Schwintek Slide Mechanism - 2014 Itasca Ellipse

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mpc67

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May 12, 2013
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3
Good Day,

Just looking for some feedback on the Schwintek slide mechanisms. We just ordered a 2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD. The coach looks nice, but one of the main things that gives me a little concern is the 2 passenger side slides are using Schwintek slide mechanisms. It doesn't appear that any of the other "major" brands we considered are using this system (e.g. Newmar Mountain Aire, Allegro Bus, Entegra Antham). It's different than the traditional HWH slides in my last Newmar Mountain Aire, and anything different makes me pause....

Can anyone share with me their ownership experience with Schwintek on ANY RV they personally owned. I am especially interested in opinions/experiences from owners of Ellipses or Tours with the Schwintek. Should I have concern - or, do you think I'll be satisfied???

Thanks in advance....

:)
 
There apparently were some early issues with them that appear to have been corrected. We have them in our bedroom slides in our 2012 Thor Tuscany and one of them was installed from the factory with the gear upside down somehow. When they have a problem, a noticeable pop is heard when they retract.

They are extremely quiet and once the original issue was corrected, we have had no further problems.


 
mpc67 said:
Just looking for some feedback on the Schwintek slide mechanisms........It doesn't appear that any of the other "major" brands we considered are using this system (e.g. Newmar Mountain Aire, Allegro Bus, Entegra Antham).

We have a 2013 Itasca Sunstar 35B with three slides. They are powered by Lippert's Schwintek mechanisms. Except for a pinched wire going to one of the Hall Sensors in the passenger side rear slide, we have had no problems with them. Even then it is very simple to override the electronics and retract/extend the slide in a "manual mode."

According to the dealer where we purchased our motor home, a microprocessor monitors the position of each side of the slide.  If the there is a difference of one gear tooth on the rack and pinion mechanism's position on each side of the slide, the slide motion (in or out) stops and the rack and pinion positions are recalibrated/adjusted and the slide resumes its motion. See here for a description of how the slides work. It also shows nine major RV manufacturers who are using Lippert's Schwintek mechanisms.

R
 
We have a 2013 Itasca Sunstar 30T with the Schwintek slide mechanism.

The good news is that it works well so far in operating the slides.

The bad news is that the design has the motors sitting on top of a vertical rod in the wall cavity next to the slide with a floor to ceiling length flexible rod to the track at the bottom. The rod is in a metal channel & with road vibration the motor at the top which is sitting on the rod moves back & forth causing the metal rod to do the same & contact the sleeve causing a "slapping" noise on the inside of the coach. The only fix for this I know of so far is to wrap the motor with foam to cushion it. We had this done by the dealer & it helped at highway speed but actually caused more noise at slower speeds. I had the tech put some foam in the middle of the channel to cushion the rod & that helped much more but I still hear it from time to time, just not constantly & loudly as before. I think a permanent fix will need to be more than adding the foam but I haven't heard of one yet.
 
Wonderful and insightful feedback so far. Thank you so much. Please keep them coming...

We are having this 2014 Ellipse built because we wanted some modifications. ETA to us is around mid October. We are very excited because the coach looks really nice (minus the Schwintek) and the floor plan is very spacious. The Schwintek slide mechanisms seem like a good idea, but I feel that they are a bit unsightly and detract from the beauty of the coach. Our Mountain Aire had such a beautiful exterior, but their floor plans did not seem as well laid out as the Ellipse (despite the fact the sticker is $100K more). None of the other 3 coaches we were considering had the Schwintek slides, so I'm praying that I didn't make a mistake in choosing the Ellipse.

Please keep the feedback coming...
 
Good explanation Cass! Makes you wonder if they will eventually attach some fiber keepers inside the channel to control the movement of the rod.
 
Quillback 424 said:
Good explanation Cass! Makes you wonder if they will eventually attach some fiber keepers inside the channel to control the movement of the rod.

Yes, I think the entire channel should be padded & maybe they could use a stiffer rod as well.

I think I will try to contact Lippert & see if they will talk with me about it.
 
MPC67 -- You may want to click on Cass S profile (her name) and then select her previous posts to read the one about the "slapping" noise emanating from the wall behind the driver. After reading what she has gone through you may want to have a conversation with the MH manufacturer.
 
Quillback,

Not a big deal but "Cass" is short for Cassedy which in my case is not a female name.  ;)

Good suggestion about reading the previous thread although the conclusion stated in my post above is really the most relevant information.

I will report back here if I get any further info on it.
 
I have had the same slapping noise in my 2013 Vista since I took delivery in January. I contacted Lippert in Feb. and they told me the Engineering dept. knew of the problem and are working on the problem. I have been hosting all summer so I haven't really thought about it. I did find I learned more watching the Lippert videos than the dealership service people knew. I plan to return to a dealership in the fall so I will be contacting Lippert soon to see if fix has been developed and if the dealer service people have been trained yet.
 
I talked to the Schwintek people after my last post & was told they have developed a fix that involves drilling a hole & inserting a screw to secure the gear to the motor to keep it from bouncing around with road vibration. I put in a call to the service manager at my dealer to see if they know about this fix which they obviously did not when they "fixed" mine a couple of months ago. Schwintek said they will talk dealers through the fix if they call. As usual, it has been two days since I called & no return call yet but I will stay after them until I get some satisfaction since mine is only partially fixed & not done correctly according to Schwintek.
 
We purchased an Itasca 33C at the end of June and on our initial long trip experienced a "crash" on the large drivers side slide. We probably ran the slide in and out perhaps 20 times before the "crash".
I was retracting the slide in the morning in a levelled coach when it was almost in there was a loud bang. I stopped immediately and went outside to look, I thought it was the slide topper awning jamming. I asked my wife to extend the slide which she did, no problem. She then retracted the slide while I watched the slide topper. The slide ran in then jammed on the bottom but the top went in leaving a space about 2.5-3 inches out on the bottom accompanied by some loud grinding noises. We headed for home in this condition.

My wife found a bearing on the floor behind the drivers seat and had previously found what looked like a nail without a head. Possibly the remnants of a pop-rivet.

We immediately phoned the dealer and they directed us to a repair shop where they examined the slide and ordered the new slide mechanism from Lippert. Almost 3 weeks later we are still waiting for the parts to be shipped.

The dealer and repair shop have been excellent but can't do much without parts.

I still do not know what went wrong but will keep you posted.
 
I still haven't heard from the service manager at my dealer, but I talked to Winnebago this morning & they added more fuel to the fire of confusion I am experiencing over this issue. They said the current fix they got from Lippert is to use a special lubricant on the "gibbs" next to the motor. The service tech at Winnebago could not explain what the "gibbs" are but he did email me a picture. I just got a completely different "fix" from Lippert three days ago directly so I am not sure what to believe at this point but I will keep trying to get to the bottom of it.
 
Unfortunately it sounds like you guys are Beta testers for the Lippert mechanism in a motorhome application.  Be patient and I'm sure they will get it sorted out but it might take a while, Winnebago has a lot at stake in making this product work to customers' satisfaction since it's probably less complicated, less expensive (for them) and perhaps less maintenance than the HWH hydraulic systems.

Having said that, our HWH slide hydraulics have been amazingly reliable over eight years and 85K+ miles and the only issue we've ever had with it was a leaky fitting on the manifold easily solved with wrench.  HWH used to have great customer service available to the end user but they must have severely cut back on personnel (based on extremely long tech call-back times) which to me is a red flag that all is not healthy with the business.
 
AJW said:
.... when it was almost in there was a loud bang...

As I noted above on my Tuscany, the popping is a predecessor of a larger problem. Last November, when my gear issue was uncovered and repaired, the technician indicated that was a common symptom of a binding issue and a known problem with the design. I was told to recognize that as an issue and immediately have it examined. Fortunately, I did not have the catastrophic failure that you had, nor have I had any further issues.
 
I looked around some other RV forums (Forrest River/Jayco) and saw some discussion about Lippert slide problems, but I have no personal experience with their products (They do seem to be a rather innovative company though). You might Google Forrest River/Jayco.

Not that it answers the OP's question, but I wonder why Winnie changed suppliers for such an important component. My 2011 42QD uses PowerGear for those slides. Once I learned how to use them properly they've worked quite well. I wonder if there have been a series of problems with PowerGear or is it simply a case of the lowest bid from a supplier.

Kev
 
Kevin Means said:
..I wonder why Winnie changed suppliers for such an important component. My 2011 42QD uses PowerGear for those slides. Once I learned how to use them properly they've worked quite well. I wonder if there have been a series of problems with PowerGear or is it simply a case of the lowest bid from a supplier.
I'll see what I can find out about why they switched suppliers.  Winnie has been busy driving dollars out of the cost of production for many years and this could be a simple case of switching to another mechanism that is just as effective but for lower cost (or increased production efficiencies.)  And/or there could have been a vendor relationship problem with Power Gear or HWH and/or a financial stability concern.

Winnie (and owners) was left holding the bag when SCS/Frigette declared bankruptcy several years ago;  they got wind of a solvency issue with SCS and had a truck load of parts on order which unfortunately never got filled.
 
If you look at Lipperts installation videos on YouTube, it appears to be a very simple mechanism & quick & easy to install. They claim fewer problems with the simpler design with no hydraulics.

I suspect it is also less expensive which may be a major factor.
 

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