Slide out not working, only clicking

[TedS]

Howson and Dave27 you are both right. The same switch can be wired to reverse the motor in two ways. The switch will alternately connect the motor to + and - as provided by the crossover jumper connections.

[TedS]

Dave27's alternative connections.

[TedS]

Howson's switch.

[Dave27]

Here is an update of some voltage measurements I was able to make today. The voltage coming to the switch is the same as at the battery (12.5 V). The output from the switch is lower when opening (or closing) the slide out. The output at the switch varied between 11.3 and 11.8 V. The voltage at the motor varied between 9.9 and 10.3 V while the slide was opening. The first couple times I tried to open the slide it worked fine. After that, it just clicked when I pushed out, and I had to manually open the slide with the override about an inch for it to operate. I am not sure how to interpret these numbers. It seems like a large voltage drop across the switch. Could that be the problem, and do I need to replace the switch? And is this voltage loss to the motor typical from voltage drop through the wires? Or is there something else in the system? If there is a controller in the system, I can't find it.

Dave

[howson]

Here is an update of some voltage measurements I was able to make today. The voltage coming to the switch is the same as at the battery (12.5 V). The output from the switch is lower when opening (or closing) the slide out. The output at the switch varied between 11.3 and 11.8 V. The voltage at the motor varied between 9.9 and 10.3 V while the slide was opening. The first couple times I tried to open the slide it worked fine. After that, it just clicked when I pushed out, and I had to manually open the slide with the override about an inch for it to operate. I am not sure how to interpret these numbers. It seems like a large voltage drop across the switch. Could that be the problem, and do I need to replace the switch? And is this voltage loss to the motor typical from voltage drop through the wires? Or is there something else in the system? If there is a controller in the system, I can't find it.

Dave

There's no other controller in the system, Dave.

The voltage will drop when the slide is moving due to the load imposed on the battery. Note my voltage dropped from 13.59 (normal fully charged Battle Born) to ~12.55 across the switch when my kitchen slide was moving. Completely normal.

The excessive voltage drop at the motor is curious. The wires didn't shrink overnight. Since they've worked since 2016 I doubt wire gauge is the issue. Corrosion or a bad contact--absolutely that could be the issue. A motor going bad could also be the issue (excessive load required to turn or start).

If you want to make 100% sure you're going to replace a bad part, consider swapping the motor between the two slides. Shouldn't be too hard as they are close to each other and are the exact same part (I think). While you're at it replace the wire nut connections with good, environmental splices well crimped. You can't see crimped connection, but this is how mine now looks covered in heat shrink when I replaced the wire nuts.

[Cate&Rob]

Dave27

“Output at the switch” is with the wiring connected to the motor? If so, 11.5V would be normal. But . . . this should not drop below 10V at the motor. This indicates a high resistance somewhere in the circuit. First place to look is the connectors at the switch and at the motor.

I would be inclined to run a heavy gauge pair of wires directly from a battery to the slide motor wires (do you have a spare battery and jumper cables?) if this runs the slide in and out with no problems, you know that the issue is wiring . . . not drive mechanical. Or the other way around.

Rob

[TedS]

Measure input voltage to the switch when the slide is moving. Maybe there is a drop between battery and switch when the current is flowing. Could be multiple connection resistances. Connecting a battery directly to the motor could eliminate the motor as problematic.

[Jlawles2]

Dave27 howson I knew the RV industry was out to do things as cost effective as possible, but never would have figured a 30A switch. Was hoping there was a pair of relays doing the task of reversing the DC motor by reversing the polarity. Since the action seems to be limited to one direction, is it possible to swap the motor leads on the back of the switch to see if the issue follows the change? This would then narrow it down to the switch quickly and easily vs the wiring or the motor.

In my instance, the motor was intermittent on which direction it would decide to burn the relay in. Some times it was extend some times it was retract. I originally thought it might be just cheap relays, but the issue kept repeating even after I changed relay brands. You may find that the brushes or armature in the motor need to be cleaned. Strange that it would happen in one direction only though.

[Country Campers]

According to Lippert site and manual here ccd_0001614.pdf (lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws.com) there is no relay or anything present in the wiring between the switch and the motor. This manual does give some info on trouble shooting the problem. Wiring from the battery directly to the motor is still the way I would approach this to eliminate the switch and wiring. Doing this with a different battery would eliminate the battery as well.

Brian

[howson]

Jlawles2 , Country Campers ,
We're all thinking along the same lines--just different approaches to isolating the problem. Swapping the wires on the switch itself would be relatively easy, so using the KISS principle worth a shot, though I doubt that's the issue. My guess is it's the motor.

[Dave27]

howson I only have one through the frame slide out, the others are both Schwintek. So I don't have another motor to switch.
Cate&Rob The measurement "at the switch" was when the wires were connected to the motor and the switch was on turning the motor. The wires at the motor are connected with wire nuts. The wire at the switch is crimped to a slide on terminal. I do wonder about that connection. I pulled the wire out when I was trying to take the terminal off the switch. I crimped another one on, but it is really tight working in there. (With all the extra wire laying around the camper, I can't pull that wire out a little more to work on it!)

I could use my truck battery with jumper cables to some wire connected to the motor. But how would I control which direction the motor goes?

Thanks, Dave

[Jlawles2]

Dave27 its a simple DC motor. The 2 leads from the motor are the positive and negative wires. To reverse direction, reverse the polarity of the wiring. Black to Black, red to red is one direction, Black to red, red to black is the opposing direction.

Even with the other 2 slides being a different type, look to see if the switches are the same (would not surprise me if they are). If they are the same, then you can use one of them to test the slide.

[howson]

Dave27 -- bummer. I assumed the opposite slide was like my 315RLTS and was also a through-frame. The motors are expensive (just did a quick internet search), so you'll want to be sure that's the issue before plunking down $$$$ for a new one.

What about trying Jlawles2 ' suggestion of swapping the leads on the switch? If the problem follows the switched wires it's not the switch. If the opposite direction suddenly won't work right, the switch could be the issue. Simple, and no cost. Not likely the problem, but worth giving it a shot since it's so easy to do.

Remember--turn off all 12v power (including the converter) prior to messing with these wires...or you could inadvertently "let the smoke out". (A bad thing.)

Howard

[Dave27]

Here is another update, I have tried a number of your suggestions. I used my truck to get another battery closer to the electric motor. 14 feet of jumper cables connected the truck to about 3 feet of 10 gauge wire connected to the motor with wire nuts. I measured the voltage where the jumper cables clamped onto ring terminals crimped to the 10 gauge wire. The battery was 12.8 V, dropped to 11.8 V when I connected the jumper cables and the motor just clicked. I moved the slide out about an inch with the manual over ride. The voltage dropped to 11.8 to 11.6 V as the motor extended the slide out. Bringing the slide in, the battery again started at 12.8 V and dropped to 11.7 V as the slide out closed. When I tried to open it again, the voltage dropped to 11.9 V and there was only a clicking sound, no movement at all.

Before this, I tried different switch configurations. Just switching the "in" and "out" connections resulted in it working a couple times after first trying out (just clicking) in (clutch clanking), and it moved trying out again. Then it was back to clicking when trying to open from the closed position. I moved the connections to a different switch with no improvement.

I'm not sure what else to do to try to isolate the cause of the problem.

Thank you for any additional suggestions.
Dave

[ncitro]

Here is another update, I have tried a number of your suggestions. I used my truck to get another battery closer to the electric motor. 14 feet of jumper cables connected the truck to about 3 feet of 10 gauge wire connected to the motor with wire nuts. I measured the voltage where the jumper cables clamped onto ring terminals crimped to the 10 gauge wire. The battery was 12.8 V, dropped to 11.8 V when I connected the jumper cables and the motor just clicked. I moved the slide out about an inch with the manual over ride. The voltage dropped to 11.8 to 11.6 V as the motor extended the slide out. Bringing the slide in, the battery again started at 12.8 V and dropped to 11.7 V as the slide out closed. When I tried to open it again, the voltage dropped to 11.9 V and there was only a clicking sound, no movement at all.

Before this, I tried different switch configurations. Just switching the "in" and "out" connections resulted in it working a couple times after first trying out (just clicking) in (clutch clanking), and it moved trying out again. Then it was back to clicking when trying to open from the closed position. I moved the connections to a different switch with no improvement.

I'm not sure what else to do to try to isolate the cause of the problem.

Thank you for any additional suggestions.
Dave

Sure is sounding like the motor. If you’ve run the wires from the truck like you say, that isolates all the wiring in the rig and the switch. It should either be the motor or something physically causing it to not move. Maybe try and track down the motor and see what their return policy is.