Tuesday, October 19, 2021

When it rains it pours! Slide motor replacement.

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When it rains it pours! Once we moved over to Mesa Regal RV Resort we noticed that there was a strange noise coming from the kitchen slide out. Well while troubleshooting it and trying to locate where the noise was coming from, the slide suddenly stopped working all together…. sigh.slide motor

The slide stopped when it was only partially out but the slide motor has a lever on it (see photo above and note the lever under the left side of the rubber boot) which allows us to disengage the slideout so it can be manually moved out or in. We have a rack and pinion slide out system that uses an electric motor to push the slide out and in. Once the motor has been disengaged I used a large crescent wrench to turn the square bar (see photo below) which moved the slide the rest of the way out.

insert tube on new motor

Once out I had access to the motor. I suspected the motor was the issue because back in 2014 I had a similar problem with our living room slide out motor.I am reusing some of the pictures to show this process.To remove the motor first I needed to remove a bolt on the end of the square slide rail ( see below photo for how it attaches and the other one below that to see the whole rail) ) so I could slide it off of the end of the motor.

align holes








Next I removed the wire nuts from the wires to the motor and  then I removed the four bolts holding the motor to the chassis and off it came. It is as simple as that. Like last time I went ahead and opened up the slide motor casing, took apart the slide motor and once again found what I had suspected. One of the gears in the motor had several broken teeth.

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Remembering how hard it was to find a replacement last time I started searching the internet right away. Luckily I was able to find a replacement at etailer.com . Even luckier it was on sale and available. I order the part and waited until it arrived.

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Once the motor arrived in the mail a week or so later, I attached it using the four bolts while also reattaching the red and black wires.  Before reattaching the slide rail I did make sure that the slides looked the same on both sides. Since the slide out distances were equal on each side I  replaced the bolt on the slide bar after reinserting it onto the motor. Note, I did have to use the crescent wrench to turn the slide bar a  bit so that the hole on the new motor lined up with the one on the slide rail.

Once installed I tested the new motor and the slide worked perfectly! Thank goodness… Maybe we can get back to having fun again!

NOTE:  We are currently in Mesa, Arizona until November 1st…

12 comments:

  1. A round of applause for your excellent DIY skills. Wouldn't it be interesting to know how much money you've saved over the years by doing so many projects yourself? I'll bet the dollar amount would be astounding.

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    1. Yes, now that you mention it I think we have only called mobile support techs to come to our aide 3 times or less in the 11 years we have been traveling.

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  2. Our slide motor failed while still under warranty. I now carry a socket and ratchet to manually move the slide should it fail again.
    Good work John!, I would not want to replace it on my own!

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    1. It really wasn't too difficult of a job. Thank goodness!

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  3. That is exactly what I dread every time I push the slide button, that it will fail and leave me stranded in an RV park or worse. It is good to know that there is a way to bring in the slide manually.

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    1. Yes, between the slides and the leveling jacks I know that fear!

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  4. Great job replacing the motor and that you were able to get the part so quickly.

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  5. Your posts on your repairs are really making me miss David even more than usual. He would be able to do all this and I don't have a clue. What I do know is that more and more things are problematic and without him it's a horrible problem getting especially hydraulics fixed. I think I had over $2400 in my slide and jack problem. Mostly due to the fact that there was no mobile tech who really knew what to do and no where to take it. But I had to pay for their time anyway. Have I said before how lucky Sharon is?

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    1. I've called a mobile tech a few times and only once was the tech actually able to help me.

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  6. Heyduke -- just catching up on my reading of your blogs. For some reason, your blog was lost on my computer. Just like Magic, it appeared today. I noted that you are trying to find a place to settle down for longer periods with a climate of not too cold or too hot.

    May I suggest that you visit the Ocala, Florida area. Beach and I have thought about it for a number of reasons. The climate in the winter is a little chilly, but never to the point where you could not tolerate being outside. I love the area because it is less crowded, and the Ocala area is horse breeding country. And when you needed a major check up, the Mayo Clinic would not be far to go. There is a lot of wildlife and rivers and springs, such as the manatee making their way down to warmer waters. There should be large lots to park the RV as the area isn't as highly developed as areas in south Florida. Also, making a trip up to Raleigh to visit your daughter and new baby shouldn't be a chore. I know you will make the right decision for you.

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    1. Yes we've been to that part of Florida and agree that it is a spot worthy of consideration. In regards to the blog magically showing up it was because of a change I made to make it update on blogrolls since it had been broken for several months. Just took a while to figure it out.

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