Kitchen slide issue

[RawFaith]

Hi everyone,
came back from a trip and parked the Rv. Trying to open the slides, Noticed that the kitchen ( Roadside ) started to open unevenly: The part closer to the end was getting open and the part towards the front started to " stay behind".
Tried to "push" the slide out while my wife was pressing the " Out" switch but no luck.
Blocked the other slides ( at the pump, with the slide selector valve) and tried to close the slide, same thing, only one side seems to be working or pushing in or out.
I'm pretty handy and mechanically inclined, any procedure to trouble shoot this? Doesn't seems to be a hydraulic issue, sounds more " mechanical", but of course that I could be totally wrong.

Any advice is greatly appreciated,

Gus

2005 Heartland LandMark

 

[DougS]

Try looking for a broken shear pin (nut and bolt) on a square shaft over rod. You can check it out by having someone hit the switch and see if the gear on side not coming in is turning. Good luck.

 

[RawFaith]

Try looking for a broken shear pin (nut and bolt) on a square cross over rod. You can check it out by having someone hit the switch and see if the gear on side not coming in is turning. Good luck.

thank you very much,
will look into it asap and will get back to you with some reports and pictures.

 

[Dumboldles]

I agree with the broken shear pin problem, has happened to the frig side slide on my BH twice.

Dumboldles

 

[DougS]

If it winds up being the shear pin, you will have to time the wall to get sides to coming correctly. I had my shear pin break on a SOB and it took several attempts to get it timed correctly. Also, replace it with the same grade bolt because it is meant to break if there is a problem.

 

[davebennington]

You a gear pack that is stripped. If so check the tube that the rail slides in, it could be arched and letting the rail raise up and strip the gear set. If that is the case contact me for a solution to the problem.

dave

 

[wdk450]

An underlying cause to the shear pin breaking and the gears slipping MIGHT be a broken support roller inside under the slide at one end. This is a frequently reported problem, and there is a recent thread on the subject: https://heartlandowners.org/showthread.php/68226-Refrigerator-slide-ripped-floor

 

[RawFaith]

thank you very much for the guidance.
For few moments I thought I was really running out of options and that had to call someone or take it somewhere.
did a lot of digging based on your advice and it was indeed a pin that I replaced with a grade 8 screw and a lock nut I had handy. Should I look for a better option?

 

[RawFaith]

After playing a lot with the "adjustment" I believe that we are finally there.
BUT: It doesn't seem like the slide is fully open. Looks like it can go may be a few more inches, but that might be an optical illusion.
The slide opens exactly 18 inches, is that the "oficial number"?, checked the rollers and the look fine, found some indentation on the laminate floor under the kitchen island where one of the rollers rolls, but not much yet.
Other that that everything seems to be fine, no obstructions to open or close the slide.
Any thoughts about the 18inches? count find anything online.

 

[DougS]

"it was indeed a pin that I replaced with a grade 8 screw and a lock nut"

Gus, I would be a little concerned with using a grade I bolt. That shear pin is there to break if there is a problem, maybe someone else can chime in on proper grade bolt. As for you measurements on the wall, it looks like you are close, perhaps taking out shear pin and turning the shaft a twist or two might align the wall. Just my thoughts.

 

[RawFaith]

..... As for you measurements on the wall, it looks like you are close, perhaps taking out shear pin and turning the shaft a twist or two might align the wall. Just my thoughts.

Doug,
just a quick question here: The slide opens 18 inches max, and is perfectly aligned ( both sides are 18 inches ).
Based on the "good alignment": wouldn't removing the pin to turn the shaft be moving only one side of the slide (where the fridge is) and therefore causing an alignment issue later?

At this moment, when opening and closing the slide you can hear when the hydraulic system is maxed out either IN or OUT. When referring to "maxed out" I'm referring to the noise difference when the slides are fully out and fully closed. Make sense?

 

[DougS]

Gus, from the picture of the ruler, it looked to me like I there was a 3/8 difference in the two pictures. If they are both the same distance coming out then you should be fine. Next check for a good seal
when fully open and closed.
As for maxed out, I’m not sure I understand. Just check and double check for good seal, you don’t want a water leak.

 

[jimtoo]

I'm not sure I would be worrying about the outside to much.... is the inside sealing against the wall and not pushing to hard or trying to push the inside trim off. It should be just compressing the inside seals along both side and top equally.

Jim M

 

[RawFaith]

I'm not sure I would be worrying about the outside to much.... is the inside sealing against the wall and not pushing to hard or trying to push the inside trim off. It should be just compressing the inside seals along both side and top equally.

Jim M

Jim,
that's precisely the point. I can tell that from the inside the slide is not fully open. The seals are not being compressed. there is a few inches of a gap that the slide should open.
But apparently the hydraulic actuator or piston is fully extended. Si is there a way to adjust this? But this wasn't a problem before, so is it possible to "loose the adjustment"?

 

[wdk450]

Jim,
that's precisely the point. I can tell that from the inside the slide is not fully open. The seals are not being compressed. there is a few inches of a gap that the slide should open.
But apparently the hydraulic actuator or piston is fully extended. Si is there a way to adjust this? But this wasn't a problem before, so is it possible to "loose the adjustment"?

There are a pair of large nuts on the threaded end of the hydraulic actuator ram that determine the slide's full in and full out positions. The nut nearest the end of the ram shaft will determine the full in slide position; the nut nearest the body of the ram will determine the full out slide position. You should be able to adjust these a little bit at a time (1 turn?) to see what happens. Slide framing or ram mount structures might be slightly bent causing misalignment. This is precisely why the threaded adjustments on the ram shaft are there.

If the slide framing is bent to cause unequal side closures, this is another matter. The ability of the foam inner gaskets to compress gives you some leeway in this. On the outside gaskets, you just want the "D" shaped bulb to be somewhat compressed on all surfaces of the gaskets to seal out water when the slides are closed.