Schwintek Slide problem

jal0710 · 04-02-2012, 05:53 PM

I talked about this before and we have discussed it, but today, I find out there may be some type of recall on our Schwintek slide for our bedroom slide. We got to the dealer at 8:30 this morning after a 150 mile trip, hoping to be close to first in line, but no such thing. They finally got in it the shop around 10:30 and the tech had never seen and didn't know anything about this type of slide system; he thought there was a manual slide override to move it in and out. I gave him the stuff I had gotten off the net and, after a while, he was on the phone with, I think, Lippert who bought Schwintek a while ago. They told him there was a "recall" on this system and they would be sending him the whole kit and kaboodle, motors, drive gears, etc to fix it. I really like the idea of this type of worm gear slide system, but am a little concerned about how difficult it will be to keep it operating properly. Does anybody else on here have this type of system and what are your experiences with it?

Rob_Fla · 04-02-2012, 06:56 PM

We have the Schwintek slide system on our bedroom slide and Kitchen/Entertainment Center Slide.

Have not had any problems so far, what year and model is your unit / Schwintek system that has a recall?

**norty1** · 04-02-2012, 07:13 PM

They are on virtually all late model Jayco bedroom slides.

Almost a year of heavy use, no problems.

jal0710 · 04-02-2012, 09:37 PM

We have a 2012 Jayco Eagle SuperLite 26.5 HT with a large slide with the, I think, hydraulic slide and the bedroom wardrobe slide is much smaller. Only slides about 16-18 ". Brought this up a while ago on the fifth wheel threads and got great help but according to the tech at the dealer, this is going to be a recall. He may have been wrong with this wording, I really don't care, I want it to be fixed. The first time we tried the slide, when we closed on it, it didn't work until the tech played with the button for a while. When we got it home, the slide would kind of work a little funny, but worked until we had folks in for a beer and it stuck.

Larry G. · 04-03-2012, 10:34 AM

Well.....

After we got our Pinnacle temporarily repaired by a mobile RV repair last week down in So. Cal. so we could get it home it is now at the Jayco dealer here.

This is the dinette/couch slide on the door side and we left it in on the trip home. When the dealer here opened it up last Friday it broke again which was actually a good thing happening right in front of the techs eyes. They had no clue what was going on.

They called Jayco who said to take pictures of certain areas and email them both to Jayco and Lippert who actually makes the slides.

Not sure if this is the same problem but hoping there is a recall so we can get things fixed and back on the road.

jal0710 · 04-03-2012, 01:12 PM

Larry G, when you said it "broke", what happened? Ours just kind of got sideways and refused to move other than a couple of inches either way until it stopped.

Larry G. · 04-03-2012, 02:23 PM

When we got to the CG (Pechanga in Temeculla) we started putting that slide out and the rear part started binding and clunking I stopped and retracted...then tried again. Both ends went out together.

When we were getting ready to come home started the retract heard more clunking then put it back out. After that all you heard was the electric motor running.

Have pics up in our PhotoBucket to view..click view all to see them.

Larry G. · 04-03-2012, 02:46 PM

what happened was that the brackets on the rear and front of the slide could not take the torque of moving in the slide...something is happening upstream of those brackets.

So the rear brace broke and the front brace turned into a pretzel.

Shin Pond Hunter · 04-03-2012, 03:10 PM

Larry,
Dont you think the shear bolt should have snapped first, before the brace twisted?

Larry G. · 04-03-2012, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shin Pond Hunter

Larry,
Dont you think the shear bolt should have snapped first, before the brace twisted?

Yes one would think.

Another thing;

The bedroom and kitchen/entertainment slides are not the same as our dinnete/couch slide although they are both Lippert.

The 2 off door slides are what I call 'track slides' while the door slide is not. You can actually see the tracks on the bottom of the off door 2 slides. The kitchen/entertainment slide should be heavier than than the dinnete/couch slide so weight one would think not be an issue.

Will have updates when I get them.

Shin Pond Hunter · 04-03-2012, 04:09 PM

Larry,
I feel your pain... I had a similar problem with my LR slide motor. I was able to get Jayco to replace 3 out of 4 motors (albeit I installed them ~ see my thread for further info).

Good luck!

jal0710 · 04-03-2012, 05:10 PM

So, yours wasn't the Schwintek electric slide like I'm having problems with. Hopefully your dealer, Jayco and Lippert, if they are the culprit will step up and make this right for you. The Schwintek system I am talking about is just two rails on each side of the slide which have a worm gear at the top and the bottom of the slide with a motor positioned on top of the gear drive. I think the slide system was never properly synchronized from the factory, but may be wrong on that.

Larry G. · 04-03-2012, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jal0710

So, yours wasn't the Schwintek electric slide like I'm having problems with. Hopefully your dealer, Jayco and Lippert, if they are the culprit will step up and make this right for you. The Schwintek system I am talking about is just two rails on each side of the slide which have a worm gear at the top and the bottom of the slide with a motor positioned on top of the gear drive. I think the slide system was never properly synchronized from the factory, but may be wrong on that.

Mine are all electric slides.

Panhead · 04-03-2012, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by norty1

They are on virtually all late model Jayco bedroom slides.

Almost a year of heavy use, no problems.

We do not have the Schwintek on our 2012 Superlite 5er

Steve

Murphie · 04-05-2012, 01:33 AM

I have the Schwintek slide system on our trailer. I have had it adjusted once when it was having trouble retracting one side. The tech phone Jayco who instructed him how to fix it. I just operated it today for the first time this spring and it worked ok but it sounds kinda rough compared to when we first got the trailer. There is a excellent website for it that explains how it works and how to troubleshoot it. When we bought the trailer the dealer's "show me the trailer" guy had no idea how it worked. Mechanically I really like the way it's made but from what I learned on the Schwintek site Jayco never used enough rollers for the floor to roll on according to Schwintek . I can post later what the tech did if your interested.
Btw I haven't heard anything about a recall or potential fix. What was it for?

jal0710 · 04-05-2012, 03:15 PM

According to the tech, the whole kit and kaboodle will be replaced, the motors and gearing on both sides. He didn't say anything about the rollers for the floor. When we first got the FW, the bedroom slide seemed to work, slid in and out very smoothly. However, when we had the problem, it just moved in a bit on one side then the other side moved to catch up with the first side and then it just stopped. I wasn't smart enough to get it running again so just finally got up and pulled motors out of the gearing and pushed the slide back into the FW until we took it down to the dealer. The tech is the one who said something about a recall, have heard nothing from Jayco or Schwintek. I do like the idea of the slide being done like this with no hydraulics or cables or pulleys, but don't know if they have it totally perfected yet.

Larry G. · 04-05-2012, 10:10 PM

Well....

Late today I stopped in for updates and the dealer said Lippert requested more photos as they have not seen this before either. Photos sent and more tomorrow.

With that I told them to tell Lippert and Jayco that maybe they should have the unit taken to their place, probably Lippert, so they could see first hand and find a fix. In return just give us a new unit...in fact there is one here on the dealer lot in our interior color and options that has been here for 3 months that I'm sure the dealer would love to move.

That probably won't happen, at least now, and I would expect Lippert to send one of their techs to see in person.

I'm a pretty patient person but I do have a limit. We have already cancelled one outing with more coming soon.

More when we have.

Larry G. · 04-12-2012, 07:33 PM

Update...

Well......Still at Sierra RV in Reno...2 weeks now.

Tuesday Jayco authorized parts Lippert, the frame and slide manufacturer, recommended to be replaced and I, after to talking to Jayco a couple of times Tuesday and Wednesday, asked if they could approve for Lippert to ship with overnight delivery which they approved. Parts arrived at Sierra this morning and they are installing as I write this. Tomorrow, hopefully in the morning, they should complete and test.

Parts shipped, $487 just for shipping, were braces, 2 motors and the gear/clutch assemblies...basically everything that operates the slide. Sierra RV mentioned to me today that Jayco told them not to spare the horses and do whatever it takes to get parts installed.

If this does not work the unit will probably have to go back to the factory and we will address that issue if it has to be that way.

Jayco told me yesterday that there is now another unit in a different part of the country with the exact same problem so this has their's and Lippert's attention and evidently we are the test case to try and resolve.

Our fingers are crossed!!!

drfife · 04-12-2012, 07:54 PM

Larry, I hope they fix it to your satisfaction. I'm sure you must be disappointed, but it will all work out.

Larry G. · 04-13-2012, 06:01 PM

Well we have our Pinnacle home.

Picked it up about an hour ago and everything seems to be fixed. The problem was probably two fold but mainly in the clutch/gear assemblies. There is a front and rear gear on the slide and the alignment of the gear cogs has to be the same on both (you can see where one cog on each gear is marked) for proper alignment. Ours were 180 degrees apart.

The new motor seems to be quieter but it's been so long since we've used it that maybe that's just my imagination. Anyway the slide seems to operate more smoothly and with less noise during activation. The techs operated the slide about 7 or 8 times before i got there and then I did about that same amount once they brought it outside.

Anyway, hopefully the issue has been resolved and... We get to start our camping season next week.

Jayco, Lippert and the Jayco dealer's service dpt at Sierra RV here in Reno have been great in addressing a problem that no one has seen before.

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