I hate my slideout

[MonCay]

Our '07 Cayman has two slides. The bedroom slide is small and seems to work okay. But the livingroom slide takes for ever to do it's thing, to the point that you wonder if it will ever finish.

The house batteries are charged, some nasty looking battery cables have been changed out, and yet everytime we move the slide we wonder....will it make it?

The gasket that goes around it was replaced last year, and it balls up a lot. Do I need to somehow lube it, or is there a bigger issue at work?

P.S. The slide seems to be fairly well centered in the 'hole'.

[krivanj]

You might check with the new Monaco, or read your owner's manual. A lot of big slides say that the engine must be running to move the slide. Even with charged batteries, enough current might be used to put stress on the slide motors.
Why not run the engine at least once and time the slideout in or out compared to when the engine is off? if it takes substantially less time, that would be your answer.
On ours, I try to at least have the RV plugged in. (Mine is wired so that the engine has to be off to put down the jacks, and they have to go down before the slides come out, so it would mean restarting the engine again. Duh...)

[YC1]

Do use some silicon spray on the slide seals. If your slides are mechanical look closely at the motor shafts and where they are bolted. Those bolts can come loose and cause some binding. Measuring the voltage on the motor leads right at the motor while someone is running the slide will tell the story on any voltage issues.

[docsdock]

On my 06 the engine must be off or the slides won't move - I do leave the shore power on untill slide are either in or out or they are slow - the bigger the slower.

[Mike Canter]

You can't run the motor and move the slides but you can have the generator running which helps. Do you have enough fluid in the tank and is it the correct fluid. Mine is the HWH system and I only use the HWH fluid. I know you can use other fluids so nobody come back and tell me so. I never have any problems with my slide outs and not about to change.

[gleydagatf]

I have an '03 Dynasy and my living room slide has trouble getting started and Im not sure why. It is the phneumatic kind, I think. But sometimes it works and sometimes it takes a while. It won't work with engine running but sometimes it works with no AC and others I have to plug it in or turn on generator. Seems like even then it takes a while. Could there be a time delay breaker that needs to kick in ???????

[Mike Canter]

George, that model Dynasty has an HWH hydraulic unit for the living room. They don't move very fast. Have you every checked your hydraulic fluid level. The tank is under the front close to the step? Describe what you mean by sometimes it takes its time.

[Colorado Kay]

Originally Posted by MonCay

Our '07 Cayman has two slides. The bedroom slide is small and seems to work okay. But the livingroom slide takes for ever to do it's thing, to the point that you wonder if it will ever finish.

The house batteries are charged, some nasty looking battery cables have been changed out, and yet everytime we move the slide we wonder....will it make it?

The gasket that goes around it was replaced last year, and it balls up a lot. Do I need to somehow lube it, or is there a bigger issue at work?

P.S. The slide seems to be fairly well centered in the 'hole'.

We had same problem. Called mobile RV repair out. He told us to add trany fluid to the hydraulic as we had a Hydraulic leak. The second he filled the fluid, that slide came in and out like brand new!

[-Gramps-]

I suggest running a strip of rubber molding down the side of the slideout. That way when the slide moves in or out the molding will push the seal in the direction it needs to go and not let it roll and bind.

Run the slide all the way out and attach the rubber molding as close to the coach as you can.

I used this molding because it matched what came on the coach around the slide out opening frame. It is a little thicker which is a good thing.

MD Building Products 19/32 in. x 10 ft. EPDM Cellular Rubber Auto and Marine Weatherstrip-01033 - The Home Depot

It the seal is really stubborn you might need to run two strips of this down each end of the slideout so that it pushes the seal out when the side first starts moving out.

[MonCay]

Our Cayman apparently has the BAL cable/electric motor slideout system. The tech that replaced the outside seal on the livingroom slide last year made the comment that they (BAL) are "junk".

I have visited their (BAL) website and viewed all the videos, etc. It appears they have 'standard' power motors (what I assume I have) and also 'high' powered motors (for larger slides). Anyone ever attempt to switch to one of the 'bigger' motors?

That seems like a clever idea Gramps. To attempt to control the action of the seal. But I am afraid the extra thickness of that molding you added would complicate things as there does not seem to be a whole lot of clearance between the slide and motorhome wall, hence the balling up of the seal.

Any suggestions on what would be the best sort of lube to try on the seal itself....to make it slick (so it would be less prone to ball up), but not create a mess?

[Neverhome2]

I am confused... The owner's manual for our HR says to extend the slides while the unit is on its wheels and the suspension aired up. After extending the slides dump the air and level the coach. Is this correct or not?

[Hurk]

Originally Posted by Neverhome2

I am confused... The owner's manual for our HR says to extend the slides while the unit is on its wheels and the suspension aired up. After extending the slides dump the air and level the coach. Is this correct or not?

Yes that is correct. Also for the slide seals spray the seals with silicone also I spray the walls and bottom of slide with silicone which makes them very slippery making less resistance.

Hurk

[-Gramps-]

Originally Posted by MonCay

Our Cayman apparently has the BAL cable/electric motor slideout system. The tech that replaced the outside seal on the livingroom slide last year made the comment that they (BAL) are "junk".

I have visited their (BAL) website and viewed all the videos, etc. It appears they have 'standard' power motors (what I assume I have) and also 'high' powered motors (for larger slides). Anyone ever attempt to switch to one of the 'bigger' motors?

That seems like a clever idea Gramps. To attempt to control the action of the seal. But I am afraid the extra thickness of that molding you added would complicate things as there does not seem to be a whole lot of clearance between the slide and motorhome wall, hence the balling up of the seal.

Any suggestions on what would be the best sort of lube to try on the seal itself....to make it slick (so it would be less prone to ball up), but not create a mess?

The seal normally balls up from friction, and on a hot day they can get soft and stick a bit. If you can stick your finger between the slide out wall and the opening in the coach the M-D molding will have room.

As far as the BAL cable driven slides being junk, that all depends on how it was installed. They were designed to go straight in and out on rollers, like your bedroom. It is a bit much for them to move a big main slideout that drops down flat and comes in on nylon pads as opposed to rollers. The advantage to the BAL Accuslides is they don't take up any room in the basement and there is no rack and pinion parts to wear out. Most of the time however, they are not aligned properly and as a result cables start to fray and then break. Until I took mine to where the BAL techs could align the main correctly and replace the motor with a larger one, I had nothing but trouble and learned to replace the cables myself.

As a side note, the techs at BAL told me to ALWAYS level the coach FIRST before moving the slides out and to bring them back in before retracting the jacks.

[gleydagatf]

To Mike Cantor,

Once the slide starts, it works great. It is in getting it to start/kick in/etc that I have the question. Again, are there time delay breakers/fuses in these thing or maybe it is a sticky safety switch on doors? ???? I'll also check on hydrolics also.