My hydraulic slides, electric slide, hydraulic jacks and inverter stopped working.

Angie M · February 17

Went to bring in our slides and they weren't working. The "In-Command" system says there is a short. Our hydraulic slides, hydraulic jacks, electric slide and our inverter no longer work at all.

Now yesterday someone was messing with the electrical and our Bulldog power surge protector was off when we came home. Plugged it in and it shows no codes but now is on. All electric works but these items stated above. Checked all the breakers, fuses, hydraulic pump fluid. Don't know where the short would be, if that is in fact the problem. I don't think its the hydraulics because the electric slide and inverter don't work either.

Any help out there?

Angie M · February 17

Just now, Angie M said:

Went to bring in our slides and they weren't working. The "In-Command" system says there is a short. Our hydraulic slides, hydraulic jacks, electric slide and our inverter no longer work at all.

Now yesterday someone was messing with the electrical and our Bulldog power surge protector was off when we came home. Plugged it in and it shows no codes but now is on. All electric works but these items stated above. Checked all the breakers, fuses, hydraulic pump fluid. Don't know where the short would be, if that is in fact the problem. I don't think its the hydraulics because the electric slide and inverter don't work either.

Any help out there?

To clarify, the Bulldog was off but plugged in when we came home. We then unplugged it, reset the breaker to the electrical post and plugged it back in and it works fine.

Kirk W · February 17

Do you have a multimeter to use to troubleshoot? When checking the circuit breakers, did you open each one and close it again? It is very difficult to tell if a breaker is tripped just by looking at it and it must be opened in order to reset it if tripped. For that reason, when I check a circuit breaker I just open it and close it again.

Ray,IN · February 17

I agree with Kirk. When a breaker trips, before it will reset the lever must be pushed against the spring resistance until it stops, only then can you turn it back on for a reset.

Now I'm wondering if your slide not level is connected to these problems.

Edited February 17 by Ray,IN

Angie M · February 17

1 hour ago, Ray,IN said:

I agree with Kirk. When a breaker trips, before it will reset the lever must be pushed against the spring resistance until it stops, only then can you turn it back on for a reset.

Now I'm wondering if your slide not level is connected to these problems.

I did open and close every breaker. I don’t think the slide is the issue because we’ve had that problem for 4 years now. Since we purchased it.

Angie M · February 17

We did use a multimeter and checked every fuse and the peer going to the hydraulic pump. All were good. When I push the button to pull the slide in a click can be heard near the hydraulic pump.

Angie M · February 17

Just now, Angie M said:

We did use a multimeter and checked every fuse and the peer going to the hydraulic pump. All were good. When I push the button to pull the slide in a click can be heard near the hydraulic pump.

I meant power not peer

Angie M · February 17

I found this is the front compartment. It was flashing 3 red 1 green. 3 red means low battery. 1 green means motor 1. I followed the steps to reset and the lights went out but the slides still don’t work.

Kirk W · February 18

5 hours ago, Angie M said:

Our hydraulic slides, hydraulic jacks, electric slide and our inverter no longer work at all.

What make & model is your leveling system? What slide mechanism is it? What about the inverter, dose it now work? Have you checked the electrolyte level in the battery cells? What is the voltage that you measure across the battery terminals? Make & model of the RV might also be helpful. With more information we might be able to find tech manuals for at least some of the problem areas.

6 hours ago, Angie M said:

Now yesterday someone was messing with the electrical and our Bulldog power surge protector was off when we came home. Plugged it in and it shows no codes but now is on. All electric works but these items stated above.

By this do you mean that someone had unplugged your RV power cord? Are you in a commercial RV park? Public campground? All of the items that you mention as not working use 12V power but if your converter is working it should supply that. Some things might draw more current than is available without a fully charged battery, but the converter should recharge the battery(s) if given enough time. If you measure the voltage across the battery terminals with no shore power and again with shore power the voltage should increase when shore power is applied if the converter is working. Another test would be to monitor the voltage across the battery while someone tries to move the slide or the leveling jacks and see if it drops.

Kirk W · February 18

1 hour ago, Angie M said:

I found this is the front compartment.

What did you find there? Part of the leveling system? is it by HWH?

Angie M · February 18

1 hour ago, Angie M said:

I found this is the front compartment. It was flashing 3 red 1 green. 3 red means low battery. 1 green means motor 1. I followed the steps to reset and the lights went out but the slides still don’t work.

Angie M · February 18

Ok I think I may have found the answer. If not, I’ll answer everyone’s questions. I thought the batteries were fully charged because the InCommand said I had 13.8 volts. But it dawned on me that maybe that’s because I’m plugged in. I unplugged it and surprise. Batteries 4.9. Then I checked the battery disconnect and Turned it the opposite way and I immediately heard the converter turn on. We just took our RV in for repair and were told by the tech that we had that switched turned the wrong way and he turned it around and that actually was off. So it’s been off since 12/28. So I’m going to give the batteries time to charge up and see what happens. Our batteries are brand new as of October the kind that don’t require water. Optima yellow top DH7. Two of them.

Kirk W · February 18

The picture is of a Lippert slide controller so your slide mechanism is by Lippert.

11 hours ago, Angie M said:

InCommand said I had 13.8 volts.

The only way to accurately know what the battery voltage is requires you to lift at least 1 cable from the post (preferably the negative cable) and then use your multimeter to measure between the two battery posts.

11 hours ago, Angie M said:

Then I checked the battery disconnect and Turned it the opposite way and I immediately heard the converter turn on.

If the batteries were really down to 4.9V that could have been damaged but hopefully not too much. No question that nothing would operate with voltage that low. I would allow the batteries at least 12 hours to charge before trying again. The Optima yellow top DH7 battery is a absorbed glass-mat (AGM) battery. AGM batteries withstand deep discharges better than flooded cell starter batteries but they are still damaged by really deep discharges. some smart battery chargers will not start charging a fully discharged battery at all - they see it as faulty. The result will depend upon the converter that you have and how bad the batteries have been damaged.

No matter what the result of this is, I would be in touch with the management of the shop where you took your RV as that tech clearly doesn't know what he is doing.

lappir · February 18

13 hours ago, Angie M said:

Ok I think I may have found the answer. If not, I’ll answer everyone’s questions. I thought the batteries were fully charged because the InCommand said I had 13.8 volts. But it dawned on me that maybe that’s because I’m plugged in. I unplugged it and surprise. Batteries 4.9. Then I checked the battery disconnect and Turned it the opposite way and I immediately heard the converter turn on. We just took our RV in for repair and were told by the tech that we had that switched turned the wrong way and he turned it around and that actually was off. So it’s been off since 12/28. So I’m going to give the batteries time to charge up and see what happens. Our batteries are brand new as of October the kind that don’t require water. Optima yellow top DH7. Two of them.

Sure wouldn't use that RV repair facility again. Be sure to inform them if the current issue it appears they may have started.

Rod

Angie M · February 18

As far as the tech goes, we haven’t found many that know what they are doing. You’d think by now we would have learned to check everything we are told. Anyhow, batteries are charged and everything works. I learned a lot with this issue. I found the test button for the slides. Found out the Battery volts indicator on the InCommand doesn’t tell the battery life when plugged in. Located my converter. Found out the slides, jacks, inverter all need full batteries to work. Found out the inverter has a breaker switch on the back. I also found out the guy that messed with the electric didn’t cause my problem. Just a complete coincidence that I tried to shut the slides right after he worked on the electric and “assumed” the electric caused the problem. So all in all, my husband would say a it was a successful failure.