Bedroom Slide Moans No More

[BryanValRox]

Our bedroom BAL slide started moaning and groaning during operation and I lost all confidence in it and resorted to pushing on it during operation and keeping my fingers crossed that we could get it in and out on our trips.

My suspicions were correct after investigating my issue on Saturday. Both of my slide motors were suffering from deflection, it appears both the housing and gear is too weak for the application. The gear was found to be digging into the rail, milling it away, causing extra friction.

I spent most of Saturday removing and replacing both of the motors. The good news is that BAL has added additional ribs to the new motors for added strength.
The slides now works easily without any moaning and groaning .




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[TG74]

Thanks for sharing this! I'm glad you were able to address it before it became a real problem for you.

 

[M and E]

Our bedroom BAL slide started moaning and groaning during operation and I lost all confidence in it and resorted to pushing on it during operation and keeping my fingers crossed that we could get it in and out on our trips.

My suspicions were correct after investigating my issue on Saturday. Both of my slide motors were suffering from deflection, it appears both the housing and gear is too weak for the application. The gear was found to be digging into the rail, milling it away, causing extra friction.

I spent most of Saturday removing and replacing both of the motors. The good news is that BAL has added additional ribs to the new motors for added strength.
The slides now works easily without any moaning and groaning .
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Nice job Bryan! Just time consuming or was it challenging?

 

[Midnight Rider]

Our bedroom BAL slide started moaning and groaning during operation and I lost all confidence in it and resorted to pushing on it during operation and keeping my fingers crossed that we could get it in and out on our trips.

My suspicions were correct after investigating my issue on Saturday. Both of my slide motors were suffering from deflection, it appears both the housing and gear is too weak for the application. The gear was found to be digging into the rail, milling it away, causing extra friction.

I spent most of Saturday removing and replacing both of the motors. The good news is that BAL has added additional ribs to the new motors for added strength.
The slides now works easily without any moaning and groaning .
View attachment 4075

View attachment 4076
View attachment 4077
View attachment 40750

Bry,
Where are those motors located at on the slide? I cant find them?
thanks

 

[BryanValRox]

Nice job Bryan! Just time consuming or was it challenging?

Thanks Mike, honestly it was more of a time consuming job than a challenging one. Spent a fair amount of time cleaning the old sealant off of the jam and the side of the coach. Inside access was a bit snug, removing the closet door and the vertical trim pieces on the bed slide made all the difference in the world. Other than that, it is pretty much just removing the cables, then screws inside and out and breaking the old seal and twisting the jam out.
It took me about 3 1/2 - 4 hours per side, now that I am experienced 😂, I think I could do it in about 3.

 

[BryanValRox]

Bry,
Where are those motors located at on the slide? I cant find them?
thanks

Rider, they are located inside the jam bracket, you can’t see them unless you remove the inside jam support. If you look behind your bed slide trim work, you will see wires sticking out the top of your jam brackets.

I knew something was wrong because the tone of the motors changed drastically from when the coach was new. They were really groaning to move the slide.

Obviously, this was because the housing had distorted, binding the internal gears and the deflection was causing the gear to drive the chain into the jam bracket and mill it away during operation.

Now, they don’t sound challenged at all and my confidence is fully restored in the slide operation.

 

[M and E]

Thanks Mike, honestly it was more of a time consuming job than a challenging one. Spent a fair amount of time cleaning the old sealant off of the jam and the side of the coach. Inside access was a bit snug, removing the closet door and the vertical trim pieces on the bed slide made all the difference in the world. Other than that, it is pretty much just removing the cables, then screws inside and out and breaking the old seal and twisting the jam out.
It took me about 3 1/2 - 4 hours per side, now that I am experienced 😂, I think I could do it in about 3.

Thanks for that! I may just replace the motors. I enjoy projects like that and the cooler weather is on its way to SW Florida; I prefer projects like that when it’s cooler.

 

[Lantley]

I had BAL slides on my last rig. I found they were OK overall but they required constant maintenance.
Adjusting/replacing cables was at least and annual event. My prior unit had 5 cable slides which required me to become very familiar with there operation. In hindsight I believe cable slides should only be used on smaller slides vs. larger kitchen appliance or living room sofa slides.
It seems Alliance has learned this lesson as well. Cable slides require regular adjustments /maintenance. On the flip side they are somewhat DIY friendly once you get pass the initial learning curve.
My Swintek bedroom slide has been problem free so far, but Swintek does not have the best reputation so I'm keeping my fingers crossed .

 

[BryanValRox]

Thanks for that! I may just replace the motors. I enjoy projects like that and the cooler weather is on its way to SW Florida; I prefer projects like that when it’s cooler.

Your welcome, you do you, but I would run your original motors until they started to cause you concerns.
One other comment, I don’t know the change over date of when they added the ribs, so it could be possiable that you already have the newer design. It might take a call to BAL to determine the change over date.
I would hate to see you remove a jam bracket only to find you have the improved part.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[Midnight Rider]

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Your welcome, you do you, but I would run your original motors until they started to cause you concerns.
One other comment, I don’t know the change over date of when they added the ribs, so it could be possiable that you already have the newer design. It might take a call to BAL to determine the change over date.
I would hate to see you remove a jam bracket only to find you have the improved part.
Enjoy your trip!

If it ain’t broke don’t Fix it!

 

[JHC]

Bryan, what model trailer? I have a 310 and the bedroom slide just started making some major noise and went in crooked but trued up at the end of the cycle. I am thinking the rollers but maybe the motors. Trailer is a 25 model year.

 

[BryanValRox]

Bryan, what model trailer? I have a 310 and the bedroom slide just started making some major noise and went in crooked but trued up at the end of the cycle. I am thinking the rollers but maybe the motors. Trailer is a 25 model year.

JHC,
We have a 2024 310 RL.

My take is that if you have all of the sudden experienced crooked travel and increased noise, something has changed within the drive mechanism.
I would check all of the cable brackets first to ensure nothing came loose or bent. I would then check cable adjustments. Slide in all the way, bottom cable 1/4 inch deflection, top 1/2 inch deflection. If you find them out of adjustment it is likely something within the Jam causing your issue.

I doubt the rollers are causing you any concern, unless they have come loose from their mounting. They are pretty basic and there isn’t much to go wrong with them.

Our issued presented itself as a definite increase in noise when the slide was operated. It went from sounding like the motors didn’t have to strain, to sounding like they really had to strain and the movement slowed way down.

BAL have excellent support videos out on their site if you choose to investigate this yourself.

 

[BryanValRox]

Bryan, what model trailer? I have a 310 and the bedroom slide just started making some major noise and went in crooked but trued up at the end of the cycle. I am thinking the rollers but maybe the motors. Trailer is a 25 model year.

JHC, on another note. Did you ever get your LED’s figured out?

 

[JHC]

Thanks Bryan. I had an RV tech come today to look at the hydraulics/jacks. Still popping!! We ran the slides/jacks a few times and will see what happens. That's when the bedroom slide started actin g up. It got pretty bad after extending/retracting 2 times. We actually had to push the one end in to get it to close all the way. He ordered a motor so he will have it on hand when he comes back Thursday to repair the slide. He needs to pull it out half way and then take a look and figure out what is going on.

As for the LEDs, I could not get them to work so I purchased a switch that works off the battery. Now I use a remote to turn them on/off. Works great. I keep it disconnected until we get to our destinations. Pretty simple.

 

[M and E]

If it ain’t broke don’t Fix it!

I wish I could do that. I’m always looking for a project.

 

[JHC]

To follow up, found the problem on my slide. The sprocket on the motor was bent (not parallel to the housing). Not sure how but replaced the motor and ran the slide in/out several times. Seems to be working good.

 

[johnm]

Well, I cant find the motors for the sofa slides... wires down both sides behind the aluminum trim. This pic (fromt he slide I thinkis working properly) is interesting - look at the metal filings in the bottom. Also, what type of slide system is this? The BAL web site lists a lot of them...and the two I have looked at arent the same ones. I hate to say it, but to me this pic appears like its going to be a problem as well down the road. I hope this isnt indicative of the kind of manufacturing quality that leads to long term problems here and elsewhere - ie - after the warranty..... expires...

 

[BryanValRox]

Well, I cant find the motors for the sofa slides... wires down both sides behind the aluminum trim. This pic (fromt he slide I thinkis working properly) is interesting - look at the metal filings in the bottom. Also, what type of slide system is this? The BAL web site lists a lot of them...and the two I have looked at arent the same ones. I hate to say it, but to me this pic appears like its going to be a problem as well down the road. I hope this isnt indicative of the kind of manufacturing quality that leads to long term problems here and elsewhere - ie - after the warranty..... expires...

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They are BAL Exact Slides, if you have metal shaving at the bottom( and it looks like you do), you very likely have the gear/ motor deflection issue. The chain and sprocket are likely milling their way into the jamb brackets. The motors are at the top behind the jamb bracket. You can’t see or inspect them without removal of the inner bracket , even then you can really see what is wrong without completely removing the outside jamb assembly as well.
Your time will be well spent watching the repair series on the BAL website and or you tube.
I replaced both of ours and it took me about 3 1/2 hours per side.

 

[mboudoin]

There are quite a few youtube video's on how to replace the motors. Alliance can provide both the part numbers and parts based on your vin. Also, pretty easy for a mobile tech to replace.