Dining Room slide only extends one foot!

[dckoski]

I have a 2009 Cedar Creek SATS with 3 slides. Bedroom and living room open completely, but the dining room, the biggest one, only goes out about a foot and stops. I checked the hydraulic fluid in the resevoir, topped it off, and it still won't open.
Any suggestions. Too heavy to push out.

[LadyWindrider]

First, I hope the slides were closed when you topped off the fluid. Otherwise you will have a mess when you close them. Second, are you on shore power? Sounds like maybe weak battery. If you can't get shore power, hook the to vehicle to the electrical cord, leave the tow vehicle engine running with all lights, heat and air off. Wait 5 minutes, and try the slides again with the tow vehicle running. I'm also assuming your trailer is mostly level.

[campdohbrew]

Originally Posted by dckoski

I have a 2009 Cedar Creek SATS with 3 slides. Bedroom and living room open completely, but the dining room, the biggest one, only goes out about a foot and stops. I checked the hydraulic fluid in the resevoir, topped it off, and it still won't open.
Any suggestions. Too heavy to push out.

Hydraulic Slide-Outs (from www.rv-partsplus.com):

The early versions of slides were hydraulically operated and their operating mechanisms required quite a bit of space so that the bin areas under the slides were often very small or un-usable. This type of slide-out cannot be pushed back in manually without releasing the hydraulic pressure. The operating motor and pump are usually located under the slide-out. Between the coach battery and the control solenoid mounted on the pump motor, there is a heavy duty battery cable. A fusible link is located near the pump in series with this battery cable. This is a smaller gauge wire that will self destruct should the pump motor be overloaded, rather than allowing the motor to overheat. Electrical problems top the list of reasons these units fail to operate. The fusible link may have burned out or there may be a lot of corrosion at the battery or the solenoid terminals, reducing the power available for operation. Clean the cables and connections annually and you should not experience any problems. It is also a good idea to lubricate the extended shiny hydraulic ram with a heavy duty SILICONE spray lubricant. If the unit fails when fully out, I have had success using a portable battery booster box to provide temporary power to bring the slide in. You will need to have someone crawl under the slide-out and locate the pump motor. Connect the Red (+) booster box cable to the cable connection on the solenoid connected to the cable leading to the battery. Connect the Black (-) clamp to a clean frame mount. Ensure that the cables will not bind as the slide is pulled in and that the red clamp will not hit any metal. Have someone operate the switch to bring the slide in and once it is moving do not release the switch until the slide is in completely. Have someone on the outside watch to ensure the cables are not in the way of the operation. Disconnect the booster box and head to your dealer for repairs.

[dckoski]

The three slides are controlled by one motor and pump under the front of the 5th wheel. One controll with three valves handles all three slides. Two of the slides work OK, but the third one only goes out about a foot on the bottom, but appears to be binding on the top. Nothing there to bind againest. It retracts with no problem, but just won't go out all the way.
Trailer is level, and I tried it on shore power, battery power and while connnected to the TV. I also tried it but shutting the valves on the other two slides so all the hydraulic pressure goes to the one slide.
The trailer is enclosed underneath so that's my next approach. Take out the enclosure to see if anything is binding underneath.
There are no signs of any leaking fluids and the reservoir is full.

[campdohbrew]

Suggestion: Go towww.rv-partsplus.com and contact; they are good about providing technical advice.

[overthehillbill]

Originally Posted by dckoski

I have a 2009 Cedar Creek SATS with 3 slides. Bedroom and living room open completely, but the dining room, the biggest one, only goes out about a foot and stops. I checked the hydraulic fluid in the resevoir, topped it off, and it still won't open.
Any suggestions. Too heavy to push out.

Had a similar problem with my kitchen/entertainment center slide. A man camped next to me suggested we close the slide then both of us placed our hands flat on the slide and as DW initiated the switch opening the slide we moved it up and down as it opened and it opened all the way. That was two years ago and it is still working fine. The man that helped me had a Everest and said he had the same problem a few months before.

[dckoski]

Good news. Somewhere during our last trip out, evidently I hit a branch or something that bent the small handle on the slide out topper. When I tried to open the slide, it turned until the bent handle engaged the mounting brackets, where it stopped. I was lucky the slide room didn't tear up the topper cover. Lord works wonders when you apply logic to the problem.

Thanks all.

[dckoski]

I forgot to mention,but I took the two small hex screws out and took the lever/handle off and everything works great. Now I need a new bracket that isn't bent.

[dnick]

I have a 2007 30LSTS, had the same problem, found out one of my cabinet doors opened during travel and jammed behind the outside edge of slide. i could not see it until i climbed over table and got to the back of trailer