Schwintek slides

The Schwintek slide system is most often used on the smaller, lighter bedroom slides.

I usually look at pictures of the slide, looking for the shiny aluminum tracks on the side of the slide near the top and the bottom. Those tracks are what you see on a Schwintek.

Look at the first picture of this slide on a Montana. Do you see the shiny tracks?

On edit: Correction, according to others the shiny "thing" in the linked picture above is a cable. I was seeing the cable and its shadow, making it look wider. So, when looking at the side of a slide, I need to distinguish between an aluminum track (Schwintek), an aluminum cable (cable slide) or nothing (regular electric or hydraulic slide).

Now look at this one. No tracks visible. I think Silverback uses hydraulic slides.

Here is a closer look at the Schwintek tracks so you know what you are looking for.

racer4 wrote:

[snip]
The Schwintek slide system is most often used on the smaller, lighter bedroom slides.

I usually look at pictures of the slide, looking for the shiny aluminum tracks on the side of the slide near the top and the bottom. Those tracks are what you see on a Schwintek.

Look at the first picture of this slide on a Montana. Do you see the shiny tracks?
[/snip]

The Montana does *NOT* use the Schwintek system. Those "..shiny tracks.." you reference in the picture are cables. The front room in a Montana is cable actuated.

Carl n Susan wrote:

racer4 wrote:

[snip]
The Schwintek slide system is most often used on the smaller, lighter bedroom slides.

I usually look at pictures of the slide, looking for the shiny aluminum tracks on the side of the slide near the top and the bottom. Those tracks are what you see on a Schwintek.

Look at the first picture of this slide on a Montana. Do you see the shiny tracks?
[/snip]

The Montana does *NOT* use the Schwintek system. Those "..shiny tracks.." you reference in the picture are cables. The front room in a Montana is cable actuated.

Cables good or bad?

There is an ongoing thread regarding a Class A rig purchased by a gentleman who almost immediately experienced a severe malfunction that damaged the slide and wall. The Schwinny was his first targeted culprit but I believe it was determined that manufacturer error caused the problem. Basically Schwinny work great under ideal conditions but get messed up easily when things are off. In the above case the slide was mounted crooked I believe. If it were me buying the rig I would just cycle the slides in and out an obnoxious amount of times. Then see if there was any binding or grinding.

Not all front slide in the Montana's are cable operated. My 3400RL has 4 slides and ALL are hydraulic. I believe the only Montana models that use the cable system in the front slide are the 3750FL & 3850FL.

Any RV with slide can have slide problems due to being installed incorrectly regardless of the type of slide mechanism.

Again, be sure to cycle the slides a lot before taking any RV from a dealer and make sure they work smooth, no noise, no dragging or grinding and they come in straight and seal all the way around open or closed.

Schwintek slides are in use by many manufactures .... the feature I really like about them is when activated they ramp up their speed instead of the traditional way where the motor goes directly from off to full force .... I agree with those who have pointed out that a faulty install does cause problems with all slide systems .... Schwintek slide systems can only be used for slides that go straight in and out .... they cannot be used with level floor slides that go out and settle to provide a level floor .... fully realizing that they are in use by a growing number of companies, I won't have a camper with a cable slide system .... they are the cheapest system out there for a reason

Jim

So far so good on ours. Just keep them lubed with a dry spray Teflon lube (CRC). They don't like low voltage, because they stop with resistance, so just make sure you have good batteries, or plug in. Every once in a while, you may need to re-sync them, and if you get the latest version the tiny motors are easily replaced without pulling down a lot of trim.

None of the slide mechanisms are immune to issues. Montana's were bursting hydraulic hoses under the bed, cable systems are just what they are, cables that wear and snap (good old StarCraft pop ups and their 12 miles of cable), and motors go out on Schwintek. (not picking on Montana - that is just the brand we owned before a couple of times - almost all the manufacturers had similar issues)

Slides are nice, but with that they are a huge engineering undertaking on a low budget so they aren't without fault.

Thank you for your replies. With the possibilities of motors going out do you carry a couple in your trailer for replacement?

Carl n Susan wrote:
The Montana does *NOT* use the Schwintek system. Those "..shiny tracks.." you reference in the picture are cables. The front room in a Montana is cable actuated.

Carl n Susan, thanks for the correction.

It would be better if the manufacturer would say what system they use instead of leaving us to do detective work.