Anyone add power to slide?

**scalawag** · 12-30-2019, 04:43 PM

I have an Imagine 2150RB (2018) and we mostly boondock camp. I would really like to add a 12V USB outlet or two to our slide, which holds the sofa and refrigerator. There’s a light on the roof of the slide that I’ve thought about tapping into, but I have no idea how easy (or hard) it would be to get that power down a sidewall. Has anyone added USB ports to their slide? If so, where did you get the power from? Pictures appreciated!

**huntr70** · 12-31-2019, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by scalawag

I have an Imagine 2150RB (2018) and we mostly boondock camp. I would really like to add a 12V USB outlet or two to our slide, which holds the sofa and refrigerator. There’s a light on the roof of the slide that I’ve thought about tapping into, but I have no idea how easy (or hard) it would be to get that power down a sidewall. Has anyone added USB ports to their slide? If so, where did you get the power from? Pictures appreciated!

The walls are laminated as one piece, so you would have to run your wiring in a conduit to an outlet on the inside of the wall.

You will never get wire through the inside of a laminated wall.

**scalawag** · 12-31-2019, 09:34 AM

Well darn! Thanks for the info. I wonder if I could do something on the other side of my sofa where the fridge is?

**boyscout** · 12-31-2019, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by scalawag

Well darn! Thanks for the info. I wonder if I could do something on the other side of my sofa where the fridge is?

As Steve has said, the slide wall construction doesn't offer much opportunity for a slick no-see-wire installation. Unlike the main walls of the trailer, through which it is possible to poke wire through the styrofoam portion of the wall sandwich for short distances of a few inches. Someone here also reported cleverly running wire up behind the corner molding between the back and side walls of his trailer. Maybe something in those two ideas will be useful but neither is directly useful for adding a circuit to the slide itself.

Personally, I'd be looking at going UP into the slide from below, as GD is already doing for those lights. The wire for the lights, fridge, and anything else with power in that slide is in one or more wire looms strapped to a rubber stabilizer that folds in and out as the slide moves. You can likely tap one of the existing wires in that assembly - you'll want to determine how many amps are already being drawn by the existing demands on those wires. Assuming there's a circuit with unused capacity on it (the light circuit will be a likely candidate) then you can take advantage of the existing moving-loom assembly to handle the in-out movement problem of wiring a slide, run your tap up through the floor of the slide and install an outlet on the wall near the floor of the slide.

Good luck with your decisions and your project.

**BimmerAgent** · 01-02-2020, 10:22 PM

Do you have an outlet nearby? I just changed out one of my outlets to one that has a couple of usb ports on it, along with the two regular outlets. I'm planning on switching another one out this weekend. That way you keep your sockets, and add the usb ports. They work well. Got the outlets, old work outlet boxes, and covers at Home Depot.