Searching For Electrical Ground

[DentonFender]

2010 Dutchmen 4 Winds 270RL travel trailer. Brought home to winterize. Started slide out and it went about 8 inches before stopping. No response from either direction on switch. Battery fully charged, there is 12.9v on both power terminals of the slide out switch, there is 12.9v at each motor lead (red or white) from the slide out switch when tested with multi-meter and a ground to motor case. Despite power at all points, the motor will not run or make any noise. Checked fuses, all good. Replaced slide switch, same result. However, I can hook the battery directly to the two motor leads and the slide out functions just fine both in and out with polarity reversals. In fact it runs a lot faster with the direct connection than through the switch, leading me to believe there is a grounding issue with the switch ground. Does anyone know where the common ground would be for the slide out switch? Could it run all the way back to the inverter unit? Any thoughts/ideas greatly appreciated.

[DentonFender]

On Edit: Problem with slide out power loss solved. It was not a grounding issue but a loose wire issue. Up front where the power cord for the RV connector to truck goes back under the trailer is a 4x4 in. metal junction box just loaded with wiring connections. One of the neutral(??) wires had come away from a mass of about 7 wires all held together with one of the biggest wire connector nuts I've ever seen (Blue). I'm really shocked at the type of electrical connectors being used in this RV - two 10awg wires held together with an orange connector which is intended for wires way smaller than this. Orange will max out at two #14awg wires. Not just once but in many places during this search for an answer to my problem.

[SlowNEasy]

Hey DF.
I have to agree with you that the connectors used in every RV I have ever seen were not great. Over time I replace all of the connectors I can find with the crimping ones that heat seal on both ends. Once done, you never have to worry about the twist-on connectors vibrating loose.

Something you might also consider is to buy some drill bit extensions so you can get to the back of your slide-out's motor if you ever need to retract or extend the slide with a drill.

[DentonFender]

Hey SNE,
I bought a manual crank for the slide out - just in case. First time using it I felt like a street corner organ grinder minus the monkey. Cranked and cranked and thought after 5 minutes that should be enough but was shocked to walk around the other side and see I had only managed about 6 inches of travel. Your idea of the drill or maybe better an impact driver was spot on. Thanks for the reply.

[SlowNEasy]

Originally Posted by DentonFender

Hey SNE,
I bought a manual crank for the slide out - just in case. First time using it I felt like a street corner organ grinder minus the monkey. Cranked and cranked and thought after 5 minutes that should be enough but was shocked to walk around the other side and see I had only managed about 6 inches of travel. Your idea of the drill or maybe better an impact driver was spot on. Thanks for the reply.

I had read similar experiences with the hand cranks. Since I do just about everything else with a drill, I figured I should have an attachment for this too.


I guess we could hire a small spider monkey!