Slide issue Tiffin open road

[oceandansar]

We have a 2016 Tiffin 34pa quad slide. I’ve had an issue twice with sides all 4.It seems like a relay issue as none of the slides will work. Coach in park running parking brake set. If you keep pushing and releasing a button for one of the slides they will eventually start working.
You can hear a faint clicking when you push the button but I can’t tell where it’s coming from. Any suggestions on where to look would be appreciated..
I owned an auto repair shop for 40 years so I’m fairly mechanically inclined.
Thanks for looking.

[cbrown98]

Hi, we had problems with our rear slide out drivers side on our 2020 Allegro bus. When we took it in our RV Specialists found teeth missing on the belt. We changed to a Vroom system out of Arizona and not had a problem since. Our insurance covered it thank god. Bob Tiffin approved it since it's outside company. Good luck. Hope your issue isn't as bad.

[dssl]

Some of the slides are hydraulic, some are electric, so it doesn't sound like a hydraulic relay issue.


I have a 2015 32SA and had the same experience. A significant percentage of time neither the electric or the hydraulic slide would work, then maybe 1/2 hour later they would start working.

For me I decided to always have the engine running before deploying the jacks or slides and it's been 100% reliable. Others have had this issue and it was some kind of spider hardware issue. So if you were not first starting the engine before activating the jacks and slides then give it a try. U⁷

There are ways to get around this. What I did for my hydraulic slide was manually open the hydraulic solenoid valve and hit auto level to extend, or retract.

For the electric slide this video is helpful, make sure to watch the hole video, the first part won't work.

https://youtu.be/X7LZXiZua_8

[High Road Travelers]

You didn't mention if you have the engine running when using your slides, but if not "dssl" has a point. We have a 2018 Open Road 32SA and the instructions say to always have the engine running. I believe the alternator supplies extra power to the motors. Anyway, we do that and have not had any problems yet.
I'm not saying that is your problem, just a suggestion in case you're not running your engine.
Hope you find a solution,

[dssl]

Originally Posted by High Road Travelers

You didn't mention if you have the engine running when using your slides, but if not "dssl" has a point. We have a 2018 Open Road 32SA and the instructions say to always have the engine running. I believe the alternator supplies extra power to the motors. Anyway, we do that and have not had any problems yet.
I'm not saying that is your problem, just a suggestion in case you're not running your engine.
Hope you find a solution,

The hydraulic pump is powered by the chassis 12v, so by running the engine you get an alternator assist which will prevent a voltage drop when the pump starts and allows all of the electrical components to run at a higher voltage, which is easier on them.

I didn't mention it but my theory is when my chassis battery started getting old that voltage drop increased, and at some point it somehow caused the spyder to get confused.

[oceandansar]

Yes engine running in MH. It’s definitely a relay or safety switch of some sort as it effects all 4 slides. Yes front 2 are hydraulic and rear 2 are electric. I really need a schematic of the electrical system.
I will have my wife call Tiffin and see if they can offer some help as where to look. It’s her MH.

[Jon Harvey]

Did you resolve this? I have a 2016 32SA. I often have to reach behind the spider control fuse panel in the driver side storage compartment and unplug and reo lug the slide pigtail. This works 100% of time. May be a loose wire. I have to do this about 50-60% of the time.

[dssl]

Originally Posted by Jon Harvey

Did you resolve this? I have a 2016 32SA. I often have to reach behind the spider control fuse panel in the driver side storage compartment and unplug and reo lug the slide pigtail. This works 100% of time. May be a loose wire. I have to do this about 50-60% of the time.

That's interesting. Where is this pigtail? I have a 2015 32SA which is mostly identical. Is this pig tail in your inverter bay, or some other bay? I have the schematic and physical drawings for that 12v fuse panel and nothing is specific for the spider.

Have you ever tried disconnecting both the chassis battery and the house batteries to see if that resolves your issue?

[Jon Harvey]

Originally Posted by dssl

That's interesting. Where is this pigtail? I have a 2015 32SA which is mostly identical. Is this pig tail in your inverter bay, or some other bay? I have the schematic and physical drawings for that 12v fuse panel and nothing is specific for the spider.

Have you ever tried disconnecting both the chassis battery and the house batteries to see if that resolves your issue?

I haven’t tried dis injecting because it is easy to just re-seat the plug. I attached a picture showing the spider assembly in the outside compartment behind the driver. When the key is on their are 2 illuminated green lights. One for the emergency brake and one for the engine running.
I reach up behind this panel and wiggle the pigtail (2nd from left with the green light on for the emergency brake).

[dssl]

Originally Posted by Jon Harvey

I haven’t tried dis injecting because it is easy to just re-seat the plug. I attached a picture showing the spider assembly in the outside compartment behind the driver. When the key is on their are 2 illuminated green lights. One for the emergency brake and one for the engine running.
I reach up behind this panel and wiggle the pigtail (2nd from left with the green light on for the emergency brake).

That panel isn't part of the spyder. In fact 2013 open road models have that exact same panel, but no spyder.

When I moved to LIFEPO4 batteries I asked Tiffin how to maintain my aux start, but disabled the merge when running. They explained how to do it, but also sent me the schematic and drawings for that panel, along with legal restrictions. If you PM me your email address I can forward you what they sent me.

There is no fuse for the spyder, so I'm not sure where it gets its power from, but it can't be from the slide part of that panel, since that only gets power when the ignition is on and the parking brakes are set. It's very interesting that disconnecting that plug clears your problem.

[jac166]

We have a 2022 Tiffin Open Road 34PA, to sum up the workmanship in a word 'sloppy '! I chose this RV for the layout and Bob Tiffin's reputation. Unfortunately he doesn't own the company any more. The list of issues is long and I have worked thru all but one, the hydraulic slide. There was a safety recall on the hydraulic slides and we went to Red Bay for the correction. Although we had not experienced a problem, Tiffin replaced the four cylinders that may have bad inner seals allowing the slide to come out on its own. After the repair my driver side slide started coming out on its own. Called Tiffin and the referred me to Lippert, they suggested I get a local mechanic to test and repair and if the inner seals proved to be defective I would be reimbursed. The local guy tested as instructed and the cylinders tested fine, however several of the fittings were loose. After 3 trips and $900.00 I now look for loose fittings and tighten them myself. I have now done that 3 times and thought I had it. Then 5 days later the slide was out again. I have talked to Tiffin a few times during this and they just aren't interested, Lippert has been very accommodating as well as they can from afar. Tomorrow I will try another hydraulic shop. Has anyone else had this problem?