Junior Member
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Hot Springs Village, AR
Posts: 3
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2015 Fleetwood Providence FSW slide locks
OK....so there I was....driving from Hot Springs Village to Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, MS and of course, it was raining for the complete 5.5 hours, getting to the campsite, after dark, still in the rain....Had everything set up and jump inside and laying back watching NETFLIX, getting ready to doze off.....then, from out of no where....the FWS began to retract...right in the middle of my show....no one near the switch, the engine was off and the key for the slide was off....WTH? I attempted to extend the slide with no success, and attempting to retract the slide with no success...what in the world is going on???? And of course, the rule of malfunctions....Late Saturday night, right after a Thanksgiving Holiday....I decided I would address the issue in the morning....hold on, the ghost of Fleetwood was not done or satisfied....the slide, again began to retract, on its own, with the switch off, only this time, the slide not only retracted all the way in, but....the slide locks were still deployed...on the wrong side of the wall....yes, they were in the lock position, on the outside....leaving about a 3 inch gap at the top....
Without going into a lot of detail....I read every blog, googled every instance of slide issues, looked at every YouTube video....None....I mean NONE had what I had just encountered.
The next scheduled stop was at Tyndall, AFB for a few days. I had the occasion to need some work done on my MH there and I still had the number of the local mobile RV mechanic. I texted and he responded, and a time was arranged, (after another 5 hour ride, except this time with the FWS not completely retracted). After my arrival, the mechanic was tied up with another job and he was running late and was not going to make it as planned. So....I decided to trouble shoot my system...(I was a Maintenace test pilot for Homeland Security and contractor for the 41st RQS on Blackhawks and ASTARs). Bottom line, I was able to not only get the slide locks to retract, but was successful in having FWS completely retract.
I disconnected both slide lock motors (located on both ends of the slide in bedroom and living room) and then pressed the "Extend" on the switch, and the slide extended completely out, however the lock slides were still deployed out on the outside of the slide. I then reconnected the slide motors and pressed the "Extend" again, even though it was fully extended, however, now the slide locks began to retract completely. After the slide locks retracted, I then selected the "Retract" on the switch and successfully retracted the complete slide to it's rightful position. I then attempted to do a normal extension and retraction, however that did not work. I remember reading on one of the blogs, located somewhere on this site, about resetting the computer....I turned off the key (on the slide panel) and the ignition for the MH, waited about 5 minutes, started the MH, turned on the key and had complete success of slide locks retracting, room extension, retraction and complete function of the slide lock on the correct side of the MH
I am guessing that with all the rain (4.5 hours of light to heavy) may have found its way into some areas it should not have been. The 5.5-hour drive to Tyndall may have dried out the issues....and as of this hour, after almost 6 hours since troubleshooting, and so far, success of the issue, the ghost of Fleetwood has not re-occurred.
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