Slideout issues

[Marine]

Can you guys help me with my slideout problem? I have a 2014 Berkshire 400 BH. My bedroom electric slide has the problem. When I retract it, it does not go in all the way. About 14” out, it stops moving, but the motor keeps running when I hold the button. It seems like the gear keeps spinning but the gear and the track splines don’t remain together.
I checked the gear and the track splines and I don’t see any broken or missing teeth. I can’t see any obstructions, either. I had to push it in manually from the outside as my wife pushed the switch from the inside. It went in, but now it sticks out about an inch. Before this problem it went in pretty flush.
I think I have an Equalizer slide with a single track under the slideout. The track may seem a little rusty. I have always noticed little pieces of plywood on the floor next to the bed. I see that the plywood floor where the rollers on either side of the slideout bottom ride on the rollers, has broken down a little. However, the rollers seem unobstructed and maybe this is just an unrelated problem. Lastly, over the past year, I have had to replace the little solenoid? that controls bringing the slide in. I never knew why they went bad. I don’t know if that electrical issue has anything to do with my current proble.
My rig is on a military base and I don’t have local resources. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Bama Rambler]

Can you post some pics of the slide and mechanism?
It sounds like you have a sofa slide.

There are some rollers that keep the pinion meshed with the gear rack. If they're out of adjustment or are loose it will allow the pinion to separate from the rack and stop movement of the room.

We also had one of those once where the bracket broke and allowed the room to tilt back. I welded it back together and it was fine after that.

[Marine]

Thanks Bama for your help. The slide out in question is a queen size electric bed slide-out. The rollers are about 5” in length and are located on either end of the slide out and are mounted on the underneath of the slide out on the inside of the coach wall. The rollers appear not to have any adjustment mechanism and appear to only balance and stabilize the slide out as it moves in and out by the motorized gear meshing with the single splined track mounted in the middle of the underneath of the slide. I won’t have access to pictures until Monday morning. Thanks again.

[Bama Rambler]

That sounds like a thru-frame slide, but they normally have two sets of rack and pinion gears under the slide room.

Once you post some pictures we'll know more about which it is and how to help.

[Marine]

I found 4 pictures on my computer. Hopefully, they are attached to this reply. I am almost certain that I only have one rack that is driven by the gear and motor. The rack is mounted underneath the slide right down the middle. There are no other racks. I believe the motor is manufactured by Lippert even though the slide system is manufactured by Equalizer. One picture with the wording in arrows on it, came from Forest River service and as I understand what the picture is trying to convey, if the 4 bolts were loosened, the motor and gear could be pried up closer to the rack, and then the bolts would be tightened. There is a picture of the serial number on the motor. And there are 2 pictures of the motor underneath the bed. The better picture shows the right side of the motor, the wiring and the other picture shows the opposite side of the motor. Hopefully, this provides some more information. Thanks.

[Marine]

Here are 2 of the pictures rotated properly. Please note that you are looking at the inside of the wall where the motor and gear are mounted, with the electrical wires to the right. The wires connect to 2 solenoids, one for the slide to come in and the other for the slide to go out. I previously referenced having to replace the solenoid that brings the slide in.

[Marine]

I see that you have to click on the picture to have it rotated to the right. I'm not too good with this computer stuff.

[Bama Rambler]

I think the pic with the arrows on it says the most. I'd look at that and see if there's any adjustment there.

[edgewant]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

I think the pic with the arrows on it says the most. I'd look at that and see if there's any adjustment there.

My bed slide on my 2013 is very similar to this. I also had a similar issue. The motor mounting bolts had loosened up and the motor dropped down to where the pinion was barely contacting the rack. I loosened the mounting bolts, pushed the motor back toward the rack then put loctite on the bolts and torqued them down. No problems since.

[Marine]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the time and advice. I'll give it a whirl. Oorah!

[omahagirl]

Our front. She’s an 11 390RB 360 hp

[Marine]

Oorah!


Edgewant, do you have any tricks on how I raise up the motor and gear and hold it up in the raised position while I put a socket and wrench on either end? I will be doing it myself.

[omahagirl]

Total other subject. Interested in any frog rallies? There’s the Brass Ring on near Knoebels and Gettysburg two weekends back to back. Signed up for brass will be signing up when Gettysburg opens next Wednesday. Tons of fun we’ve made great friends at both

[cudntherd]

I have had the same problem with our 2011 Berkshire.
I have loosened the bolts , inserted a pry bar under the motor through the slot shown in your picture, to the right of the right bottom arrow. I recommend removing each bolt one at a time and coating with Locktite, reinstalling each both but not torquing to the final torque. Uses the pry bar raise the motor and gear to mesh with the slide track, tightening the bolts while holding the pressure on the bar.
Caution: The motor housing is aluminum and is easily stripped if the bolts are over tightened.

[Billr]

Mine had the same problem with motor sliding down, it made a load noise when the gear would slip. Took a piece to 2 by 4 and cut to size so I could jam it under the main shaft sticking out, that would hold it while tightening, hasn't moved for over a year.