Front Slide Glitch

[Dick Simonis]

I had an interesting problem occur with the front slide.

It seems to have begun right after BCS worked on the front jack last month. They pulled the extend and retract solinoids, cleaned them up and replaced them.  Solve the problem with the jack but now we have this problem with the front slide.

It seem that the slide uses the same pump as the jacks but when we pull into an RV park the switch  doesn't activate the pump moter...right away.  The jacks work fine but not the slide.  However, if I wait 15 minutes or so, the slide now operates.....wierd.

It almost acts like there is a self resetting circuit breaker in the circuit but that doesn't make sense as the slide works fine until we pull out, drive awhile than stop.  I'm more inclined to think BCS disturbed a wire someplace in the vicinity of the pump which leads me to my question.

Does anyone know how the slide switch activates the pump motor? Does it go trough a relay, fuse, CB, or   No problem with the  rear electric slide and when the front one doesn't work, it won't work in either extend or retract...just dead.

Thanks for any input.

[Steve Huber]

Dick,
Sounds like you are not getting a full 12v+ to the motors. My reasoning is based on your comment about the rear slide as I don't think there is any reason for the rear not to work depending on the front slide. I fought a similar problem a couple of years ago. Rear would intermittently not retract when open or open when retracted. I traced the problem to the motor brake. It locks the motor to prevent the slide from creeping out due to vibration when traveling. The brake must have 12V+ to release. The many crimps and connections in the bedroom circuit wiring were suspect along with the "pigtail" that connects the bedroom slide switch to the motors. The motor wiring is 10AWG but the slide switch pigtail is 12 AWG (or 12 & 14). In any case it presents a high impedance path. My fix was to rewire the circuit to remove any un-needed crimps. I also used wire nuts rather than crimps or spade connectors to provide a better connections. I still have the problem once in a while, if I'm on batteries and don't have the geni running to provide full voltage. Plan to solder when time permits. I've got a schematic of the bedroom slide mechanism if you want one. In any case, first thing I would try is to have your generator running to ensure you have full voltage.
Steve

[Gerald Farris]

Dick,
The switch for the front slide turns on the pump motor by activating a solenoid that is located close to the pump.

Gerald

[Bruce Benson]

My pump used to be a little spooky too.  I cleaned the terminals of all of the large wires and small wires leading to the motor and the solenoid.  I think it was probably a bad ground to the solenoid that was causing my problem.  Be sure and clean where the negative leads attach to the frame.  You might want to replace the solenoid which is an inexpensive item.  

Another possibility is some corrosion in the slide retract switch its self or on the terminals that attach to the back of it.  Corrosion in switches is a common problem in my coach.  Replacing this switch is also a cheap fix.

Your rear slide has nothing to do with your front slide.  They are entirely different systems with a totally different source of power.