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Old 10-26-2016, 06:18 AM   #1
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Join Date: Sep 2016
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2017 2431S Slide Out Failure

Hi, I am wondering if anyone knows how to manually extend/retract my Power gear slide out. It worked long enough for them to demo the RV for me and me to go on my camp at my home and for one Florida State Park. It started to quit at the State Park. I managed to get it to retract by turning the engine off and on three times. The rear slide motor only ran intermittently. Then, it quit altogether. I took it back to the dealer and the front motor quit too. They ordered another controller, which they put in yesterday. That got the front motor running again, but not the rear. Power gear is really making them do a lot of work before they will send a new motor. This is my first RV although I owned a Lance camper 15 years ago for a few years. Unfortunately, the 2431S has sleeping for one short person if the slide out doesn't work since the bed is folded in half. Anyway, this is very frustrating since the RV has been unusable more than it has been usable since I bought it.

Everything fails sooner or later, but the dealer is telling me that there is no manual way to extend/retract the slide out. I believe that this is a big deal for an owner. What am I supposed to do if I am days away from home and the thing is extended and won't retract. I sure would appreciate some advice. My wife and I are very frustrated with this.
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Old 10-26-2016, 08:25 AM   #2
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Join Date: Sep 2016
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Figured that I should add a little more detail, maybe it will help someone else.

First off, this is a 2017 Forester GTS 2431S. The slide out controller/motors is made by Power Gear which was recently acquired by Lippert (apparently). The part number for the controller is 1510000236. The fuse for this system is in the fuse box and the controller was in an outside compartment on the left side of the vehicle. It is a small box about 3" X 3". The rocker switch which is close to the fuse box is a 2 pair wire that runs underneath the floor to the controller. The power must run about the same and it is a larger 1 pair wire. The controller then has two 3 pair wires going to each motor. The motors are high up on each side of the slide out. They are replaced by removing the screwed on rail on the wall from the inside. The access to the rear motor is very difficult with the slide fully retracted. The motors have limit switches that must be programmed. If they fail the motor will fail to operate with the controller. However, the tech was able to power the motor directly and it worked. So, a motor failure may in fact be a limit switch failure not a true motor failure. The motor mechanism has a spring attached to it. Also, the motors run in opposite directions when extending/retracting the slide. The controller will not operate the slide if the motor is on. (I am not certain how it knows yet since there is no sensor wire for that.)

Originally, I was told by the tech that you could retract/extend the slide by removing the springs then re-attach them once the slide was in the desired position. However, that the slide was very heavy and moving it was difficult. They have since rescinded those instructions.

I can see how to wire up a small harness to operate the motors by hand from the battery bypassing the controller for emergency situations (assuming that both motors still operate). However, I have no idea what you do if the motor, itself, actually fails.

There is nothing in the owner's manual about this including what the warning light on the rocker switch means.

(Other than this issue, my wife and I are very pleased with this RV, but this issue could ruin our feelings about it unfortunately.)
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