Our RV Slide Outs Will Not Go Out
by Ron
(Grand Junction, CO)
I have a 2006 Country Coach Inspire. I have replaced 2 Power Gear motors within a month. The first replacement worked fine. Today we replaced the large kitchen slide motor and it would not extend the large slide and the replaced bedroom slide would not go out either!
Can a fuse be blown? These are both new motors.
ANSWER: Greetings Ron thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.
Yes, there could be some blown fuses. There are a few things that concern me. First, each slide should be on its own separate fused circuit. It is not a common practice to have two slides wired into one circuit.
I am also concerned that you have replaced two slide motors within a month. Slide motors can go bad, but considering the age of your RV, you should not have to replace 2 motors. The fact that you had a problem with the Kitchen slide and you replaced the motor and it still does not work leads me to believe that the motor on the Kitchen may not have been the problem.
You don't state whether you did the work yourself or had it done by a Certified RV Technician. Before replacing a slide motor the slide-out system should be properly diagnosed as there are other parts of the slide-out system that can cause a slide-out not to operate. It could be a blown fuse or a tripped circuit/overload protector or a bad slide-out control switch not allowing the slide-out motor to receive power.
This problem can also be caused by the house batteries
being under-charged and not providing enough juice. The bottom line is that you need to take your motorhome in and get it diagnosed by a Certified RV Technician. I am afraid that they may find another problem with these slide-outs and that one or both of the motor replacements were not needed.
If this work was done by a RV mechanic and they cannot figure out what is wrong; I urge you to take your motor home elsewhere.
I applaud "Do-It-Yourselfer RVers, but when it comes to the RV's electrical system; what you don't know can hurt you and cost you money. That's why I strongly recommend that any RVer that is planning on working on their RV's electrical system get a copy of
RV Electrical Systems: A Basic Guide to Troubleshooting, Repairing and Improvement by Bill and Jan Moeller or
RV Repair and Maintenance Manual: Updated and Expanded by Bob Livingston. Both of these highly rated books have some great troubleshooting tips on diagnosing problems with your RV's electrical system. These tips will save you both money and time.
I hope that this information has been helpful to you.
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Happy RVing
RVing Al
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