Need help with stuck slide

[tim494]

2019 Dutchstar

My bedroom slide will not extend. When I push the button I hear a click and then the motor starts briefly then stops. Due to over torque?

If I reverse the switch then I get the reverse. A little motor sound and a click.

I am think I have a stuck lock but I don't know how to check or manually release a side lock.

I have power cycled the controller with no luck.

Open to suggestions.

[Dutch Star Don]

You should be able to stand on the bed and with a mirror or take a photo with your phone and see if either of the two slide locks look like they're causing the issue. You should be able, again with a mirror, spray some lube on hose locks if necessary.

If they both look normal, my next step would be to pull the bed floor up and lock at the mechanism, making sure nothing has come loose or is jamming the slide. If you kneel on either side of the bed, near the middle, and look over the edge of the bed box and directly down, you'll see four bolts that hold part of the mechanism together. They're the same on both sides. Newmar installed those bolts without washers and can come loose.

Lastly, operate the slide with the floor up and see if there is anything obvious. Make sure the motor bolts are NOT loose. That motor bolts on just like the kitchen slides that had so many issues.

[tim494]

Thanks Don.

I had thought the upper locks had an electrical component but now see they are purely mechanical and really don't lock the slide. They simply secure the top from leaning out when the bottom is fully retracted. Looks like a spring failure would not cause a stuck slide. They appear to fail to the unmatched position.

At least I think I can eliminate that as a cause.

I have inspected the mechanism under the bed and nothing obvious stood out but I need to do as you say and watch it while engaging the switch.

[tomato]

Originally Posted by tim494

Thanks Don.

I had thought the upper locks had an electrical component but now see they are purely mechanical and really don't lock the slide. They simply secure the top from leaning out when the bottom is fully retracted. Looks like a spring failure would not cause a stuck slide. They appear to fail to the unmatched position.

At least I think I can eliminate that as a cause.

I have inspected the mechanism under the bed and nothing obvious stood out but I need to do as you say and watch it while engaging the switch.

Your slide motor electric brake could be bad or simply have a bad connection. It is located under the bed and under the rubber boot on the end of the motor. You can remove the boot, unplug the wires and then remove the brake (I believe 2 screws if memory serves) then test the slide.

If the slide works, then the brake is the issue. You can then test the brake by simply applying 12-volts to it (polarity doesn't matter on these). It will click and you will see the key in the inner round part move if it is working.

Only challenge if this works is then diagnosing root cause, as the brake gets its current/signal from the motor.

Brake looks like this.

[Rd1]

Another potential issue maybe the slide limist settings. If the soft limits for the slide have been erased, you can also hear just the click on your slide switch.

Attach is a sample of how to reset the soft limits. This may not be the same circuit board that you may have in your unit. please check with Newmar. or you can look in your compartments for the board and verify if it is the same.

[tim494]

Well out of the frying pan…

Start diagnosing again today and it started moving. A couple in’s and outs to watch things and I heard a nice pop.

Now the motor spins freely. Either the motor splines are stripped or a bad gear box.

FWIW my motor mount bolts were not properly torqued either.

Does anybody know if the motor shaft is splined or keyed. If keyed it could be an “easy” fix, but most likely I’m calling a mobile tech Monday.

Stinks because I was supposed to head to HWH to get the FWS cylinders re-synced this week.

There has to be a better way than putting the motor in a spot unreachable with the slide closed without disassembling the bed.

[Dutch Star Don]

You probably broke a gear in the motor/transmission. If I recall that one slides onto the end of a hex shape shaft like the kitchen motors. You'll need a new motor if that's the issue. It can't be repaired. The kitchen slide motors are $1300 from Newmar, the only place you can buy them. (I haven't looked in a while and the hex shaped shaft may go through that motor and might require the trans torque bushing be removed. Those are a beast to loosen in that tight area)

If you intend to push the room out and open everything up for the mechanic. I would first look at the motor. If it just comes off of the end of the shaft by removing the four bolts. I would remove it and then operate it. If the shaft doesn't turn, the gears are bad. This would allow you to order a motor from Newmar and either fix it yourself or then hire the mobile mechanic. Rather than have him come out for a diagnosis and then have to come out again.

I would want to know if something caused the slide to bind up or was the motor loose enough to get cocked and broke. If it was the latter, I would feel okay about putting in a new motor.

[tim494]

This one is a through-shaft motor. I think the shaft has to be freed to slide the motor off of the end.

I probably need to check the limit switches to make sure it hadn't been trying to over travel.

[tim494]

I have it loose. Luckily it failed open so I had good access. The fact that it was a loud pop at the end of the travel makes me think it wasn't a loose mount or that isn't the root cause. I thought loose mounts normally sheared the mounting bolts not the gears.

[Dutch Star Don]

They typically did shear the bolts. I had two kitchen motors, at different times, make that loud pop. It was the gear breaking. I broke the same motor twice. it was getting expensive. The second time I called Klauber and told them I wasn't happy with their product. They were surprised to learn how much Newmar was charging for them. They spoke to an engineer and thought my issue was too much amperage to one motor, caused by the controller. I installed two new motors and a controller. This time I reset the controller being very careful to stop it at the in and out position without over tightening it.

[tim494]

The end of the Saga (I hope)


No mobile RV tech available.


Called Newmar and they had the slide motor assembly in stock ($800 if I remember correctly). Shipped to me and on my porch the next day.


They also sent me pretty decent instructions. Maybe a little dated since they had the torque value on the motor bolts at 33 ft.lb. but mine were 5/16" so I only torqued them to 18ish ft.lbs.


With the Newmar instructions and guidance from this site I was able to fix it myself over the last few evenings. Definitely learned a few things on the way. Probably over-torqued the Transtorque-bushing but put some paint on it to detect movement in case it starts to fail. It's not technically difficult to do, just really awkward work with all of the structure around (I didn't take the bed frame off, maybe I would if ever doing it again). You have to be a little flexible and willing to muscle things a little bit.


Thankfully I was able to borrow a big torque wrench and 1 1/2" sheeps foot from work. I think that would be the most expensive/unique tool to find for anyone doing this themselves.



Slide operates quietly and smoothly now. I don't see that I need to adjust anything, it appears to retract and extend evenly.


I think it was a couple loose motor bolts that were allowing the transmission and bracket to twist a little at the end of the motor travel and then would "snap" back once the motor reached max torque and stopped.


Stage 8 had their locking kit on my porch in 2 days so I was able to reinstall using their locking system.


Thanks to the contributors on IRV2 that have detailed their experiences before me.

[Wacdmc]

Good job tackling this repair yourself. Glad you got it working again.