Shwintek Slide stuck in

[SWharton]

Our slide is stuck in. We are unable to get it out far enough to remove the screw to pull out the motor. Any ideas?

[mptjelgin]

My understanding is that if you unplug the two motors from the motor controller it deactivates the motor brakes and may allow you to push out the slide. 

Good luck. 

[SWharton]

We haven't seen that solution, I'll research  it some more. If that works we could disconnect the motors, push it back in(one end sticks out 1", put the motor back in, make sure the gears  engage and  hopefully home free. If the motor gear is stripped then we have another problem.

Thanks

 

[remoandiris]

What did Lippert tech support have to say?

Do the motors activate at all?  If not, it might be an electrical problem, such as a bad or loose ground wire.

[SWharton]

Lippert support asked us to let them know the solution. All motors work. We do the normal sync procedure and can't get it synced. One side will go out a bit, the other doesn't. The slide is a little bit crooked when in, not bad. Luckily it is a small slide with the tv and no major problem being stuck in. Just inconvenience. When we did the sync originally the slide corrected itself, just not enough.

We are heading to Livingston and had an appt with West, added the slide to it.

We are thinking the gear may be stripped, or somehow go itself our of sync. We have read numerous threads on the slide problem but haven't found a solution we are willing to try without someone around to fix it. 

I need to ask Llippert if the slide will work on on motor. If so, that may be the solution. disconnect the motor that won't move the slide and take it out. Check the gear out and then reconnect and bring the entire slide in and resync. Will only try this when in Livingston.

[mptjelgin]

I can tell you that they will not work with a single motor!  There is no interconnect and one motor will simply drive one side of the slide out until things bind up.

We dealt with some similar issues with our bedroom slide recently. One side stalled on a very cold morning and we ended up with a situation similar to what you are describing. I called the Kansas RV Center since we have a Hitchhiker and spoke with one of the technicians. He asked if we had lubed the gear rails and said that can cause issues, I asked what to lube with he he said that they use WD-40! So I have sprayed our rails a couple of times and things are working again. 

The motor controller will stop either motor when they are drawing more than a certain amount of current. That is how the controller detects when the slide is all of the way in or all of the way out. For us this was leading to issues with the slide going out or coming in unevenly. I was able to hold one side or the other as it was going out and get the slide lined back up, but you need to be careful and not get fingers pinched.  Once a motor stalls you have to reverse the switch and go in the opposite direction for an inch or two. By going back-and-forth a couple of time while holding one side I was able to get things lined up again. Once things were lined back up and lubricated they are once again working fine. 

Good luck!

[Yarome]

That very well could be. If you have ever had a motor replacement... one additional to check is to ensure "both" motors were replaced at the same time. The Original Shwintek motor had a, IIRC, 30:1 gear and the updated motors have 50:1 gears. The Shwintek works by counting and syncing revolutions of each motor so you can imagine the issues it might cause if the motor gears are mismatched.

One additional that is not at all uncommon.... rain run-off getting into a motor. A known issue is rust buildup on the motor shafts that can impede or actually seize a motor. "That" is a massive pain since, in most instances, the only way to get to the motors when it is closed, and all else fails, is to remove the slide frame so you can get at the motor mounting screws.

Hope it's nothing, but just FYI of a couple of alternative possibilities that aren't incredibly rare.

[Yarome]

Guess I should have asked as well... you did check the controller for an error code and are aware of how to manually disable the electronic "controls" (revolution count/sync feature), correct? That allows you to operate the slide in "manual" electronic mode in the event there is a sync or control error.

Namely... pressing the button 6 times and then holding on the 7th until the light indicator changes.

[SWharton]

Yes to the controller though it is virtually impossible to read, we are going to see if we have enough wire to move it to a better location.

We have lubed our tracks etc. every 3 months since we bought the rig so we don't think is that.

Haven't been in any rain for months(been in Phoenix). Worked fine until a few days ago.

Never had a motor replacement and never had any previous problems(3 years).

Thanks for the input on one motor. Read that someplace you could run on one motor, guess not. We will try holding in the one side to see if we can force a "sync". Since the slide is in can't make it worse.

Thanks everyone.

[mptjelgin]

There are also optional overrides to run only one motor. Press the mode button twice and then hold for 5 seconds. You can then use the switch to "jog" that one motor in or out to straighten things up.  You can press the mode button again to "jog" the other motor.   Information can be found here:

https://www.lci1.com/assets/content/support/manuals/IN-WALL-Slide-out-Winnebago-Manual.pdf

I found it easier to physically just hold one side but the "jog" feature may work better for you. 

[SWharton]

Thank you for this........... We are going to try both solutions, holding and jogging. We didn't know that Winnebago had its own manual from Lippert. Never found it on the Lippert site(which  I find is hard to find things on), Lippert never mentioned it etc etc.

Thanks, this will be our afternoon project. If winds have die down we hope to leave tomorrow. We are in Deming right now but winds have been running at 20+.

[Bobi and Dick McKee]

Had the exact problem on our  former 5er.  Took it to the Hitch Hiker factory because it was under warranty.  At that time, 2013, they said it is a common problem and the communication wire that keeps the motors in sync was broke.  Sure enough when they took it apart the wire wire was broken when it enters the motor.  Our slide was stuck in also.  When I pressed on the button it would move about 6" and stop. The tec showed me that if you press the switch and count to10 after the slide stops and hit it again will move again.  He did it enough to access the motor.  Hope this helps.  Dick

[SWharton]

I am stating to find potential solutions to the problem. This one sounds good but the stuck side doesn't go out at all.

Do you remember if they ha to take out the motor? We might be able to access the motor from inside but are unable to take it out. I'll have to look at the wiring diagram for the motor to see where this wire is.

Thanks

 

[SWharton]

We found the problem, have no idea how to fix it. Any ideas would be nice.

The motor has detached itself from the gear box. We can see the screws dangling. About 1" above the block.

Still can't get the motor out, so we are still hung up but getting closer. At least we now know what is wrong..............

Thanks

 

[mptjelgin]

Congrats on finding the problem. Unfortunately I have no advice on how to get in there and re-attach as I've not encountered that.

[SWharton]

I understand. We are relieved we found the problem. I emailed Lippert and Winnebago, see what shows up next week.

We are thinking the set screw for the motor broke or fell out.