Slide Out motor pulled off the wall

[hannahkcw]

I just purchased a 2020 Heartland North Trail 31QUBH a month ago.

When I put out the slide out last week, I heard a giant popping noise. The motor came off the wall. (The screws holding it in place all came loose.) When the motor came loose, it twisted a couple of times on the chains, and then got wedged against the fascia and the wall. Also, the power cords ripped out of the motor.

Even reattaching the motor to power didn't help because the chains and cables are all upside down and twisted. I know I need to remove the fascia...and there seems to be no good way to do that. And then I'll need to unhook everything, rehook everything, and reattach the motor to the wall. Then, I'll have to reattach the power.

If I can't do all that myself, and it's very likely I cannot, I'll need to manually override to pull in the slide. Can anyone tell me how to pull in the slide out? There is no place on the camper to manually override that I can tell. I had the RV park owner and another RV park visitor help me search the outside of my camper. I can't move the camper until I can pull the slide in.

Any tips or experience with this would really help. Thanks!

 

[cookie]

First, if you purchased your rig new it should be covered by warranty.
Normally to bring an electric slide in manually there is a flex hex head tool that goes into the motor and it is then turned with a drill.
But since your motor is off the wall that is not an option.
The only way I can think to bring in the slide is to manually push it in from the outside. Then the problem is how to keep it there for travel.
I suggest calling Heartland Customer Service and explain your situation. They may approve having a mobil repair tec come to you. You will most likely be on the hook for the repair if you are not under warranty. If you are then you will only pay for the tec travel.
Let us know how this plays out.
HCS 574-262-8030

Peace
Dave

 

[centerline]

it sounds as if you have the Accu-Slide system for your slide out.......

the facia is usually attached with screws, which reside under decorative buttons on the facia.... use a flat screwdriver or similar item to get under the edge of the button and pry it out..... you will have as much access as you will ever have, unless you remove the slide out from the wall....

the only thing that holds the unit in the wall is the seal lip, but once the cables are cut and removed, it should move fairly easy to slide the unit out to the stop by hand, BUT IT WILL NEED SUPPORT UNDER IT ON THE OUTSIDE, which makes the repair of the wall easier.....

search the net for accu-slide manual, as its a decently written document which is reasonably simple to understand....

at a minimum, you will need 4 cables to replace the 4 damaged ones....

as for the wall. I dont know what gave way, but ive done a lot of successful repairs and im only offering an opinion from experience here..... short of having to remove the slide unit from the wall, and disassembling the top of the "window" frame, (maybe removing the entire frame completely) and doing full reconstructive surgery on the wall, I think using epoxy to mend and fill may be the next best option....
epoxy is stronger than the wood ever was or ever will be, it wont ever get soft or rot, and it will be more solid than the original wall was.

what needs to be looked at is to make sure the header piece isnt broken in two, and loose inside the upper sill of the slider frame.... this would mean the slider frame is loose all along the top, which makes for a different approach...

depending on how you prefer to do it, the condition of the trailer will have some bearing on your decision..... some folks will spend whatever it takes to get the repair done, and there are some trailers out there that isnt worth the cost of the epoxy to repair, but if the header piece is still good, the epoxy method would be a good reasonably affordable candidate for the job....

if you were to get some of the refillable caulking tubes like west systems offers, you can do wonders with filling and forming in a reconstruction such as that... use something like 4mil plastic sheeting, cut in 2-3 inch squares to cover a hole in the wall after filling it, as the plastic will keep the epoxy from sagging/running out the hole. sometimes using a thicker piece of plastic, or a small piece of plywood as a backer for the plastic sheeting, for preventing sag out on the bigger areas that need to filled on a verticle surface...

to use the tubes, mix the epoxy as normal.... then add sawdust (flour or talcum powder works also) to it to thicken it also adds strength) to a bit more than pancake batter consistency ... then fill the caulking tube and use a caulking gun to fill any voids than may require it so that the hardware can be reattached to something solid...

 

[Flick]

I just purchased a 2020 Heartland North Trail 31QUBH a month ago.

When I put out the slide out last week, I heard a giant popping noise. The motor came off the wall. (The screws holding it in place all came loose.) When the motor came loose, it twisted a couple of times on the chains, and then got wedged against the fascia and the wall. Also, the power cords ripped out of the motor.

Even reattaching the motor to power didn't help because the chains and cables are all upside down and twisted. I know I need to remove the fascia...and there seems to be no good way to do that. And then I'll need to unhook everything, rehook everything, and reattach the motor to the wall. Then, I'll have to reattach the power.

If I can't do all that myself, and it's very likely I cannot, I'll need to manually override to pull in the slide. Can anyone tell me how to pull in the slide out? There is no place on the camper to manually override that I can tell. I had the RV park owner and another RV park visitor help me search the outside of my camper. I can't move the camper until I can pull the slide in.

Any tips or experience with this would really help. Thanks!

i think Cookie is right on with his advice to somehow push the slide in with manpower. Unless you plan to be there a while, most techs probably would have to order parts in creating delays. However, a tech would likely be able to assist in making it road worthy. As for as keeping it in, a couple heavy duty straps over the top of the coach buffered in the right areas to prevent damage probably would keep it in.

 

[Bogie]

Sorry to hear you are having this problem with your new trailer. I have never worked on one of these slide out units, so your problem prompted me to do some searching. I came across THIS video on YouTube. If you decide to tackle this yourself, it may give you some insight to adjustments. I hope it helps.

As an aside to your problem, it surprised me that the two sets of cables shuttle back and forth and look like they could easily entangle with each other if one is slack or out of adjustment. You would think they would add a piece of sheet metal between the two sets of cables to prevent them from ever hitting each other. But that's a issue for another thread.

 

[wdk450]

Here is a link to BAL Products of Elkhart, maker of the Accu-Slide: https://balrvproducts.com/contact.shtml

I noted that BAL Industries is a part of Norco Industries who has a presence in Compton, Ca., about 150 miles from Las Vegas. Maybe a repair guy could be dispatched out of there. https://norcoind.com/

 

[boatto5er]

The cable system is intricate and difficult to repair (been there with a broken cable). I ended up letting a professional shop repair mine.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wdk450]

I found this bunch of Accu Slide repair videos on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bal+accu+slide+slide-out+repair