Slide-out problem

We have a 32ft Rexhall Rexair back in the UK which should have been sold by now, but which instead has been languishing at a (normally-reliable) RV repairers since January.  The slider & rams are by HWH.

I replaced the motor after some intermittent problems culminating in having to manually winch the slider back in after the motor finally packed up.  I noticed at that point, that it slid in a little unequally, i.e. the front went in faster than the back, and at an angle).

On closing the slide that night in the dark, I failed to notice it skewing badly, and it came to a halt with a bang.  Despite several attempts the next day, it was obvious that it would neither go in nor out equally, so with some help, we finally managed to straight it & close it manually.  I then drove it to the repairer, who talked to HWH & eventually diagnosed a faulty equalizer valve (I believe this to be correct given the procedures he went though).  I meantime came back to the US & sent one back to him, and he fitted it a month or so later.  He reported that it had solved the unequal sliding problem, but he could not get the slider closed by about 4 inches.  See pics which were taken yesterday by a friend. Unfortunately, since the guy reported this to me over 2 months ago - and said he thought something had been bent in the process - he's been avoiding contact, which is extremely frustrating.  That's another matter though.

Here are a couple of pics my friend took yesterday.  Any comments or suggestions please?  We're back in the UK in just over 2 weeks, and I really need this resolving in order to sell the coach.

Thanks,

Dougie.

No thoughts from anyone? :-\  I'm still stumped.

Dougie.

Dougie,

I don't know much (anything) about hydraulic slideouts, but have you tried calling HWH yourself? When I had a hydraulic issue on our boat, I was able to reach a technical guy at the hydraulic system manufacturer and get a lot of good info, including how the boat manufacturer installed their systems. He also followed up with useful additional info by email.

The 'something's bent' comment reminds me of a situation experienced by a friend who had a problem on his new motorhome just one campground away from the manufacturer. In his case, the slideout had a scissor mechanism on each end. Like the issue you described, one end of the slideout went out (or came in) ahead of the other, and one of the scissor mechanisms bent in the process.

In his case, he merely drove it back to the factory and let them deal with it, which obviously can't happen in your situation. I don't know if your slideout has the scissor mechanism, but I can't think of what else might be bent. If that happened in your case, it would probably require removing the entire slideout, and may be too big a job for a small repair operation.

Another option might be to find a dealer or repair shop here in the US who would be prepared to talk to you about the system and about what might be going on. Even if you had to pay an hourly rate for the advice, it could get you some much-needed info.

I'm not familiar with the HWH hydraulic mechanism, but the Power Gear hydraulics we had in one coach (not the current one) used only one ram and had a scissor or lever arm plus two guide rails. The only thing that could skew it was an adjustment of the length of the lever - or if it bent.  You mentioned an  equalizer valve, so it sounds as though HWH has two rams? If it has multiple rams and an "equalizer", I can only guess that one is not functioning 100% and therefore not doing its share of the work.

This is probally not your issue but you never know. A few weeks ago we were in a campground in eastern SC and experienced one of the SC monsoons. What a shock when water was coming in the coach from the bottom of the bedroom slide. We used a lot of towels to control the flood. As I looked for the cause i noticed the slide was about three inches from closing on the bottom, slightly tight on the top. I ran the slide in and out several times,crawled under the bed to watch the track and gear motor. Nothing I could see. Fortunately we found a great RV repair in Beauford, SC Low Country RV Repair. I called him and he said to bring it in and he would look at it. He spent a day looking and his son found a small piece of metal in the gear. When the gear and track met it stopped. He pulled the metal and all works fine. Could you have something between the slide and coach wall stopping it from closing?
Good luck,
Jim

Thanks folks for all the input.  The repairer tells me he's spent a deal of time on the phone from the UK to HWH.  They emailed him a long and detailed engineer's manual for my slide (I saw it before I left in January) and that gave him understanding of how the mechanism controls the two rams.  The equalizer valve in fact is complicated and illogical in its methodology, although once you get your head around it, it makes sense.  As far as I know, replacing the valve cured the problem.  It's just the 4-inch failure to close issue now.

He has said there's nothing to be seen between the edges of the slide and the coach body, and he's pretty sure he's bled it all properly (although he apparently had a lot of difficulty with that).

Unfortunately, I'm of the opinion that he is out his depth but can't admit it. He did allude to something perhaps being damaged during the repair process about 2 months ago, and has said in emails three times in response to my asking when it might be finished, that HWH are as much use as a chocolate teapot.  I know that not to be true (so does he - he's the British agent for them) but am in an invidious position until I get home in 10 days.

Calling HWH is indeed an option for me, but I think I will wait till I get home and feel in a better position to deal with it properly.  Any other ideas meantime however will be greatly appreciated.

Dougie.

Dougie,

Did he say what might have been damaged or bent?

No Tom, he did not. At that point, he was speculating.  Now he appears to not even be doing that.

Dougie.

I heard back just now from the UK repairer, who says:-

"At last we have found out exactly what is wrong with the slide mechanism, even though the problem seemed to be with the rear of the slide as that was the part of the slide that would not move correctly, it turns out that the fault is the front ram, the internal seals have failed and that is allowing pressure down the wrong side of the other ram (as the pipes are linked) thus stopping the rear ram from moving, i have contacted hwh again to find out what the next course of action is, the ram cannot be repaired as it is a welded assembly. I will let you know what we are going to do."

Any thoughts please?

Dougie.

Sorry to bump, but I'm kinda desperate.  What nicer thing to do than to pass on your slideout expertise on a holiday weekend & help a man in distress?  :'(

Thanks.

Dougie, without seeing photos, I have no clue what to suggest. Maybe Gary or someone else will jump in.

If your coach was down in the valleys, I could ask my oldest son to take a peek; He works on hydraulics, amongst other stuff, and helped diagnose a hydraulic issue for me. Surely there have to be folks with similar skills closer to your coach  ???

BTW where is the coach located?

Thanks Tom.  It's near Lincoln.  The guy has been repairing American RVs for years and is held in high regard for his reliability (I've known him for several years).  There aren't many American specialists in the UK, and he's got out his depth with this although he now reports the problem has been identified as the ram seals.

What would be helpful to me would be anyone with experience of how in general the seals are replaced, or if God forbid, they're not replaceable at all without a new unit.

Dougie.

It's not the sort of problem anybody has much experience with, Dougie. And without being there to see it in motion, I would just be whistling in the dark.  I freely admit I am clueless.

There aren't many American specialists in the UK ....

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Dougie, my point was that you should be able to find a competent hydraulic guy in the UK. He doesn't need "American RV" experience per se. Since this guy is out of his depth, and he's given you several different causes, I'd be looking for help elsewhere. A hydraulic guy would at least be familiar with the basics of the system, e.g. most (many?) of the hydraulic systems of the type used on motorhome slides and jacks, on the hydraulic swim platform on our boat, and on motorcycle lifts you see on the rear of motorhomes use the same pump made by a global company with a division in Stockholm.

As a simple example of the value of a hydraulic specialist, when a friend had a problem with the hydraulic lift on his boat, a mutual friend who owns a commercial trailer manufacturing company sent over his hydraulic guy. The problem was diagnosed and fixed in no time, although the guy had never worked on a boat before.

FWIW if it were me, I'd be making a call to HWH before leaving the US, and again after arriving in the UK if necessary. I'd also be looking for someone with hydraulic expertise in the UK.

BTW Lincoln is a bit far for my son to zip by and check it out. However, I did call him today with the intent of describing your problem and seeing if he had any suggestions. But he wasn't there, and I don't know if they might be away on holiday. I suspect he'd need to see it to make a useful suggestion, but he's pleasantly surprised me with a similar plea for help by phone in the past.

Tom said:

BTW Lincoln is a bit far for my son to zip by and check it out. However, I did call him today with the intent of describing your problem and seeing if he had any suggestions. But he wasn't there, and I don't know if they might be away on holiday. I suspect he'd need to see it to make a useful suggestion, but he's pleasantly surprised me with a similar plea for help by phone in the past.

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That's really good of you Tom, thanks. It's a public holiday weekend in the UK too so may be that. I'll speak to HWH to get their take on replacing the seals but unfortunately it won't be till after we get home now. It may be that a hydraulic engineer would be better but there again, the slider may have to be removed. :-(

Dougie, this might be a stretch, but I have a relative who is the service manager for an RV dealership here in CA. He previously worked as a hands-on tech at the dealership and prior to that at a truck service shop. I have no idea if he's worked on issues like your slide problem, but I've found him to be quite knowledgeable and observed him to be very meticulous in his hands-on work. He also researches things he's unfamiliar with before diving in. I don't normally call him unless I'm in a jam, but I'll see if he's around tomorrow.

As luck would have it, his son's birthday party was today, and we were invited, but something prevented us from attending. I'm usually picking his brain whenever the extended family gets together for birthdays and Christmas parties. Other family members can't figure out why we're always huddled in a corner yacking away.

That's handsome Tom - thank you.

Dougie.

Let's just hope my grey matter doesn't turn into a sieve between now and tomorrow 

It's a public holiday weekend in the UK too so may be that.

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Dougie, it appears that the bank holiday Monday is a week from now, followed by the Jubilee on Tuesday. I called sunny South Wales this morning, and my son explained how he'd expect to go about changing the seals, if that's what is in fact the problem. He also explained how, before changing the equalizer valve, he would have confirmed it needed changing by measuring fluid pressures. We also talked about the "welded assembly" comment, and he mentioned two things that could have been referring to.

This, of course, is all sight unseen, and he suggested we try to get hold of a drawing. I'm not sure where we'd get that, but we could start with the owners manual and accompanying documents; Do you happen to have those in the coach in Lincoln?

BTW he also concurred that what you need is someone who works on hydraulics, not necessarily with knowledge of American RVs.

I haven't yet made the other phone call.