Bedroom Slide Inop

[John Demartini]

Hello fellow BAC forum members:

My bedroom slide stopped working recently.  It will power in fine, but will not power out.  It was always slow to react on the power out cycle, but power in works immediately.  I have changed the switch with no improvement.

When I cycle the switch to power in, I can see a draw on the system by a slight dimming of the house lights.  I also hear an audible click like a relay engaging.  When I go to power out, no draw noticed and no click.  Could there be a limit switch issue?  Motor issue?  Maybe just a poor connection?

Any suggestions where to start are greatly appreciated.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

John,
Check that you are getting at least 12v to the motor brake. It sounds like it may not be releasing. It's located on the end of the motor.
Steve

[Fred Brooks]

   I agree with Steve. You will have to be really careful working on this issue. The platform moves but the pedestal is fixed.
It sounds like there is unequal resistance being applied to the drive motor system. Check to see if something has broken or shifted to one side. Check the rollers located at the foot of the bed supporting the platform as it moves in and out. From the outside check to see if the room is centered in the wall opening, or one side is higher than the other and dragging on the bottom. Fred

[David T. Richelderfer]

I found that the bedroom slide and under the bed need to be cleaned, if possible, and lubricated where the top carriage slides on the bottom carriage.  If I remember correctly, the two carriages slide on pieces of angle iron and wheels.  My bedroom slide didn't stop sliding, but after cleaning and lubrication, the top carriage's angle irons (left and right) slid much easier over the bottom carriage's angle irons (left and right).

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

John,
The motor brake's purpose is to keep the slide from creeping out when you are traveling. The slide will function normally with the brake removed from the motor. So if you need to travel and the brake is inoperative, remove it from the motor. Then get 2 pieces of wood (I used wooden closet rod), put some foam on the ends so they won't mar the finish and wedge them on either side between the slide walls and the bedroom walls.
Steve

[John Demartini]

Thanks Guys...I did a little wire wiggling and found a poor crimp from a pervious motor replacement.  Working now but a little slow.

Question: What is your recommendation for slide lubrication?  Grease?  Silicone? White Lube?

Thanks again.

[David T. Richelderfer]

From Amazon, I purchased a can of slide-out lube and a can of window track lube.  I wanted to get not only lubrication that would last a while but also that would not attract and hold too much dust.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=3+in+1+slide+out+lube+for+rv&crid=1TK3ABEIDSP7U&sprefix=rv+slide+lube%2Caps%2C137&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_3_13

Interestingly, years ago our bedroom slide completely stopped while we were in Houston.  Our friends' son, an airline mechanic at United Airlines, quickly found a wire had come loose from the slide motor and/or brake.  I learned from him that an easy tug on wiring sometimes will make loose connection problems obvious.  He had our issue diagnosed and fixed in 15 minutes.