Schwintek Slide Mechanism - 2014 Itasca Ellipse

[erray42]

New report on my 2013 Ellipse. After the schwintek slide was totally replaced, the slide worked well for 4 times. We now have a new problem with this mechanism. Traveling down the freeway, the salon slide went out. Wow what a event. Got stopped on the shoulder. Went out to look. The slide was extended crooked. Front was out 10 inches, rear was out 2 inches. Called dealer,he advised us to try to drive safely back to shop. Called Winnebago. Winnie person said leave it and try to drive safely to repair shop. No fun going down freeway 30 mph. re notRepair shop was able to get slide back in and working again. We left and started to headhome. The next day, after going 240 miles, the slide extended again. Crooked again. Got into truck stop. Lots of calls to Winnebago. Best advice they gave us, "get a wooden board and wedge the slide in." We did this after we used the emergency retract procedure. It appears that this is not a new problem with Schwintek. We have not been offered a fix for this except to use blocks to keep it from going out. Will need to wear earplugs when driving as the wind noise gets loud. Do not know where this will end up. Still have 700 miles to goto get home. We are full timers, 7 months a year. Have RV,d for 22 years. This is our 9 th motor home.
We are not amateurs, but have never had a problem like this. Winnebago never did their homework when they switched to Schwintek.r I would guess it is going to be very expensive to get out of this ellipse.

 

[John Canfield]

Good grief!

 

[jkauker]

We have a 2013 Adventurer 37F. Slide is currently binding and lower rear corner is out about 2 inches. The slide was repaired before we took delivery of it in March. Broken again in May with very light usage. This is our second motorhome and I am questioning the decision to buy this motorhome. Lets just say my confidence is waining.
I understand the stresses that motorhomes put on the components but is it possible that a full wall slide of this length is an engineering nightmare? Perhaps the slide length is an over-reach on Winnebago's part.

 

[John Canfield]

My opinion is the slide itself is engineered very well - Winnebago has been producing full wall slides for a few years now so it's not really new and unproven design/engineering.  The problem I believe rests solely at the feet of Lippert and their not ready for prime time Schwintek mechanism.

 

[jkauker]

Fair enough. But Winnie, along with others, are using the Lippert system so they must have faith in it. Taking the motorhome for slide service in a couple of days so I guess that only time will tell if these are slide gremlins that can be eradicated or systemic problems that won't go away. I'm am hoping for the former as the ladder will be an expensive lesson. The delay in repairing items is what really kills me. I actually called Winnebago in the hopes that i could drive it from Delaware to Iowa and get factory service in May. I was told the soonest they could look at it was August. A winnie recommended dealer closer to me would not even look at warranty service until the winter. So I will make the long trek to the selling dealer and hope for the best.

 

[John Hilley]

If you drive there they will get you in. The problem with right now is the GNR and getting ready for it. If you go to GNR they will get you in.

This is for 2013, for some reason they haven't updated the dates for this year

"No appointments scheduled during GNR "weeks."
If you need work done at the Customer Service facility during GNR, there are several things you should do and one of them is to sign up for service work as soon as you get into town. We are able to accommodate 600+ units each year and we are always looking for new ways to make that number even better without sacrificing the quality of our work. One week prior to the GNR, the week during, and the week after GNR are the weeks we do not take appointments. For 2013, those dates are July 15 ? August 2. July 4 is a company-paid holiday for all Winnebago Industries? employees. Customer Service will be closed for work on Thursday, July 4."

Here is the complete link
http://www.winnebagoind.com/clubs/wit/pdfs/WhatExpectFromCS.pdf

 

[cochise49]

1st....CRC PTFE is easy to find on Amazon. Had a can in two business days as an Amazon Prime member. 2nd.....Kitchen slide is Schwintec...pretty new unit. On arrival at home base last week, lower rear corner  was extended about 2 inches. other corners flush. Called Lippert and was told that the rear side was out of time and needed a technician as the slide had to be supported via lift or similar while repair is made. Was also told that slide would probably be OK to use as long as it wasn't binding (stuck out or in). Since we have a long trip planned, we will give it a try. A lot of bad press in the forums about Lippert. Our leveling jacks failed on first trip out. Had to level with blocks. All fixed now. Lippert tech support is great. It seems that they need to be. Lippert has recommended to me to avoid a Winnebago dealer for warranty service as Lippert covers the equipment for any competent technician. Lippert will give you a reference number when you call for troubleshooting. That number gets the shop/tech paid.

 

[Peteyboy]

Found this topic while researching the Schwintek Slides we have in our new Itasca.  Seems to be a lot of issues with this system, all over the place.  It appears that Winnebago has been using the system for a number of years, and must believe in the system if they continue using it. So far, ours has worked seamlessly, and is very quiet. Don't know if the slides would have made us choose another MH if I had researched the issue before, but here we are and will hope for the best.

 

[THEWBJE]

Cancel your order if its not too late!!  My 2014 Winnebago Tour 42 QD is on its third passenger slide front failure.  Just got repaired yesterday after a 9 day wait for Lippert to make the new mechanism.  The first time it failed I waited 12 days for the parts.  Despite Winnebagos claim to expedite parts for coach down scenarios, they will not take a part off the line to help you.  Total down time in the first 12 months of ownership is almost 90 days with over 40 system failures. Pretty much everything but the engine and trans has failed---some things 2 and 3 times.  Caveat Emptor     

 

[Art In Mobile]

I just may be lucky but my old style electric slides have never given me any trouble on my 2006 Voyage that I bought new. I also like the fact that I could crank them in if I had to. I can also get to the motors if I had to. I was watching an older man trying to get his brand new Lippert slide (some other brand 5th wheel) in on his new 5th wheel in an rv park last month. I hate to see elderly folks have so much trouble with Lippert slides after paying so much of there retirement money for a rig. This was a very expensive 5th wheel.  There must be a reason but why did Winnebago go away from the old electric slides? On correct bearings an electric motor can move any weight slide. But apparently not Lippert slides. Art

 

[Kevin Means]

There must be a reason but why did Winnebago go away from the old electric slides?

I asked that same question at the beginning of this "discussion" (somewhat rhetorically), but never heard from anyone who might know the answer. One can only assume that Lippert must have under-bid PowerGear - the company that made the slide mechanisms on many of Winnie's previous coaches.

Our 2011 42QD, for example, has PowerGear slides but in 2012, Winnie switched to Lippert. So far, ours have performed flawlessly and, while I've heard some owners complain about alignment problems with them, I've heard a LOT more people complain about their Lippert slides in their 42QDs. It's interesting to note that Lippert purchased PowerGear after people started complaining. I'd be interested in hearing from "thewbje" if the latest repair was a "new fix" or a "fix" that had already been tried, but failed. Also, was it covered by warranty?

I haven't kept any records but I don't think I've heard people complain about Lippert's smaller slides anymore than those built by other manufacturer's, but it does seem that Lippert has had a relatively high number of complaints about their larger slides. That's just an observation, I could be wrong. Our full-wall slide is 28 feet long and it's got a lot of weight in it. The kitchen slide isn't quite as big or heavy but it's still a good size slide. Did Lippert underestimate the loads and dynamics associated with moving larger slides...? I wonder. And yes, our slides can be manually retracted with a lot of turns of a 3/4" socket. (So they say... I've never had to do it)

We've owned three motorhomes over the past 20 years, and each was built by a different manufacturer. Winnebago certainly isn't a perfect company but show me one that is. From what I can tell, their Quality-Control is pretty much middle of the road, which I admit, isn't saying much, but they've always been very responsive to my inquiries, we've had very few problems with our coach and, overall, we're VERY happy with it. I have to admit though, that if we were having the same number and type of slide problems that I've read so much about - with a new coach - I'd expect Winnie to resolve the problem - especially in light of how much these things cost.

Kev