2020 Magnitude SV34 Slide Motor Replacement

[Judge]

Originally Posted by chunker21

When you dropped it off what other vehicles were in for similar repair? How many can they do in a day in their shop?

So this is not an RV Repair Shop. They are an Engineering, Fabrication and Machine Shop. They have been in business since the '70's and my guess is that the son with the Mechanical Engineering Degree is now running the business. They have been designing and delivering solutions to a wide variety of industries including mining, astronomical, food processing, textile processing and others. They also make gear boxes for another company.

This is a new slide system.... less than a year old. His first revision reuses the LCI motors and controller. His next version will be his own deisgned controller, heavier wiring harnesses and motors built to his specs. This should be ready by the end of the year.

The slide in his Tiffin malfucntioned during a trip to Alaska and Tiffin and LCI basically said too bad.... the system is what it is. He used his coach as the model to deisgn a better slide mechanism. He tested it with up to 40" of travel..... 1500 - 1800lbs of ballast and 6000 cycles (without a failure).


They have one very large building and a smaller building. The smaller building has two bays and that is where they did the work on my coach. They had a 50A hook-up so I didn't have to worry about my two fridges, etc.

They probably would only do one coach at a time they could do two big slides like mine per week. They could probably knock off a small slide in a day.

He looks to be land-locked do I don't see him building a separate RV Building for installing his slide system. If he wanted to go that route, he would probably need to buy some property or another building in the area.

My feeling is he will probably want to sell his system to RV shops ultimately and have them install it. He told me a couple weeks ago he was already working with a place in Connecticut. Even though that would have been closer for me, I preferred working with him directly.

I told him yesterday I would consider trying to sell it to RV Dealers for him. I will be hanging up my full-time sales career the first of the year and this might be a cool part-time gig for me. I told him to think about making a small prototype that I could take to larger dealers like General RV, LazyDays, etc. Then if they want to see it in use, I could take my coach in to show them.

There are a lot of RV dealers near my home Florida and some near my home in PA on top of independent repair shops... plus others along our travel routes.... not to mention Mobile RV Techs. They could offer a better system and make money on the parts plus the labor.

I think his best bet is to get it out there to RV dealers and repair shops since the OEM's aren't interested in a better slide system that only costs another $1000 - $1500 over the Schwintek System when they build a new coach.

[m1noel]

"One stupid thing Thor does is use rivets to mount the wipe-seal instead of screws. The wipe-seal will eventually need to be replaces or you may need access to the slide mechanism to inspect it so they should use screws."

The wipe seal is actually part of the slide out column. The rivets you see are attaching the column (containing the motor, shaft, bearing blocks, gears, v-rollers, etc) to the coach frame. Although I think screws may be better, I used rivets and then painted them to make it look factory when I put it back together. The MH was painted after the slide out columns are installed to all 4 colors are on it and the rivets. Two of the rivets are 2 colors. I am assuming that when the Vroom system is installed, the column will no longer be painted in the original color scheme. But, the column only shows when the slide is out. By the way, Judge, if you need some paint work done on your slide after the new System is installed, just stop by. We will have a beer and fix it all up-that's what I do. Been doing paint repairs on cars, and sometimes motorhomes for 27+ years.
mike

[Judge]

Originally Posted by m1noel

By the way, Judge, if you need some paint work done on your slide after the new System is installed, just stop by. We will have a beer and fix it all up-that's what I do. Been doing paint repairs on cars, and sometimes motorhomes for 27+ years.
mike

Good to know Mike!

I may just take you up on that offer...... after all... Idaho is on our list to visit at some point..... why not sooner rather than later.


As an FYI.... I had Thor replace my rear Wipe Seal at the end of last year when I had it in for the front cap issue. The wipe seal was not touching the slide box on the bottom at all.... you could tell it was not installed perfectly parallel with the slide box top to bottom. It also was glued down in places and the adhesive wasn't holding.

If I was the Thor tech, I would have used screws to reattach it after drilling out all the rivets to replace the wipe seal. Eventually those wipe seals need replaced if you own the coach long enough plus it makes it easier to remove if you did have to inspect the H-Column.

[Gmthrust]

Originally Posted by m1noel

"... I used rivets and then painted them to make it look factory when I put it back together..."

What size rivets did you use?

[taylorbob1]

More on wipe-seal

If you use your slide on a regular basis…
- the Thor OEM wipe seal falls apart very quickly

The OEM wipe seal on my slide has a dual side perforation to allow for slight folding in or out. That perforation eventually separates.

I replaced with a more sturdy piece of rubber without a perforation.
Just made sure it’s tight against the side of the slide.

And, yes…add screws for proper wipe-seal mounting.
Any stainless panhead type screw without a tall top + washer

Here’s a photo of a faulty wipe-seal beginning to separate at perforation:

[m1noel]

Originally Posted by Gmthrust

What size rivets did you use?

3/16" by 1/2"

[Gmthrust]

Originally Posted by m1noel

3/16" by 1/2"

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by taylorbob1

More on wipe-seal

If you use your slide on a regular basis…
- the Thor OEM wipe seal falls apart very quickly

The OEM wipe seal on my slide has a dual side perforation to allow for slight folding in or out. That perforation eventually separates.

I replaced with a more sturdy piece of rubber without a perforation.
Just made sure it’s tight against the side of the slide.

And, yes…add screws for proper wipe-seal mounting.
Any stainless panhead type screw without a tall top + washer

Here’s a photo of a faulty wipe-seal beginning to separate at perforation:

Hey friend clean those tracks

[Judge]

Just a quick lunch stop…. I’ll post more details in a new thread with pics, videos and a full write up as well as Vroom’s plans going forward and when people can start scheduling with them.

All I’ll say for now is…..

“Houston….. we have a real slide that works better than any Schwintek System I’ve had.” [emoji106][emoji573][emoji313]

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Judge

Just a quick lunch stop…. I’ll post more details in a new thread with pics, videos and a full write up as well as Vroom’s plans going forward and when people can start scheduling with them.

All I’ll say for now is…..

“Houston….. we have a real slide that works better than any Schintek System I’ve had.” [emoji106][emoji573][emoji313]

Awesome news Chris

[Pillbox]

I’m jealous Judge
Terry

[Scubawise]

Congratulations

[Ottosails]

Congrats Judge!
That must be such a relief to have the Vroom. We had our slide fixed under warranty at La Mesa in Phoenix last week. They replaced the rear motor and wire harness. It works now without needing to override and operates smoothly. I just don't have the confidence in its longevity or ability to remain problem free.

I have been in touch with Brian at Vroom and will call him next week when we are back from our trip in California. He sent me an email saying that the install on yours went very well, I believe it was their first Magnitude SV34.

Be safe and smooth sliding... I mean sailing :-)

[wrapped]

Also waiting for pics and your impressions, just fixed our full wall slide, rear motor popped up disengaged from gear and one of the rubber wheels on block came apart but all good now.

[Judge]

Just got home later last night than expected. Traffic on I70 in Indiana and Ohip was worse than any part of the trip.

I will be starting a Vroom thread later today with more details.

[klayandval]

I'm having the same slide out issue. It has been incredibly frustrating as I am out on a cross country trip by myself.

I found a great video that details the challenges many of us are having and how this dynamo couple fixed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TExden6trL4

[Judge]

Originally Posted by klayandval

I'm having the same slide out issue. It has been incredibly frustrating as I am out on a cross country trip by myself.

I found a great video that details the challenges many of us are having and how this dynamo couple fixed it.

Too bad you didn't contact Vroom and you could have stopped in Tucson on your cross-country trip to have the Scwintek mechanism replaced with the Vroom Slide System.

Because of the lousy design of securing the motor and the incredible torque required to move full-wall slides that are extremely heavy like the one on the Omni / Magnitude, a wire from the motor encoder can get pinched or the magnet on the top of the motor can get dislodged. When this happened the controller cannot read the RPMS's to keep the motors in sync and you get the error that requires the override mode on the controller to open and close the slide.

The Vroom Slide System allows the slide to move much more easily and it uses 4 bolts to mount the motor in place.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by Judge

Too bad you didn't contact Vroom and you could have stopped in Tucson on your cross-country trip to have the Scwintek mechanism replaced with the Vroom Slide System.

Because of the lousy design of securing the motor and the incredible torque required to move full-wall slides that are extremely heavy like the one on the Omni / Magnitude, a wire from the motor encoder can get pinched or the magnet on the top of the motor can get dislodged. When this happened the controller cannot read the RPMS's to keep the motors in sync and you get the error that requires the override mode on the controller to open and close the slide.

The Vroom Slide System allows the slide to move much more easily and it uses 4 bolts to mount the motor in place.

Great video saved forever thx

[williamprunty]

Well as some of you know, nothing but problems with my Magnitude since purchase. Cap has been repaired multiple time and just months ago the unit spent weeks at Thor factory service having multiple issues, first trip out since repairs, to Ford commercial to have an issue repaired that has been ongoing since purchase, had repeat failures that was just repaired at Thor factory service. This wasn’t even a recreational trip, it was a 1200 mile trip for Ford service. Well had issues before even leaving and during. I could go on and on.

This particular post is about the slide Thor just repaired. I had to take it in to coach service and when bringing in the slide, catastrophic failure. I know it a swintech no chance of that (being sarcastic). Per service:

“ William,

So, you slide out is really broken. It sheared off the screws and bolts. It will need a new slide assembly. We can not even get to the converter to work on that as we can not open the slide as it will not go back in.
As soon as I have parts pricing I will let you know”

Following up, every bolt and screw failed, fortunately it was almost completely in when that happened. So no use of Rv again.

Thor conveyed they will not be paying anything. The employees at Thor have been great (they have tried and tried to fix the unfixable), but Thor, stay clear of all there units. They will not back them!! This is a 2022 that has only been used for 5 days Recreational use. Pricey 5 days!

[williamprunty]

I was advised it was good it happened on the way in. I was told if it was going out the entire slide would have fallen to the ground. This is flat out dangerous, what’s going to take, someone dying.