used slide-out systems to buy for Haunt

[dfleming103]

I'm usually a lurker, mostly posting when I have questions, or reading input for info, which is much appreciated. I have an idea of using sets of slide out system in a haunt I am working with. I know there is someone on here that has an opinion and more importantly help! It would involve using the slide out mechanism/motors for two walls of lightweight construction, sheetrock (or even that lightweight plastic) interior style wall 8 ft high and 10 ft long. You could use rigid casters , build the wall frame, then add the covering and attach a slide somehow to the wall. Is there a way to use one of the rack and pinon or other styles to move this "platform" straightly from point a to point b. There would be a corresponding set on the other side, with the two walls starting at 36 inches and then retracting as far as they can. We have approx 12 feet of area. We would start with something to hold attention, add in disorienting lights, then start the slides moving in until they figure out to head to the exit, which has now disappeared behind slide a, so minimum slide distance is 36 inches, 42-46 would be better. Floor is now concrete, but could be made any style with little effort. Around 48 inches of movement max from edge of motor/frame connection to extension point.

Assuming we have a stable base with metal studs, cross bracing etc. and we use the lightest materials, what's the cheapest way to accomplish this component wise? Are there salvage or used components out there that would fit this bill, or are better off going with new stuff since, if all goes well there will be openings and closings about every 3 or so minutes for a few hours. Would you need two or three rods/tracks to move a section 10 feet long straight. The sensation is the walls closing in, something we all I think get a kick out of when we do it shutting up the trailer, just add some lights and no knowledge those walls are closing in can be a good effect I think. I know little about all this, I want to use the cheaper style system, we won't be moving a lot of weight, I realize we could rig some sort of chain and forward/reverse motor with a rocker switch, just seems like there is something already out there and no need to invent the wheel, just go buy it and apply it.

All thoughts and comments appreciated. We don't want to spend thousands on this, just rudimentary behind scenes,

Thanks for the help

 

[SolarPoweredRV]

I'm usually a lurker, mostly posting when I have questions, or reading input for info, which is much appreciated. I have an idea of using sets of slide out system in a haunt I am working with. I know there is someone on here that has an opinion and more importantly help! It would involve using the slide out mechanism/motors for two walls of lightweight construction, sheetrock (or even that lightweight plastic) interior style wall 8 ft high and 10 ft long. You could use rigid casters , build the wall frame, then add the covering and attach a slide somehow to the wall. Is there a way to use one of the rack and pinon or other styles to move this "platform" straightly from point a to point b. There would be a corresponding set on the other side, with the two walls starting at 36 inches and then retracting as far as they can. We have approx 12 feet of area. We would start with something to hold attention, add in disorienting lights, then start the slides moving in until they figure out to head to the exit, which has now disappeared behind slide a, so minimum slide distance is 36 inches, 42-46 would be better. Floor is now concrete, but could be made any style with little effort. Around 48 inches of movement max from edge of motor/frame connection to extension point.

Assuming we have a stable base with metal studs, cross bracing etc. and we use the lightest materials, what's the cheapest way to accomplish this component wise? Are there salvage or used components out there that would fit this bill, or are better off going with new stuff since, if all goes well there will be openings and closings about every 3 or so minutes for a few hours. Would you need two or three rods/tracks to move a section 10 feet long straight. The sensation is the walls closing in, something we all I think get a kick out of when we do it shutting up the trailer, just add some lights and no knowledge those walls are closing in can be a good effect I think. I know little about all this, I want to use the cheaper style system, we won't be moving a lot of weight, I realize we could rig some sort of chain and forward/reverse motor with a rocker switch, just seems like there is something already out there and no need to invent the wheel, just go buy it and apply it.

All thoughts and comments appreciated. We don't want to spend thousands on this, just rudimentary behind scenes,

Thanks for the help

Here are a few thoughts I have:

First, I would definitely start with a hydraulic system. The cycles you are anticipating would create too much heat in the motors if you chose to drive your slides with electric motors.

Second, you want to build your walls from lightweight materials, not drywall (very heavy stuff). I would think along the lines of 3/8 inch foam board glued and sandwiched between two sheets of 1/8 inch plywood.

I think that instead of trying to Jerry rig an old RV slide, it would be easier to just buy new hydraulic cylinders of the appropriate length and strength to move your walls efficiently.

The next thing you need to consider is speed of the system, this will be a function of your hydraulic pump. Here you are going to need some charts to determine flow rate based on the speed required and the volume of the fluid in your pistons.

I would also focus on getting very high quality casters for this to ride on, your Home Depot quality furniture casters will not work for the duty cycles you are describing. I would look at wheels made for Roller Blade skates. The wheels are high quality urethane and they have very good bearings in them. I would also install more than whatever your weight calculations call for. Extra wheels reduce the weight on all wheels and that will increase the longevity and reliability of your project.

You will probably need some guides to ensure the slides move in and out in a straight line. This can be accomplished by bolting a pair of angle irons to the floor and placing a pair of roller blade wheels to the slide. the wheels will keep the slides in alignment.

This sounds like a fun project. Where are you going to build it?

Please let us know how it goes and definitely post pictures.

 

[dfleming103]

Here are a few thoughts I have:

First, I would definitely start with a hydraulic system. The cycles you are anticipating would create too much heat in the motors if you chose to drive your slides with electric motors.

Second, you want to build your walls from lightweight materials, not drywall (very heavy stuff). I would think along the lines of 3/8 inch foam board glued and sandwiched between two sheets of 1/8 inch plywood.

I think that instead of trying to Jerry rig an old RV slide, it would be easier to just buy new hydraulic cylinders of the appropriate length and strength to move your walls efficiently.

The next thing you need to consider is speed of the system, this will be a function of your hydraulic pump. Here you are going to need some charts to determine flow rate based on the speed required and the volume of the fluid in your pistons.

I would also focus on getting very high quality casters for this to ride on, your Home Depot quality furniture casters will not work for the duty cycles you are describing. I would look at wheels made for Roller Blade skates. The wheels are high quality urethane and they have very good bearings in them. I would also install more than whatever your weight calculations call for. Extra wheels reduce the weight on all wheels and that will increase the longevity and reliability of your project.

You will probably need some guides to ensure the slides move in and out in a straight line. This can be accomplished by bolting a pair of angle irons to the floor and placing a pair of roller blade wheels to the slide. the wheels will keep the slides in alignment.

This sounds like a fun project. Where are you going to build it?

Please let us know how it goes and definitely post pictures.

All that is very helpful, Thanks Solar powered RV!

I'm not too familiar with hydraulic systems, my 5th wheel has the rack/pinion system. I'm guessing you have a tank to hold fluid, with a pump to either drain fluid or push it out depending on direction, with appropriate pistons and hoses to connect all. calculating speed with charts and fluid levels is going to be above my pay grade however. I notice there are lots of pumps available for dump trucks that seem pretty reasonable compared to lippert, but not sure that will work for what I need. We would like the walls to move slowly, say extending the 42 inch pistons over 45 seconds or so...

The only thing I think you have suggested may not be feasible is the angle iron track. The way I see what you describe I would think would leave an angle iron slide viewable to patrons as they enter the expanded room. We don't really have room to handle a track on the back side, the room isn't big enough for that. What about using two or three pistons on each wall to keep them going in a straight line? I assume you could also use one pump to power 4 pistons at the same time to bring both walls in, although hosing for the two far pistons on wall opposite pump may be more expensive than buying a second pump.

I'm sort of a loss at how to attach the roller blade wheels to the walls, I see there appear to be casters that are made the same way with ball bearings and include a spindle but we are going to need rigid wheels, just can't seem to wrap my head around how to attach them.

I'm also guessing a rocker style switch like on my rv would be needed to run motor, with slide in and slide out option.

We are building the Haunt in OKC in Stockyards City. I really appreciate the help, and will gladly post pictures if we tackle this as a project. I am more in the practicality of the device, as well as total cost. But I haven't found anything yet that says it won't work as imagined. Again thanks for the input and hopefully you can help with questions above.

 

[Second Chance]

Thread moved to Off Topic.

Rob

 

[SolarPoweredRV]

All that is very helpful, Thanks Solar powered RV!

I'm not too familiar with hydraulic systems, my 5th wheel has the rack/pinion system. I'm guessing you have a tank to hold fluid, with a pump to either drain fluid or push it out depending on direction, with appropriate pistons and hoses to connect all. calculating speed with charts and fluid levels is going to be above my pay grade however. I notice there are lots of pumps available for dump trucks that seem pretty reasonable compared to lippert, but not sure that will work for what I need. We would like the walls to move slowly, say extending the 42 inch pistons over 45 seconds or so...

The only thing I think you have suggested may not be feasible is the angle iron track. The way I see what you describe I would think would leave an angle iron slide viewable to patrons as they enter the expanded room. We don't really have room to handle a track on the back side, the room isn't big enough for that. What about using two or three pistons on each wall to keep them going in a straight line? I assume you could also use one pump to power 4 pistons at the same time to bring both walls in, although hosing for the two far pistons on wall opposite pump may be more expensive than buying a second pump.

I'm sort of a loss at how to attach the roller blade wheels to the walls, I see there appear to be casters that are made the same way with ball bearings and include a spindle but we are going to need rigid wheels, just can't seem to wrap my head around how to attach them.

I'm also guessing a rocker style switch like on my rv would be needed to run motor, with slide in and slide out option.

We are building the Haunt in OKC in Stockyards City. I really appreciate the help, and will gladly post pictures if we tackle this as a project. I am more in the practicality of the device, as well as total cost. But I haven't found anything yet that says it won't work as imagined. Again thanks for the input and hopefully you can help with questions above.

Okay, what i had envisioned was a three sided wall with a floor, just like a regular RV slide. However, it is now my understanding that you only want the opposing walls to move and not the floor.

If this is the case, then we should think outside the box (literally) and re-imagine the problem.

First question: are you trying to move the walls inside an existing room with walls and a ceiling?

If the answer is no, that you have a large open space to work with. Then I think we can have some fun..

First, you build your room with all your mechanicals exterior to the false room.

This would allow you to build two long tracks above the false room and hang the movable walls from the tracks. the tracks would be barn door tracks and you could use the same wheels they use for barn doors to hold up your movable walls.

With this setup, you could also use garage door openers to move the walls in and out. The advantage of using Garage door openers is that they are already reversible and they have built in limit switches that you can set to limit the travel of the walls. Plus, they will have the longer travel you wanted.

Here are the details and why each matters:

First you build your walls, for weight savings, you build the walls from 2 x 2 framing and you face it with 1/8 inch plywood.

Then you take a 3 foot piece of square metal tubing (a 2x4 might work) and you mount a set of barn door glide wheels to each end and you mount this perpendicular to the top your wall (note: this will be mounted rigidly to the wall. You will have four of these (let's call them trolleys) one mounted approximately 2 feet from each end of each wall. By having the four trolleys mounted rigidly to the two walls you automatically eliminate any possibility the walls can get crooked.

Then you mount a garage door opener to the middle of your wall and test. If a single garage door opener works then great, however, you might need a pair to consistently move the walls. Note: you want to get a heavy duty garage door opener and make sure you have a fan blowing on the motor to keep it cool, after all, you are going to be opening and closing the wall several times every hour.

When you build your room you are going to need to camouflage the wall edges and ceiling where the tracks are. as far as the ceiling and wall edges go, I would look at mounting exterior garage door trim with a rubber sweep (this is used on the top and sides of a standard garage door). For the ceiling where the tracks are, I would suggest having false wood beams going across the ceiling and cutting out the wall where the beams will be. This allows you to run the trolleys above the beams with the wall moving around the beams.

Anyway, just a couple more thoughts.

 

[dfleming103]

Okay, what i had envisioned was a three sided wall with a floor, just like a regular RV slide. However, it is now my understanding that you only want the opposing walls to move and not the floor.

If this is the case, then we should think outside the box (literally) and re-imagine the problem.

First question: are you trying to move the walls inside an existing room with walls and a ceiling?

If the answer is no, that you have a large open space to work with. Then I think we can have some fun..

First, you build your room with all your mechanicals exterior to the false room.

This would allow you to build two long tracks above the false room and hang the movable walls from the tracks. the tracks would be barn door tracks and you could use the same wheels they use for barn doors to hold up your movable walls.

With this setup, you could also use garage door openers to move the walls in and out. The advantage of using Garage door openers is that they are already reversible and they have built in limit switches that you can set to limit the travel of the walls. Plus, they will have the longer travel you wanted.

Here are the details and why each matters:

First you build your walls, for weight savings, you build the walls from 2 x 2 framing and you face it with 1/8 inch plywood.

Then you take a 3 foot piece of square metal tubing (a 2x4 might work) and you mount a set of barn door glide wheels to each end and you mount this perpendicular to the top your wall (note: this will be mounted rigidly to the wall. You will have four of these (let's call them trolleys) one mounted approximately 2 feet from each end of each wall. By having the four trolleys mounted rigidly to the two walls you automatically eliminate any possibility the walls can get crooked.

Then you mount a garage door opener to the middle of your wall and test. If a single garage door opener works then great, however, you might need a pair to consistently move the walls. Note: you want to get a heavy duty garage door opener and make sure you have a fan blowing on the motor to keep it cool, after all, you are going to be opening and closing the wall several times every hour.

When you build your room you are going to need to camouflage the wall edges and ceiling where the tracks are. as far as the ceiling and wall edges go, I would look at mounting exterior garage door trim with a rubber sweep (this is used on the top and sides of a standard garage door). For the ceiling where the tracks are, I would suggest having false wood beams going across the ceiling and cutting out the wall where the beams will be. This allows you to run the trolleys above the beams with the wall moving around the beams.

Anyway, just a couple more thoughts.

I appreciate that input, we may not be able to do that due to construction of these rooms, but maybe... Thanks for the help, and I do appreciate all your input.