Slides not working

[MCJ]

Hi All

Purchased a 2012 Prowler 29RKS in the fall. Slides were operating normally when put away for the winter.

Today, the slides are not operating: when button is pressed, no noise from motors. No difference when connected to shore power or battery power.
Lights, furnace, radio, clock on microwave all working.

Checked breakers and fuses - all good. Cleaned and confirmed good ground from battery.

What's next?

Thanks

 

[danemayer]

Do lights, furnace, etc. work if shore power is turned off?

 

[MCJ]

Do lights, furnace, etc. work if shore power is turned off?

Yes. Lights, furnace, tank status, and radio all work on battery power.

 

[danemayer]

Are your front landing gear electric or hydraulic, and are they working?

Do you know if your slides are electric or hydraulic?

Do you have a single switch to operate the slides, or more than one? If more than one, are both failing?

 

[MCJ]

Are your front landing gear electric or hydraulic, and are they working?


Do you know if your slides are electric or hydraulic?


Do you have a single switch to operate the slides, or more than one? If more than one, are both failing?

Travel trailer has manual landing gear - Still working!!

Electric

Two slides operated by 2 separate switches - neither is working

* I also located and pressed the reset button on the manual reset breaker

 

[danemayer]

If you have a volt meter, use it to check both slide switches to see if you have power to the switches. Pull them away from the wall gently being careful not to pull any wires off their terminals. Use your camera phone to snap a picture of the backs of the switches so you can get wires back in the right place if they do come off.

Locate a known good ground inside the trailer. You might have to pull the cover off the fuse box to expose the fuse box ground buss.

With the meter's ground lead on the known good ground (not on the switch btw), use the red lead to probe each wire at each switch. Normally, you would find 12V DC at each switch.

If you do have 12V DC, then you may have a problem with the grounding. Make sure all the ground buss connections are tight. Even though you confirmed a good ground at the battery, you should locate where the negative battery terminal cable is actually grounded and inspect there.

If you do not have 12V DC to either switch, there's a good chance it's powered from the 12V DC Buss Bar near the battery. You'll need to take voltage readings on each of the row of mini-circuit breakers (they're covered by red rubber boots). With your ground lead on the battery negative terminal, the hot meter lead should read 12V DC on both sides of each breaker.

It's also possible the power for the slides could be coming from a fuse in the fuse box. Often, a visual inspection will reveal a blown fuse, but not always. Sometimes you have to remove the fuse and take an ohm reading to be sure.

 

[MCJ]

If you have a volt meter, use it to check both slide switches to see if you have power to the switches. Pull them away from the wall gently being careful not to pull any wires off their terminals. Use your camera phone to snap a picture of the backs of the switches so you can get wires back in the right place if they do come off.

Locate a known good ground inside the trailer. You might have to pull the cover off the fuse box to expose the fuse box ground buss.

With the meter's ground lead on the known good ground (not on the switch btw), use the red lead to probe each wire at each switch. Normally, you would find 12V DC at each switch.

If you do have 12V DC, then you may have a problem with the grounding. Make sure all the ground buss connections are tight. Even though you confirmed a good ground at the battery, you should locate where the negative battery terminal cable is actually grounded and inspect there.

If you do not have 12V DC to either switch, there's a good chance it's powered from the 12V DC Buss Bar near the battery. You'll need to take voltage readings on each of the row of mini-circuit breakers (they're covered by red rubber boots). With your ground lead on the battery negative terminal, the hot meter lead should read 12V DC on both sides of each breaker.

It's also possible the power for the slides could be coming from a fuse in the fuse box. Often, a visual inspection will reveal a blown fuse, but not always. Sometimes you have to remove the fuse and take an ohm reading to be sure.

Thanks. Planning to do this over the next couple days (rain forecasted for us tomorrow).


Will report back.

 

[MCJ]

Many thanks, Dan!

The rain (snow) held off long enough to get out there this morning.

The issue was a bad ground along the buss bar.

Happy to report my temporary home office / extra fridge space is warming up nicely!

Any suggestions on how to improve this system / make it a little more weather proof? I intend to re-work it before the season starts for us.



* For those who may come across this post later:

The attached pic is the inside left front frame, right under the battery.



Moving from left to right, the first breaker is the one with the tiny reset button (two positives)

The next one carries the negative for one slide motor (in my case the living room)

After that, #3 is the negative leg for the second slide (bedroom for me)

Last on the right carries a positive forward to the front of the trailer.

Because this set-up is exposed to the elements, the motor negatives lost ground. The rest of the systems were not affected: Just the two slides.

 

[danemayer]

The copper bar looks pretty cruddy. You might want to consider cleaning it up. The breakers are pretty inexpensive. You might want to also replace them if they're also cruddy.

I'd look for an enclosure that could be mounted there to protect the components from road splash and rain. Doesn't necessarily have to be a sealed box. It might be better if it had airflow and drain holes. Maybe walk around a big box hardware store to see if they have something that's the right size/form factor. Don't be surprised if you find something in pet supplies or closets.

 

[MCJ]

UPDATE

Found a breaker box designed for trailers. Shipping was delayed, so it took a while to come in, and then a little more waiting as I decided to replace the no-name breakers it came with.

Was able to modify the same copper bar, and replace some of the corroded connections.

 

[cookie]

Nice, I like that. Good job.

Peace
Dave