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joebedford's avatar
joebedford
Nomad II
Oct 08, 2017

Another way to repair a Schwintek slide

My RV is 6 years old and the slides have been pretty good except for one broken wire that was a pain to repair.

Yesterday I decided to run the 3 slides out and back in as part of getting ready for the start of RVing season :) Two worked but one of the ends of my big living room slide didn't go. Tried electronic override and it made no difference.

On closer inspection, I noticed that the motor on that side was up out of the block a bit. The wiring harness was wrapped tightly around the motor. I put a screwdriver in the gap between the motor and block and pried lightly - the motor moved. I can only conclude that the last time we used the slide the motor locator screw broke or fell out.

So, if you have Schwintek slides, check the motor screws or like me you'll be unscrewed.

I haven't decided how to fix this. My slides don't have motor access slots. I had to cut one to replace the motor with the broken wire. I suppose I could do the same otherwise it's off to the dealer to completely remove the slide on that end to access the motor. $$
  • joebedford's avatar
    joebedford
    Nomad II
    Oct 17, 2017
    I really wasn't happy with the way that motor was standing. Also, when operating the slide the motor would rock a little.

    After much mucking around (mainly because many of the important parts are hidden from view) I decided that the locating screw was not in its slot but was pushing on the motor casing. I backed out the screw and forced the motor down and vertical, then screwed the screw back in.

    This time the motor stayed vertical and didn't move.

    Now I'm wondering if the motor wasn't fixed when it left the factory and took 6 years to work loose?

    Hopefully it won't do it again.
  • joebedford's avatar
    joebedford
    Nomad II
    Oct 11, 2017
    This is a photo of the motor unit after I pried it out. The thin black plastic cover is off the top (right) - you can see the hall effect sensor and broken wires. Just below (left) of the slots, you can see a couple of scrapes where the fastening screw dragged and the whole thing rotated until the wires broke.

    One the bottom (left) you can see the driveshaft and two of the four stubs that locate the motor unit to the block. Somehow the unit lifted at least 1/4" despite the locating screw still being in place and that's what let the motor rotate.

    I agree with you that there may be problems in the future. The motor to driveshaft coupler tried to come out of the block with the motor - I had to force it down while prying the motor up. Maybe the coupler got bent somehow. The motor driveshaft rotated cleanly when I bench tested it. Maybe the driveshaft is bent and that's torquing the whole assembly. Dunno.
  • fpresto's avatar
    fpresto
    Explorer
    Oct 11, 2017
    Joe, I am afraid that you will have problems in the future. The motor sits on an upper bearing block, which you can see in your picture, inside that is a coupler, a shoe, a spur gear which engages the upper track and a gib which attaches to a torque shaft which runs down to the bottom assembly whose gear engages the bottom track. The entire assembly needs to be plumb. By your picture something is out of alignment. It is possible that your motor is not engaging the tab at the top. Look at the very top of the motor in your picture and you can see an opening with what looks like a rotor inside. There are several of those holes around the motor. Just to the left of that hole you can make out a tab in the vertical column. That tab should, I believe, go into one of the holes to keep the motor from rotating. If it is not engaging that may **** the motor. If the problem is further down it is only a matter of time until it fails.
  • joebedford's avatar
    joebedford
    Nomad II
    Oct 11, 2017
    I'm not sure why the motor is leaning like that. I wasn't able to push it down any further. It works but maybe something got bent when it spun in place?

  • joebedford's avatar
    joebedford
    Nomad II
    Oct 11, 2017
    Well, I'm confused: the lockdown screw was still there. Somehow the motor jumped out of its slot despite the screw.

    I know we took some heavy interstate loop-de-loops recently but . . . ?

    Anyway, the motor wires are fixed and it's back in. The slide works. Just need to glue the trim back into place.
  • joebedford's avatar
    joebedford
    Nomad II
    Oct 10, 2017
    I managed to pry the motor out of the driveshaft then push the slide out a foot. That gave me sufficient room to get my angle grinder in and dremel both with cut off wheels. My angle grinder wheel broke just as I finished but I was able to pry out the piece.

    I was able to pry out the motor and repair the wiring harness. Motor works in both directions with 12V applied. Works in the RV harness. Next, reinstall and hope the motors resync.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Oct 08, 2017
    Thanks for the post - that's good to know.
    The Shwintek system is new to me and while I haven't had any troubles, I am preparing myself just in case by learning how to manually retract and trouble-shoot it.

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