Help! Our Slides won't retract

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

None of our four slides will retract. After two 30 degree nights here in Richfield Utah I found a "DC 20A fuse" blown in position 12. The cover panel references the bedroom slide. A new fuse blows immediately. None of my four slides will close so we are stuck. I called Sean at Beaver but he couldn't think of anything to check other than the slide solenoids. What is odd is our rear driver side bedroom slide is electric and the other slides are hydraulic. I'm going to check the hydraulic pump and see if I can find anything.
Any suggestions would be appreciated!  

[Edward Buker]

Larry,

There is an electric solenoid on the slide pump assembly for the hydraulics. It is wired to the pump motor. Try tapping on that with a hammer, they age and can get stuck or end up with poor contacts. Seems odd that all the slides are giving trouble at the present. Also see if your battery voltages are normal with the electrical load of the slide being triggered. Should drop from 13.6 or so to maybe to 12.2 to 12.5 volts roughly if you are plugged in. This is if you can get a load on them and them using the slides even if they do not move. If no drop in voltage something is not being switched on like the solenoid or a relay.
 
Later Ed

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Figured it out! The cord reel was on the same circuit so I cut the hot lead feeding it and now everything works. So the cord reel must have some sort of short...

[Edward Buker]

Larry,

When you get a moment, see if you can elaborate a bit on which cord reel is involved, perhaps a photo. The main power cord, if shorted, would have kicked a breaker, so you must mean something else. Would be good to know  what is involved, in case someone else runs into this problem. Odd that all slides quit working, unless this cord reel short dragged the battery bank down. Do you believe that is what happened?

Later Ed

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Hi Ed, the power cord  (retract function) reel is apparently on the same fused 12V circuit as the slides as noted on the backside of my bathroom 12v fuse compartment cover. A 20 Amp fuse had blown for these two items. When I replaced the fuse it blew immediately. I checked the solenoid that feeds power to the hydraulic pump under the front passenger side and 12vdc was present. When I had Heidi press the slide switch for the front slides I didn't get any trigger power to the solenoid. The power retract motor was no longer functional so I figured maybe the motor or something in the retract circuit had shorted. The AC supply side of the reel was not affected in any way. I took a guess at this and cut the red power lead feeding the switch, put a new 20A fuse in (didn't blow this time) and all four slides are now operational. Turns out all the slides are hydraulic which makes sense.

Ed, I forgot to mention the red wire feeding the retract switch DOES have 12VdC so I am not sure what is causing the short. In your opinion would you say it is the motor that is bad? I have not tried to troubleshoot yet as we are still on the road.

By the way to those others reading this, I had a similar problem once before when my hydraulic pump was dead and it turned out to be a bad power connection at the pump so check that connection.

[Edward Buker]

When the fuse no longer blows after you cut the wire you certainly found where the current was going. Not sure if it is a wire shorting, a motor short, or if the mechanism/gearing etc is bound up putting a heavy load on the motor. When I sent my note I was thinking that the slide activation circuits could not be on the same circuit as the power reel but sometimes the actual wiring defies logic..... Seems like you are in good shape until you get a chance to dig deeper. Usually if a motor shorts it gives you some sign along the way, like slowing down, intermittent operation, sometimes heat or some smoke. If you have had none of that then it might be wiring but the motors still can be an issue. Post what you find when you get a chance.

Laster Ed

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Hey Ed, today I isolated the Shoreline Reel Model RV5036 from the motor home and hooked it up to a spare 12V battery with fuse and it operates normally (retracts the cord). I then wired it back into the circuit and now both the slides and the cord reel is fully operational! Can't think of anything I did to get it working again..... One possible clue I found while moving the cord reel ( I started to remove it) is a small brass pin about an eighth of an inch long with a button head that fell out from somewhere possibly inside the cord reel??? Don't know for certain where it is from or what it could be used for...I'll try to post a pic of the part soon. Any other suggestions let me know...

[Joel Ashley]

I guess you were lucky.  Most complaints about that model revolve (pun intended) around its easily broken little "sun" gear that's supposed to drive the thing.

The pin, if it's not a rivet, sounds like a contact of some sort possibly out of the motor on the reel's backside.  But that begs the question of why is it working okay now.  Maybe someone will recognize it when you post a photo, but if the unit fails again I'd disassemble and inspect the motor assembly.  If something was broken in there, your maneuvering of it may have temporarily allowed it to function, and if it was an electrical contact it may explain the initial circuit failure.  The pin might also have been an aberrant piece that loosened into a position in the motor where it shorted across, causing the failure, and it isn't now.

Joel

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Hi Joel, I agree with your conclusion and will just wait and see if it fails again while doing some research for parts. I'm not in a hurry to buy a $400 gizmo that winds up my power cord and probably wouldn't replace it if it died completely... :-/

[Richard McQuillan]

The brass pin you describe may have come from the chain drive mechanism in your cord reel. If you remove the cover over the motor you will see two sprockets connected by a small gauge chain (like a mini bicycle chain). The cord reel drive mechanism is a very simple assembly and can usually be easily repaired.

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Here is what I found in the cord reel bay. Can't say for certain where it's from but will someday find out and report back. For now the cord reel and slides are operational.

P.S.
 For those of you that have the Shoreline RV5036 cord reel and need a replacement drive gear, email John at: Jondel1234@yahoo.com

[Stan Simpson]

If you look closely at the penny, it should indicate where it came from. I only know one code. D for Denver. The Denver mint. There are probably others.