General Boards > Technical Support

Bedroom slide

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Gerald Farris:
If your coach has the same motor on the bedroom slide that my Marquis does, there is a brake that is built into the rear of the motor that will prevent the motor from operating at times if it gets out of adjustment. If the brake is adjusted too loose, the slide will creep open while you are driving, so make sure that all of the electrical circuits are operating properly before you try to adjust the brake.

Gerald  

Bruce Benson:
Have the exact same problem with my 2001 Marquis.  I took the brake off and have operated the coach some 40,000 miles without it and have never had a problem with the slide out moving at all.  The electric motor is geared so much that it is difficult to turn from the chain drive gear so the slide never moves.  If yours did happen to creep out, you would notice it quickly in your mirror.  

Try taking the brake off and at least you will know if that is the problem.  Mine is a round short cylinder on the end of the motor.  Lift the bed to access.  It has two screws with wing nuts on them attaching it to the motor.  Loosen the wing nuts all the way and slide the brake away from the motor.  It has a tab that engages with the shaft of the motor and sliding it away disengages the tab.  

I have attempted to repair the brake in the past.  I bought a new brake and made new connections up where it attaches to the motor wiring.  I thought it was either a bad brake or that I had a bad connection.  It still had its own mind about when to work so I just disabled the brake again and we continue to operate very well without it.  

Speaking of lifting the bed, I keep a 1" pipe about 40" long under the bed so that when we lift it (yes we!) I can grab the pipe and place it as a brace between the bed frame and the bed to hold it up.  The pipe is treaded on both ends, so it cuts into the surfaces a bit.  I am always careful to get it square with the surface of the bed so that it will not slip.  Having the bed fall on you while you work under it would really ruin that day and several more.  

Bruce

John Fearnow:
Thanks to all for the good advice.  Will remove the brake and see if that solves the problem.  I'll get a good brace to use if trying to raise the bed with the mattress on it but presently the mattress is on edge in the bath room so its easy to raise the cover.  Just have to put a chair in front of the driver side window so the cover doesn't go too far and fall into the day/nite shade.  I guess the current problem is that the brake tab isn't disengaging from the motor shaft?  That would explain why there hasn't been a problem with bringing the slide back in as the lock probably isn't engaged when the slide is out.

John

Bruce Benson:
John,

No, the tab just ties the brake to the motor shaft and would normally be engaged all of the time.  The brake is some sort of electro-mechanical device and should be engaged anytime the motor is not energized.  Perhaps yours is just not releasing properly with one polarity and is releasing with the opposite polarity.  The in and out switch provides the two polarities to make the motor turn in the necessary direction to move the slide in or out.  

On the other hand, you may have a completely different problem.  I really did not grasp that it was only happening in the one direction.  It is cheap and easy to remove the brake though, so try that and see what happens.

Bruce

John Fearnow:
Bruce,

When I operated the slide this past weekend, it of course worked normally and extended at the first push of the switch.  Once it was extended, I took the brake off since the slide almost has to be out to be able to get at the motor and brake in any event. I operated it for a few times with the brake off.  I saw what you mean about the brake always being attached to the shaft extending out of the  motor when the brake is secured to the motor.  I reattached the brake and operated it although I noticed a louder sound than I heard when operating without the brake attached and also than I had heard before removing the brake.  I didn't see any alignment guide when reattaching the brake other than getting the slot in the brake to slide over the shaft from the motor.  
Maybe there is some alignment problem with the motor shaft when the brake is attached.  The sound is not real loud but I am tempted to remove the brake and use a 2x4 of the proper length between the slide and inside coach wall to serve as a backup to the motor as a brake.  Do you know of anything I missed in aligning the brake when reattaching it to the motor that could be causing a noise?  I have a manual for a 2003 that expalins how to remove the brake in case it is necessary to manually retract the slide, but it doesn't say anything specific about alignment it regards to putting the brake back on.
Thanks
John

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