Slides won't retract...

[Jim]

Three times now, my HWH 310 Series room extender has become unresponsive to the Extend/Retract rocker switches. One is on the dash, the other in the bedroom. The LR slide is a flat floor type with two rams, the BR slide moves the closet with a single ram.

All three times this has happened it was on the day I was leaving a RV park, so very annoying. It's never cost me more than an hour so far but I'd like to be ahead of the issue.

I have never found the exact cause. Once I thought that a small 2-wire connector (marked Travel) had fallen off because the system came to life after I replaced it. I was mistaken about that because the next time it happen, I checked and that connector was nice and tight.

This last time it happened, I messed with the wires and connectors under the dash going to the controller, checked the fuses (all good), and no go. Then I went outside and wiggled the wires out there. No go. Then I went out with a rubber mallet and gave everything a good whack. Here's a pic of my manifold. It is under the LR slide, aft.



Whacking on things may or may not have had something to do with the restoration of operation this time but whatever, the slides started operating immediately after. This time I left the RV park just 1/2 hour later than expected.

There are no weird noises I can detect when I press the retract switch when it's not working, the batteries are new, the BR slide gets operated once a week when I dump, without issue so far except the 3 mornings when it's failed when I've been ready to travel. When the slides are working, they are smooth, no jerking, hesitation, grinding noises. They sound and work great...when they work.

This situation is annoying and I'm hoping someone has run into this intermittent type operation with the HWH system before and might have some suggestions.

[mabynack]

Trace the voltage from the battery to the motor and see if it drops off. It might be a solenoid going bad. If you're getting full voltage at the motor and it's still not working, it's either a bad ground or the motor. I replaced my solenoid and it worked for awhile, but then started up again. I did a check on the voltage and was only getting about 6 volts to the solenoid. New battery and cleaning the connectors restored it.

[antsinmypants]

Had same problem, always start main engine before running jacks or slides, problem solved for me, 2003 Winnebago journey 36'

[John_Joey]

FWIW, if it was me, the first thing I would do is slightly loosen up each nut and spray some contact cleaner on the connections. Then snug the nut back down. Cheap and easy, and doesn't need the help of another.

For safety I would disconnect the (should be coach) battery so as not to get any sparking when I was working on it. YMMV

[Jim]

Gator48 wrote:
Just had the same problem earlier this year.

1st when you hit the switch do you hear a click but no motor?

if so that means the first solenoid is working but the motor solenoid is probably bad.

Try jumping across the motor solenoid to see if the motor starts. If so that is your problem. If so for a emergency fix, have someone press the switch while you jump the motor solenoid with a real heavy piece of wire. This will get the slides in. Call Stuarts stuarts
and order a motor solenoid. It's a pretty easy repair just make a note of which wires go where.

Good luck
Dave

I can't hear worth a darn and travel alone so I won't be able to hear if any solenoid operates...

I'll see if I can talk a neighbor into listening for me...

[Gator48]

Just had the same problem earlier this year.

1st when you hit the switch do you hear a click but no motor?

if so that means the first solenoid is working but the motor solenoid is probably bad.

Try jumping across the motor solenoid to see if the motor starts. If so that is your problem. If so for a emergency fix, have someone press the switch while you jump the motor solenoid with a real heavy piece of wire. This will get the slides in. Call Stuarts stuarts
and order a motor solenoid. It's a pretty easy repair just make a note of which wires go where.

Good luck
Dave

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Canadian Rainbirds wrote:

Jim@HiTek wrote:
@Doug,

I always retract the slides before retracting the jacks and never considered doing the test you suggest. I'll check if the jacks retract next time the slides fail to retract.

Thanks for the sage advice.

HWH 310 jacks DO NOT use the motor to retract. The valves are opened via solenoids and retract by spring tension. Jacks will retract without the motor but need the pump to extend

Sorry Doug! I did not read your response in detail nor note that it was from you. :S I know better than to question your knowledge. You have helped me out more times than your know. Mea Culpa. 😮

I should know by now; "Make sure that Brain is running before operating Mouth (Fingers!)"

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Jim@HiTek wrote:
@Doug,

I always retract the slides before retracting the jacks and never considered doing the test you suggest. I'll check if the jacks retract next time the slides fail to retract.

Thanks for the sage advice.

HWH 310 jacks DO NOT use the motor to retract. The valves are opened via solenoids and retract by spring tension. Jacks will retract without the motor but need the pump to extend

[Jim]

@Doug,

I always retract the slides before retracting the jacks and never considered doing the test you suggest. I'll check if the jacks retract next time the slides fail to retract.

Thanks for the sage advice.

[dougrainer]

1. Do the jacks extend and retract? That will let you know if the PRIMARY battery solenoid is working at the pump and the Pump motor solenoid
2. See the RED heavy duty battery cables on those 2 solenoids? The 2nd solenoid, the smaller cable goes to the MOTOR. The FIRST solenoid is the system activation solenoid and the 2nd is the solenoid that closes to supply power to the motor when either the Jacks need to extend or the need to operate. Whacking on the system will cause a defective solenoid to then close. IF you use a heavy wire jumper(8 gauge ) and jump between the 2 large posts for the Motor activation solenoid, the motor should run. IF it does run when the system malfunctions then replace BOTH solenoids. If it does NOT run, then the motor is bad. Odds are the solenoids are bad. Theses are NOT standard auto part store solenoids. Get the solenoid kits from HWH. Doug

[smlranger]

Had same problem with my 2002 Journey with same set up. Motor was replaced in 2006. Fixed the issue for about 6 months then it started doing it again.

While at the Winnebago factory getting other stuff done, they replaced one of the automotive type solenoids on the motor. Fixed the issue.

Wacking the motor with a rubber mallet also would get mine working.

[garyemunson]

What usually happens with those older motors (ones on mechanical leveling legs, too) is that over the years the brushes wear, get stuck, or get a coating of dirt keeping them off the commutator. It can be a simple fix if you are somewhat mechanical. If the motor can be removed, disassemble it, clean the commutator with very fine sandpaper (not emery, it leaves conductive grit), make sure the brushes are clean, ok and free in their holders and reassemble. I use lacquer thinner to clean off the brushes and their holders. Reassembling can be tricky as you have to devise some way to hold the brushes back against their springs while you get them over the commutator. Getting the armature back into the shell can also be challenging since the strong magnets will yank it out of your fingers on the way in (and pull the commutator back out of the brushes you just struggled so much with!) The take-away from this is that regardless of how old the system is, the little motors don't really get that much run time so are rarely ever 'worn out'. The problem is usually poor contact between the brushes and commutator due to years of dirt/grease buildup. Some fresh grease for the bearings is also called for. When you work on it, just be careful not to damage any of the motor windings (the magnet issue is a real problem there). Quite often you cannot buy just a motor and since it's likely that yours is not really 'bad', just dirty, it's well worth the effort to try to clean it up. Chances are, this will add another 10-20 years life to the motor. There used to be lots of motor shops around but they are mostly gone now and except for rewinding big industrial motors, the few left are only interested in selling you a new device (which will include the entire pump unit).

[RoyB]

Saying your batteries are new doesn't mean much. Need to have a multimeter and make some measurements. Our batteries get run down some when we are camping and in your case a good battery boost may be in order to recoup your couple of days of camping...

Just yesterday our truck started showing LOW TIRE PRESSURE alarm on the console so I get my portable 12V tankless air compressor out from under the back seat to bring up the pressure in all of the tires as needed. This happens alot for us when the outside temps get real cold which affects the tire pressure sometimes to trip the low tire pressure alert on my truck console. My 12V tankless compressor was struggling to even get the tires up a few lbs and then I noticed the truck voltmeter was way down when running the compressor...

Kicked in a boost charge and the compressor jumps to life haha...

MS KARMA lives for these events haha. She knows exactly when to hit you with problems hehe... The trick is stay ahead of her if you can with good PLAN-Bs...

Roy Ken

[Jim]

OP here. Thanks for all the advice. I am beginning to think that maybe the motor has a dead spot. And what I'll do to confirm that is to try a retraction once per day of the big slide since that one would cause a bigger draw on the motor, possibly showing up a problem more readily then the smaller BR slide.

Than, if I get the darn thing to fail, I'll tap just the motor and see if that restores operation. If not, then I'll tap the solenoid. It's probably one or the other.

Thanks!

[John_Joey]

To piggyback off of Ivylog, it does sound like the same scenario that happens when you have a starter solenoid going out. You turn the key a few times and nothing, then off it goes.

It doesn't take too much time before turning the key doesn't work at all. Meaning, you might want to replace that solenoid when it's easy to do and not when you have too.