How to Close Schwintek Slide with Portable Battery Pack?

[reubenray]

Back when I had the closing my slides issue when Compass Connect failed the mobile tech did it with an alternate power source. He stuck some wires in the connectors and then hooked these up to his portable battery pack cables. I could not watch him being he wanted me inside to tell him what was closing and what was not.

Is there a YouTube of something that shows how this was done in case I need to do it?

 

[lineman1234]

Yepppp. A few out there. I looked into how they work, lubing, vs not lubing, what to do if a motor craps out and such. I came across a few decent vids showing using a cordless power tool batt pack, so using a thing like a battery booster pack should work very nice if needed. The one guy had some clamps that went over/on the wires and he left them on, im not a clamp type wire person, but that seemed to work and be non invasive for temp use.

A BIG iffff, i have to change a motor, ill take the bad one apart and save the part that goes in the gear to make a way to crank it in or out, maybe even putting on a geared 90 to use a drill or impact gun on it. Till new motor is installed.

 

[reubenray]

I have been searching, but I have not found anything yet.

 

[dryfly]

A pin out diagram of the connector is going to be needed to determine where to put the pos and neg 12vdc to activate the motor.

 

[Thorvald]

I have been searching, but I have not found anything yet.

Seriously? There are literally thousands of videos about the slide system on YouTube. Problem is trying to find out which one to look at as a lot of them are conflicting.

Here is one directly from the manufacturer:

https://youtu.be/s1LnkUcFoHo?si=NBDYqCbGZQN1ZznG

But unless there’s a broken wire or something, you almost never have to power up the motors, there’s an override feature on the controller, or you can pop the motors up out of the gear track and just push the slide manually.

Great guide here:

https://myrvworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Schwintek-Manual-override.pdf

 

[reubenray]

He actually plugged into the leads going to each motor. The controller was dead. Most of the videos have to do with doing a manual reset at the controller or removing the motors.

 

[dryfly]

But unless there’s a broken wire or something, you almost never have to power up the motors.

Right! A cable issue or a defective controller is a good reason to have capability to power the motor indirectly. Much easier, quicker than pulling the 2 motors.

 

[reubenray]

Right! A cable issue or a defective controller is a good reason to have capability to power the motor indirectly. Much easier, quicker than pulling the 2 motors.

The Compass Connect going out killed all power to the slide controller. To much stuff is controlled by this touchpad without manual backup switch options. I thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I don't now.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

The Compass Connect going out killed all power to the slide controller. To much stuff is controlled by this touchpad without manual backup switch options. I thought this was the greatest thing since sliced bread, but I don't now.

I'm kind of the opposite. I love gadgets, but not fond of gadgetry for gadgetry's sake. The controller pad is a prime example. It really serves no useful purpose, except to complicate things. Yeah, it's smaller than a control panel with switches and such, but at the loss of simplicity. When I want to turn on the lights, I have to wake the control panel, tap to open the controls I want, and then tap again to select the particular item. As opposed to flipping a manual switch, and one and done. As was mentioned in another thread: KISS.

 

[Thorvald]

Here you go, RV tech using cable to power motor with battery…

https://youtu.be/lQPIrVaSOlk?si=mzNTPAT81H-h0MEZ

Cable can be bought on Amazon or direct for cheap, just get the shortest extension cable.

 

[dryfly]

I'm kind of the opposite. I love gadgets, but not fond of gadgetry for gadgetry's sake. The controller pad is a prime example. It really serves no useful purpose, except to complicate things. Yeah, it's smaller than a control panel with switches and such, but at the loss of simplicity. When I want to turn on the lights, I have to wake the control panel, tap to open the controls I want, and then tap again to select the particular item. As opposed to flipping a manual switch, and one and done. As was mentioned in another thread: KISS.

Yeah, this is really true in RV's. We are seeing a big trend in incorporating all this "stuff" that makes the trailer look cool but really does not accomplish anything better. It's fun when it's working, but when it breaks it's way more expensive to replace and more difficult to troubleshoot, e.g. a manual toggle switch vs. an electronic circuit board to turn a simple device on and off.

 

[Hoopy Frood]

Yeah, this is really true in RV's. We are seeing a big trend in incorporating all this "stuff" that makes the trailer look cool but really does not accomplish anything better. It's fun when it's working, but when it breaks it's way more expensive to replace and more difficult to troubleshoot, e.g. a manual toggle switch vs. an electronic circuit board to turn a simple device on and off.

Very true, and when that circuit board has a bad trace, multiple things quit working, and good luck trying to find the problem. You become a modern mechanic: you start throwing parts at it because it's almost impossible to fix a bad circuit board.

 

[reubenray]

If possible I would like to get manual switches put in for the two slides. But is these work if the controller looses power? The compass connect going out killed the power to the controller. I wonder if getting power back to the controller may be easier than using jumper cables?

 

[dryfly]

If possible I would like to get manual switches put in for the two slides. But is these work if the controller looses power? The compass connect going out killed the power to the controller. I wonder if getting power back to the controller may be easier than using jumper cables?

I'm not sure what you are asking, but not having Compass Connect system on my trailer I can't comment on how installing a manual switch could be done. If you are talking about Schwintek slides I am assuming you just could copy the wiring of a trailer without the Compass Connect, bypassing it and installing a rocker switch connected to the controller.

If you are asking about just getting 12vdc to the controller then that seems easier than getting it to the motors. That is assuming that that's the only issue with the controller.

 

[Thorvald]

Well, what timing, Darryl just released another video and it covers most of the steps and shows a lot of the issues you can run into. It also shows the battery in the harness and all that stuff.

He uses a 12v Dewalt (Yuck!) but you can also get Milwaukee M12 adapters from Amazon cheap.

 

[reubenray]

Well, what timing, Darryl just released another video and it covers most of the steps and shows a lot of the issues you can run into. It also shows the battery in the harness and all that stuff.

He uses a 12v Dewalt (Yuck!) but you can also get Milwaukee M12 adapters from Amazon cheap.

This would be great IF the connection at the end of the cable at the controller is the same connection on the motor. I carry several Worx batteries with me on all my trips. I would have to figure out which one is the positive and the negative.

 

[Thorvald]

This would be great IF the connection at the end of the cable at the controller is the same connection on the motor. I carry several Worx batteries with me on all my trips. I would have to figure out which one is the positive and the negative.

It's not rocket science. It's labelled on the controller for you, typically Red and Black. Apply Power one way and motor moves in, reverse polarity and motor moves out.

Here are complete pics of all the controllers showing the controller side connector.

https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws.com/complists/slideouts/ccd-0002716.pdf



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Just buy a nice short extension from Amazon/eBay/local RV Tech and cut the controller end off and connect to your battery like Darry does in the video.


The Service Kit Manual even covers how to do it:

https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws.com/manuals/slideouts/in-wall/ccd-0001768.pdf

 

[Thorvald]

If you want to get really fancy, build a complete dual motor battery adapter like this guy:

 

[Teledoc]

Back when I had the closing my slides issue when Compass Connect failed the mobile tech did it with an alternate power source. He stuck some wires in the connectors and then hooked these up to his portable battery pack cables. I could not watch him being he wanted me inside to tell him what was closing and what was not.

Is there a YouTube of something that shows how this was done in case I need to do it?

Best is to try and find root cause for the failure. Schwintek slides can have misalignment issues, motor failure or wiring to motors, wiring problems, bad switch, bad controller. It takes a bit of work to narrow down, and I am assuming the controller is not throwing diagnostic codes. Short of that, you can bypass the Compass Connect and install a manual switch. I have a manual switch but the slide was inconsistently working. It did not seem the motors were an issue (no fault codes). I replaced my controller - no joy. Then I bought a new switch, and wired it next to the controller in a project box installed in the 5th wheel basement after ensuring the + and - leads to the controller were fine (and of course, battery voltage etc - the Schwintek's use 12V power off the battery). Works great now. Issue is likely faulty switch in coach's control panel or the wires to it, especially the motor est and retr wires given the power and ground wires at the interior switch tested fine.

 

[Don and Linda]

Best is to try and find root cause for the failure.

I can't agree with this more. There's so much that can go wrong with the Schwintek slides. When you throw in the complexity of One Control, it just becomes that much more complicated.

I've had two instances where my slide would not retract. The solution I used is much simpler than using a drill battery or removing the motors, although it takes more manpower. I found a way to retract the Schwintek slide in a technical note (TI-169) from Lippert. I tried the manual override at the controller which did not work for me. I thought about pulling the motors, but having done that with a camper in the past and the problems that that presented, I decided against it. I decided to try the instructions in the tech note for manually pushing in the slide room (middle of page 3 in the document). I disconnected the motors from the controller as instructed and attempted to push the slide room in as described. I was able to move it slightly, but no where near able to get it pushed in. Grabbed a friend and tried again - slide room went right in. Reconnected the wiring to the controller and everything was good. When we got home, I went through the troubleshooting procedure and found that the wiring from one of the motors had been pinched. Fixed the broken conductor and it's worked perfectly ever since.

I have seen videos where a battery was used to run the motor directly, but since it's (hopefully) needed so infrequently, I've opted to just use the manual retraction procedure.