Reliability of propane and water in slide

[gme105]

Howdy all! We're looking at buying our first RV and have narrowed the search to 30' class C's with a stationary walk around bed. One thing I've noticed on some (like the Four Winds/Chateau 28Z) is the stove and/or sink are in the dining room slide. That seems like a really bad idea as the propane, water and drain lines would have to flex a lot each time the slide moves. The other thing this does is add weight to the slide, adding strain on the slide motors and track assemblies. The question is, how reliable is that? Anyone have experience with a leak or failure in this type of design? Thanks!!

[ron_dittmer]

SailingOn wrote:
If the fridge is in the slide, then the upper outside vent is on the vertical side of the rig, rather than the roof, and therefore less efficient.

I have heard of this too. The chimney for the fridge offers a better draw when going straight up through the roof. With a slide out, the chimney exhaust is in the wall near the top and is less efficient because of it. When camping in hotter temps, the fridge sometimes can't keep up. The remedy is to install a 12V fan in a strategic place behind the fridge done through the outside lower access panel.

The problem is more prominent with lower profile rigs with shorter chimneys. Tall rigs with high ceilings seem to do better because their slide out is taller and therefore have a taller chimney.

[SailingOn]

If the fridge is in the slide, then the upper outside vent is on the vertical side of the rig, rather than the roof, and therefore less efficient.

[mike_brez]

Mine is a 1998 so 21 years no issues with electric,water or propane going in and out a few times. :W

[rhagfo]

opnspaces wrote:
Been on this forum for many years and I can only remember one posting where the 120 volt romex to a wall outlet was damaged by the constant movement of the slide. Other than that the slide issues have always been about the slide damaging the floor as it moves in and out.

The slide should not use romex for the flexible connection, that should be SOOW 12-2 with ground.

[gme105]

Wow! I sincerely appreciate all the rapid responses and your collective experience.

I was talking to the dealer's service manager today about this and other issues and he said his experience was there were more often problems with stationary kitchen appliances with less flexibility. I can see that argument as well. Of course there are more stationary appliances (from what I can see) than those in slides so I suppose that would also mean more repair shop incidents.

It sounds like this is not the big concern I thought it might be. Again, my sincere thanks to all of you!

Greg

[2oldman]

janstey58 wrote:
The only issue is fall/winter camping, the water lines are exposed and you would need to worry about that if temps dipped below freezing.

Not mine. The lines are all inside.

[janstey58]

The only issue is fall/winter camping, the water lines are exposed and you would need to worry about that if temps dipped below freezing.

[Second_Chance]

To echo above comments, our stove and RV frig are in a slide - absolutely zero issues in four years of full-timing (frequent moves - not stationary).

Rob

[opnspaces]

Been on this forum for many years and I can only remember one posting where the 120 volt romex to a wall outlet was damaged by the constant movement of the slide. Other than that the slide issues have always been about the slide damaging the floor as it moves in and out.

[CA_Traveler]

There have been a few posts with issues. As long as the flexible portion is high quality then there should be no problems. I have water, 12V, 120V and propane in 2 slides plus a sink drain in one. Bedroom slides have 12V, 120V and TV coax.

Ours has junctions for flexible portion of the slide utilities. Between those junctions is much higher quality electrical and plumbing.

When I was buying the MH the kitchen slide plugs had a open ground. Turned out Monaco had not connected the ground in one of the junction boxes. The prior owner never checked the plugs.

[4x4van]

My A has sink & stove/oven in the slide; no problems so far.

[wildtoad]

Haven’t had mine as long as the above posts but mine has sink, stove/oven, wh in the kitchen slide, full wall slide has refer. After 3 years all good.

[mgirardo]

Our 32" Greyhawk had a slide with the stove top & oven. In the 9 years we owned it, we never had a problem with it.

-Michael

[2oldman]

It may seem like a bad idea, but mine has not been a problem in 17 years.