Schwintek Slide weak, needs assistance

[USA Traveler]

Not sure if this has been covered or not. Like many I have had multiple problems with my schwintek slidouts. I follow the instructions explicitly for extending and retracting. I have also lubricated them as part of regular maintenance. I have a 2018 Reflection 308BHTS that sadly has 2 schwintek slide outs. My latest issue is our kitchen slide will not go in without assistance/ my daughter and I pushing on the outside. It goes out ok but the motors shut off less then half way in if we don’t help it. No sign of gear misalignment ie metal shavings or gear wear. It’s clean underneath and the rollers seem to be operating normally. I’m wondering if this will be another motor replacement on a 3 year old trailer. ?
The slide out is not over loaded either, it does the same thing when it’s empty. I’ve also inspected the bottom of the slide. No damage or moisture to make the bottom side punky. Any ideas would help. Our dream trailer is becoming more of an albatross than an oasis.

 

[CaptPicardo]

Hi Perkins Family,
I don't know if this is the issue but one of the potentially relevant links describes the need to replace the 50 amp thermal fuse, as apparently it degrades over time. This fuse can impact the effectiveness of the hydraulics systems. Per the ChangingLanes couple, GD now recommends an 80-amp replacement. Here's the details and I know this is a shot in the dark, just wanted to provide you with one potential. https://changinglanesrv.com/rv-hydraulic-system-breaker-replacement-upgrade/

Hope it all works out!
Jeff

 

[CoChris-MGRV]

Hi Perkins Family,
I don't know if this is the issue but one of the potentially relevant links describes the need to replace the 50 amp thermal fuse, as apparently it degrades over time. This fuse can impact the effectiveness of the hydraulics systems. Per the ChangingLanes couple, GD now recommends an 80-amp replacement. Here's the details and I know this is a shot in the dark, just wanted to provide you with one potential. https://changinglanesrv.com/rv-hydraulic-system-breaker-replacement-upgrade/

Hope it all works out!
Jeff

The 50/80A breaker issue is only on hydraulic systems. The OP Reflection has Schwintek (electrical) slides and draws much. much lower current.

Chris

 

[USA Traveler]

Thank you for your response Jeff. But we do have the electrical schwintek style on our trailer and not the hydraulic.

 

[CaptPicardo]

Ah, thank you for the insight. The only other (crazy) idea I had was that I hear that if you attend the national GD Rally they will fix pretty much anything for free...I know I've got a few things on my list. I hope it all works!

 

[gbkims]

I’m wondering if this will be another motor replacement on a 3 year old trailer.

I guess you may have already checked with Lippert on the motor ratios.
What motor do these rigs with the larger schwintek slide come with?
GD Parts lookup for 2018 308BHTS has the photo of the 300:1 - https://www.granddesignrv.com/owner-support/parts/detail/2448
Motor 300:1 = 236575
Motor 500:1 = 287298

https://www.etrailer.com/question-236549.html

Amazon 10-2020 Review https://www.amazon.com/Lippert-Components-287298-Torque-Motor/dp/B077T2T2Z3
The 500's are for the steel shafts and the 300's are for the aluminum shafts
If you use a 500 to replace a 300 you run the risk of shearing the aluminum shafts off

 

[austinfriend93]

Not sure if this has been covered or not. Like many I have had multiple problems with my schwintek slidouts. I follow the instructions explicitly for extending and retracting. I have also lubricated them as part of regular maintenance. I have a 2018 Reflection 308BHTS that sadly has 2 schwintek slide outs. My latest issue is our kitchen slide will not go in without assistance/ my daughter and I pushing on the outside. It goes out ok but the motors shut off less then half way in if we don’t help it. No sign of gear misalignment ie metal shavings or gear wear. It’s clean underneath and the rollers seem to be operating normally. I’m wondering if this will be another motor replacement on a 3 year old trailer. ?
The slide out is not over loaded either, it does the same thing when it’s empty. I’ve also inspected the bottom of the slide. No damage or moisture to make the bottom side punky. Any ideas would help. Our dream trailer is becoming more of an albatross than an oasis.

We are having the same issue with our 2018 BH. Was wondering if you ever came to a conclusion of the issue?

 

[stroguy]

Wasn’t there a discussion on lubrication of the slides? Think there was a post from the manufacturer that there should not be any lubrication of the slide parts.

 

[LanerC]

Possibly not fully charged or weak battery if not plugged in.

 

[austinfriend93]

Wasn’t there a discussion on lubrication of the slides? Think there was a post from the manufacturer that there should not be any lubrication of the slide parts.

Do y’all lubricate yalls slides? I have read and been told both ways to do and not to do. Also it doesn’t seem to be a voltage issue as to the only time we run the slide is when it is connected to our truck or shore power. It goes out perfectly fine but coming back in it has such a hard time.

 

[stroguy]

I did, but stopped after that post. I am trying to find it. Also had a post about holding the IN and OUT button until the motors amp’d out. There was a cut and paste right from manufacturer that said that exact process.

 

[USA Traveler]

We had to replace the entire mechanism. Gears motors wires. These have continual problems from corrosion to wires being pinched to the slide out box being racked with movement and miss aligning gears. I would not recommend replacing with schwintek.
Also, just to clarify, we regularly clean, lubricate, all gears all rails and there’s no electrical issue. We had the same problems if we were plugged into full power, or if we are running on battery. The others schwintek slide and our main slide that is rack and pinion operated flawlessly. So I had nothing to do with the electrical.

If you need to replace yours I would highly recommend replacing the schwintek system with the Vroom system. If you search YouTube for schwintek, slide replacement and look for “all about RV’s” YouTube channel, you will find plenty of information about the new system from Vroom. It is a much better design in every way.

Unfortunately, I did not learn about it until after I had replaced my system. But the next time I have problems, I will definitely upgrade to the Vroom system.

 

[Linndoren]

Same thing here

Not sure if this has been covered or not. Like many I have had multiple problems with my schwintek slidouts. I follow the instructions explicitly for extending and retracting. I have also lubricated them as part of regular maintenance. I have a 2018 Reflection 308BHTS that sadly has 2 schwintek slide outs. My latest issue is our kitchen slide will not go in without assistance/ my daughter and I pushing on the outside. It goes out ok but the motors shut off less then half way in if we don’t help it. No sign of gear misalignment ie metal shavings or gear wear. It’s clean underneath and the rollers seem to be operating normally. I’m wondering if this will be another motor replacement on a 3 year old trailer. ?
The slide out is not over loaded either, it does the same thing when it’s empty. I’ve also inspected the bottom of the slide. No damage or moisture to make the bottom side punky. Any ideas would help. Our dream trailer is becoming more of an albatross than an oasis.

very interesting, I just started having this very issue when I was leaving after Thanksgiving. I am sure hoping it is an easy fix and not a replacement.

 

[Grandesigner]

Similar problem here. I found a workaround that involves tilting the trailer in favor of a downward slide as part of the process.
Also read of someone here upping the wire gage with success...

 

[nprario]

I know you have lubricated it but check Darren out at My RV Works if you have not already. He has tons of videos and works on this stuff.
https://youtu.be/p9Jx2xLZu-8

 

[Redapple63]

I would check battery state first and make sure the battery is fully charged or even plug in while moving the slides and see if that makes a difference. I would also check the electric motors. They have been known to go bad without catastrophic failure.

Bill

 

[jmbopp]

I guess you may have already checked with Lippert on the motor ratios.
What motor do these rigs with the larger schwintek slide come with?
GD Parts lookup for 2018 308BHTS has the photo of the 300:1 - https://www.granddesignrv.com/owner-support/parts/detail/2448
Motor 300:1 = 236575
Motor 500:1 = 287298

https://www.etrailer.com/question-236549.html

Amazon 10-2020 Review https://www.amazon.com/Lippert-Components-287298-Torque-Motor/dp/B077T2T2Z3
The 500's are for the steel shafts and the 300's are for the aluminum shafts
If you use a 500 to replace a 300 you run the risk of shearing the aluminum shafts off

Yes, I talked to a GD rep about this. He said I'd need to replace the aluminum torque tubes with steel one if I went with 500:1 motors.

 

[OmrodWI]

I had (having) the same issues as OP with my 2021 Imagine 3250BH with Schwintek Slide on the door side (kitchen). Told my original dealer about it when it was still under warranty and they said they looked at it and it was working fine and left it at that. Half way out (or in) it stops, if I reverse it a little bit, I can get it to come in a couple of inches. I repeat that procedure many times and can get it to come in all the way, but it takes a while. Last October I had a different dealer look at it and they said there was an alignment issue and a part (GD part number: 640819) needs to be replaced. The part costs $1140.30 and has been on order since then, but they have not gotten it yet. They told me that very soon a failure would happen and I would not get it in, if out or out, if in. Plan on heading to AZ in a couple of weeks and I would like to get this fixed.

 

[Ynot4me2]

I had (having) the same issues as OP with my 2021 Imagine 3250BH with Schwintek Slide on the door side (kitchen). Told my original dealer about it when it was still under warranty and they said they looked at it and it was working fine and left it at that. Half way out (or in) it stops, if I reverse it a little bit, I can get it to come in a couple of inches. I repeat that procedure many times and can get it to come in all the way, but it takes a while. Last October I had a different dealer look at it and they said there was an alignment issue and a part (GD part number: 640819) needs to be replaced. The part costs $1140.30 and has been on order since then, but they have not gotten it yet. They told me that very soon a failure would happen and I would not get it in, if out or out, if in. Plan on heading to AZ in a couple of weeks and I would like to get this fixed.

Have you tried lubing it as per Lippert old video? I know they no longer want us to lube these slides made after 2019 (I believe) but it worked for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXw9I_DoAvI
I replied this on another thread. Since day one ours was not working smoothly and would really struggle more so when on battery only. I thought it was because of the cheap dealer installed group 24 battery. So I would leave it either plugged in to the running TV or on shore power. Last fall, while on a trip it wouldn't close past 6in. I tried everything. While DW was looking up a mobile tech I decided to lube it as per Lippert's old video. Not only did it work, the slide runs in and out better then it ever did.
Maybe try lubing it and see.