm thinking the 3+ year old battery may be at end of life and that is contributing to the slow slides, but answers to the above questions would be helpful in determining if that is the likely culprit. Also, I will be taking the battery for load testing later this week.

Thanks!
Pete

BFlinn181 · 06-06-2017, 10:19 AM

Your on board converter/charger should provide full voltage to the system. The wire from the tow vehicle won't provide much voltage or amperage unless the TV engine is running, even then limited by the wire size.

Best bet, instead of guessing and theorizing would be to take a voltage reading with a meter. A fully charged 12v battery should show 12.7v. While on shore power, converter/charger should show 13.4v or more, according to battery state of charge. A battery reading of 12v is usually considered at 50% charged.

Slides generally shouldn't be extended or retracted unless RV is level.

purduepete97 · 06-06-2017, 11:20 AM

Thanks.

So, with shore power connected, should I be seeing the 13.4 at the battery or coming out of the converter/charger?

I did wonder about leveling being an issue. I've never had an issue with slides in or out regardless of whether stabilizers were down or now. This past weekend we were definitely on a less level site and I did retract the stabilizers before bringing slides back in. That may have been the culprit. . .

Appreciate the feedback.

Pete

parkerbill · 06-06-2017, 01:25 PM

Assuming your wiring from the converter to the batteries is good you should read pretty much the same voltage at either place. You might also want to make sure your battery connections are clean and tight. I experienced some weird things last year from a dirty/loose battery post connection. The voltage looked fine, but the current was being restricted.