Schwintek slide repair

dougrainer wrote:

georgelesley wrote:

dougrainer wrote:

Ralph Cramden wrote:
Schwintek was a great system until Lippert laid their hands on it in 2010, and like everything Lippert does, proceeded to cheapen everything up and overprice the repair parts.

The Scwhintek system is dependent on having slides perfectly built, perfectly aligned, and the system itself installed perfectly and in alignment. Good luck hitting that trifecta with any of these RV manufacturers. But if you do you'll most likely never have a problem unless its on a large deep slide.

Lippert acquired Power Gear in 2014 They'll cheapen that system the same as they did with Schwintek if it hasn't already been done.

WHERE do you get your information? I am not a big fan of LCI but, the original Schwintek system before LCI bought the patent from the Inventor, had defects. Schwintek DID improve the system and now it is a very reliable system. BUT, the OEM's are at fault for this posters problem and the numerous problems over the years with Schwintek. The Schwintek system just moves the room in and out. That is ALL it does. ALL other parts of the slide room---rollers - wall cut out and frame build for strength and a SQUARE room are the OEM's fault. As well as this Winne build. Winne designed the system and just used Schwintek to move the room in and out. The fact they went to the different design Powergear for the posters problem shows Winne had a engineering design problem and they came up with the fix. Doug

I agree it was originally a WGO design problem by not putting enough rollers to prevent overcenter sag. It has been multiplied by dealers trying to get in on all the warranty work fixing the slides and shoddy factory construction and quality control. The dealer techs did not receive adequate training and do not do enough to keep up proficiency. This leads to rapid failures on the repaired unit. LCI bought Powergear and the new design the Powergear team worked out seems to work well when combined with adequate rollers installed and proper installation of parts and squaring up the slide in the opening correctly.

It had NOTHING to do with the Dealer tech and his Knowledge or proficiency. WE(Dealers) do NOT do things like this on our own. We MUST contac the OEM,(especially if multiple repairs have been made for
the same problem), and THEY (Winne Tech support) tells us what to do. They do NOT just send out parts and pay labor willy/nilly. So, In your case it was Winne, not your Dealer Tech that did not get the problem fixed. Winne should have told the Dealer tech what the problem REALLY was and advised that it is best to do a factory repair. That is why we must contac them on almost all warranty repairs. They may have a update to a problem and will advise us of that update. Odds are the Dealer Tech was attempting to do the repair BEFORE Winne finally acknowledged that there was a design problem. Rarely do OEM's send out TSB's on Design defects. They expect the Dealer to call and IF they have an update they advise us at that time. Doug

As I stated it was a WGO design defect. The training was also deficient I am sure. But the installation of the retrofit kit was also poor. My initial concern was wiring openly exposed. I was sure that was not correct and the WGO tech confirmed the installer did not clip the wiring harness in provided clips. Nor were provided washers installed to keep the rails from rattling. The rail brackets were also installed incorrectly. Teeth markers were visible above the rail where something had rubbed where it should not have. The provided vinyl strips supposed to be mounted behind the rails to prevent makers on the slide wall were not installed. These and a few other items can only be laid at the feet of the dealer.

I completely agree however it was a very poor design and training program and probably a reluctance to provide rollers and instructions on the need for them that caused and made the problem much worse than it had to be. As a former mechanic myself I understand being asked to do the impossible with inadequate training.