Both Slide Outs On Our RV Do Not Open

by Brian Anderson
(Candler, NC)

I have a 2004 Newmar Kountry Star with two slideouts. It sat for a cold winter and now both slideouts will not operate. The controller for each makes a minimal noise, but nothing happens elsewhere.

The house battery is charged, there is good connection with all lines, we didn't do anything strange when we winterized it last year, just water lines and unhooking the batteries. I've located one of the slideout motors underneath the bed and am ready to attack it mechanically if I knew that would help. It seems like it’s something between the controller and the motors, since BOTH slides aren't working, and both get juice to the controllers. THX

ANSWER: Greetings Brian thanks for submitting your question on our Ask An RV Question Page.

Since you are talking about attacking the slide-out motor under the bed I am going to assume that the slide outs on your RV are mechanical and not hydraulic. Before you start attacking the motor follow the steps I have outlined below.

1. Check in the electrical compartment in your RV for any blown fuses or any loose or disconnected wiring.

2. If all checks out in the electrical compartment, I suggest that you plug your RV into a 120 volt electrical source. Even though you say that the house batteries are fully charged and good, you really don't know if they are failing under the load of slide out motors unless you have had the batteries load tested.

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If the slides work when the RV is plugged in, then you will have to take a closer look at your house batteries.

3. When you press the slide out button listen to see if you hear the slide out motor running. If the motor is running but the slide out is not moving, there is a good chance that the shear pins on both slide out motors have broken. This would be very unusual for both of them to break, but it can happen.

4. If all of the above fails, chances are that you may have a bad slide out control board. The only way to know for sure would be to take your Motorhome in and have a Certified RV Technician take a look at it.

Hope this helped.

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RVing Al

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