New to Slide outs


BGRichards

New Member
On my 3 rd RV but this is my first slide out. If the battery fails or discharges--will the slide work by use of the generator to the converter? Or just starting the engine? Or will it leave me stranded with the slide out --out til I fix or charge the battery. Gonna try my first dry camping trip in it soon. Dumb question I bet for a guy who s been doing this for 25 yrs--but Id rather be dumb than sorry. Thanks
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Re: New to Slide outs

If the battery fails will the gen start or the engine? If the generator will start it should charge the battery and the slide would work. If the engine starts it should charge the battery also. If all else fails there is the manuel way of getting the slide in. Your owner manuel should give the procedure for this. What kind of rv do you have? I am assuming its a MH if it has an engine :)
 

BGRichards

New Member
RE: New to Slide outs

Thanks for the info. I have a Forest River Sunseeker MH. I used to have a trailer that had just a hand crank for the slide but this powered slide does not have this. I do note that instructions for moving the slide manually are on one of the doors in the MH. Looks like something that would be a last resort to me but I guess I should go through it once in case I need to do it the dark one night.
I think what I really would like to know is--say you wake up in the morning and the lights flicker and go out. Batteries are dead because you ran the heater all night, but you need to leave. Will simply starting the generator immediately provide the power to the slide or will you have to rely on the batteries being charged first? Thanks again.
 

hertig

Senior Member
Re: New to Slide outs

Generator starts from a battery. Either the house battery or the chassis battery, depending on the model of RV. Some external generators have a pull cord and/or an internal battery. If that battery is dead, you are pretty much screwed, will need to plug into an external outlet or get a jump start.

With the generator running, and your converter (120v to 12V) working, you should be able to retract your slides immediately, or at least within 10 minutes or so.
 

BGRichards

New Member
RE: New to Slide outs

Well ive done a little studying on the issue. Figured out how the manual slide operation works--just got to dissamble part of the base of the slide room to find the mechanism. Studied the generator. Still not sure if it starts from the coach batteries or the truck battery. Turned the battery switch off in the coach and the gen still starts. So it either bypasses this switch and goes directly to the coach batteries or it goes to the truck battery for power. Studied the emergency start switch a little--I think this could play a role if I ever had problems.
Thanks for the help
 
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