2004 Windsor Living Room Passenger Slide Retraction

[gimesun]

For many years we have had to apply manual assistance when retracting the passenger living room slide from the fully extended position. Once it moves from the drop down position it can be retracted on its own. The Drivers living room slide which is deeper has never been a problem.

We will be having a variety of items serviced and our local RV Maintenance Center later this week including this problem and I was wondering If anyone has encountered this problem and have been happy with a solution. The first thing we are going to look for is a defective roller or weak slide motor. The 4 6 volt batteries have been replaced last week.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Doug Irvine

 

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, gimesun said:

For many years we have had to apply manual assistance when retracting the passenger living room slide from the fully extended position. Once it moves from the drop down position it can be retracted on its own. The Drivers living room slide which is deeper has never been a problem.

We will be having a variety of items serviced and our local RV Maintenance Center later this week including this problem and I was wondering If anyone has encountered this problem and have been happy with a solution. The first thing we are going to look for is a defective roller or weak slide motor. The 4 6 volt batteries have been replaced last week.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

Doug Irvine

 

Doug, as a newbie….you may be not familiar with the vast array of resources we have here. We have one Longtime Monaco owner who also has an RV service center.

He and his techs specialize in slide and floor (reolacement) issues.  His name is Chris Throgmartin.  You can PM @throgmartin and set up a time to talk to him.  His background is extensive and he is trustworthy and reliable.  He often gives members information and tips and insight.  

He designed a special set of slide plates to salvage floors (the underside of the slide) as well as prevent damage from abrasion as well as water infiltration.

You can google Talin RV and find him and call him. He is in Brooksville, FL and folks drive there for his expertise and reasonable prices and reliable work.

Don’t know who you are planning on using or their reputation…but Chris often has to “fix” substandard” repairs….which were costly and NOT APPROPRIATE.

I would want to be well informed and understand the potential causes of the issues as well as the  recommended “scope of repairs”….  Slides are soemtimes easy….as in a simple adjustment.  But if a tech is not experienced or knowledgeable, then a maladjustment can cause major damage….unfortunately, we see this….

My recommendation is to talk to Chris and get some valuable and free advice.  He will NOT try to high pressure you…he is honest and straight forward and easy to talk to…

 

[throgmartin]

Doug:

I cannot even begin to explain the things I have diagnosed and/or witnessed over the years with Monaco's flush floor slide. Be aware that if your slide tilts coming in or out then it will not have rollers. It is a flush floor slide. As a disclaimer, Monaco did make 50 flush floor slides with rollers and were a direct copy of a Newmar slide. They were designed by Monaco's R & D department, used on 50 coaches and tested then the idea was abandoned. I highly doubt your slide is one of them. Incidentally, we have plated 30 of the 50.

I cannot diagnose here or over the phone your slide issue. I need to watch the slide operate, listening to it to help me diagnose the problem. It could be many different things and I have seen them all. Weak motors, bad motors, assembly components gone bad, bolts loose or missing, poor wiring connections resulting in low voltage, etc. My own personal coaches flush floor operated like yours. Turns out Monaco wasn't paying attention when they built my coach and installed 2 relays for that slide. The extra relay caused just enough voltage drop to make the motor weak when running.

I know of a guy who thought he had a weak motor. He installed a new motor and the slide was still giving him problems. Turns out it was a voltage issue. One has to keep in mind when dealing with 12 V motors that have to perform big functions like moving a heavy slide or retracting a patio awning that Voltage is king. If low voltage is being applied to a motor, it wont have the power to perform. Monaco was known to under size the wiring on some components. This wire under sizing issue has been a known culprit for Eclipse patio awning issues. 

If you brought the coach to me the first thing I would look for would be the condition of the underside of the slide floors. Rotted floors, torn laminate and blown side wall corners on a slide will make it work hard when being operated. The slide also needs to be checked for proper adjustment. This can cause binding and overwork the motor. I would next check for obstructions under the slide floor. Don't laugh, we have pulled all kinds of things from under slide floors that were wedged near the glide bar - forks, spoons and once a loaded Glock handgun. Next I would check to see if the slide assembly ( gears, rams, arms, etc. ) is properly lubricated. They need to be lubricated periodically. We only use Boeshield T-9 as a lubricant. You can find it on Amazon. It was originally formulated by Boeing Corp and is a far better lubricant then most of the on the market. It does dry off and wont collect dirt. Hope this helps. If you are taking this into a service center, they need to be checking all of these things.

 

I forgot one last item. Never operate your slides unless the coach is at ride height. Regardless of what the manual says or other people, every Monaco coach had their slides adjusted at the factory at ride height. My buddy who was in charge of slide installs and the body department at the Monaco factory told me they adjusted all slides with the coach at ride height.

Whenever you get to a campground, the first thing you do is put the slides out while at ride height. When getting ready to leave, fire the coach up and get it at ride height then bring the slides in.

[TomV48]

throgmartin.  Thank you.   I too,  use manual assist when my slide is first coming in, to help it come up the ramp from flat floor.  Might just be my phoebia.

We were  slipping a cog, in the Power Gear drive gears.  That was a hassle to correct.  Then I looked at our repair history and the owners manual for Power Gear.

The former owner had the issue "Fixed"at CW, twice.  They had so much dried axle grease on the gears that I had to lift the slide and remove both gears and both gear rails.  A gallon of solvent and two wire brushes later I had the rails and gears clean and  ready to replace.

First thing in both the installers manual and the owners manual " ABSOLUTELY DO NOT LUBRICATE THE DRIVE GEARS OR RAIL TEETH".  In fact, it says, IF YOU MUST LUBE SOMETHING, LIMIT IT TO A LIGHT SILICONE ON THE GEAR'S AXLES ONLY."

I have no rollers.  What would you recommend, if anything, to ease pressure on the initial lift up the 45° ramp?

[throgmartin]

There is very little you can do to to ease the pressure when the slide comes in. It is what it is.

I have lubed slide rails for 2 decades without a problem. But then I never use grease or anything that will cause a build up or attract and hold dirt. No idea why Power gear would recommend not lubing the rails and gears. We have had coaches come in with a severe amount of rust and after cleaning and lubricating the slide worked better. While the gears may not rust, the teeth on the frame rails will.

I might add, I do not like any of the slide lubricants on the market. I only use Boeshield T-9.

 

[TomV48]

On 2/13/2024 at 12:08 PM, throgmartin said:

There is very little you can do to to ease the pressure when the slide comes in. It is what it is.

I have lubed slide rails for 2 decades without a problem. But then I never use grease or anything that will cause a build up or attract and hold dirt. No idea why Power gear would recommend not lubing the rails and gears. We have had coaches come in with a severe amount of rust and after cleaning and lubricating the slide worked better. While the gears may not rust, the teeth on the frame rails will.

I might add, I do not like any of the slide lubricants on the market. I only use Boeshield T-9.

 

Thank you. After self-righteously expressing that rule from Power Gear I can now feel safe to admit that I too tend to make sure there's some T-9 on things, where I can't bear the risk of rust.

Oh, and I DO hear the load come off the motor on retracting the main living room slide when I put my shoulder in to it. 

Edited February 15 by TomV48
Add a thought

[Les Hurdle]

Hi One and all.

 

Reading nfo here I guess my slides do not ave rollers since the drivers side tends to stop st an angle.

However, I enclose a picture since the front end of thr slide when 'at rest' seems to allow for the gear teeth so sit on the aluminium support.

Is that ok?

Les

IMG_6322.jpg.pdf

[throgmartin]

That appears to be your driver front slide and is known as a flush floor slide. These slides have no rollers and operate on a glide bar instead of rollers.

Your other slides will have rollers and are referred to as raised floor slides.

[Dennis N - 2005 Windsor]

"the slide when 'at rest' seems to allow for the gear teeth so sit on the aluminium support."

This looks low to me. Open your storage bay door and you can see the gear and track mechanism above the storage area. While looking at that, have someone activate the slide and see if there is any excess movement in any of the components.

Another thing to look for - There is a long shaft that connects the gears to the motor, and I have had the bolt that connects sections of the shaft shear off. Just before it shears off, it wears enough to create slop in the shaft movement.  That slop will cause one side of the slide to start moving in or out before the other, and that misalignment will create a little extra drag.