Quote:
Originally Posted by Lt Keefer
I would get no piece of mind from a new slide mechanism that says if it breaks I can easily disconnect it and crank it in with a 7/16" socket wrench. They are all but telling me that their system will fail.
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So let me address some of the questions and scepticism out there for people who have not actually seen the Vroom Slide Mechanism individual components, had it installed or seen it in operation.
1. Any electrical system can fail for a multitude of reasons that are completely unrelated to the design of said system. Something as simple as a dead battery can prevent operation but any electric motor or controller can fail regardless of who manufactures it. Having a way to address an unlikely failure is not just a good thing but its a smarter design and better engineering. The fact that Vroom actually was smart enough to design a way to manually retract the slide easily in the unlikely event of a motor or controller failure is very smart and demonstrates they put some thought into the design as well as where and how coaches are used. Its not because it is prone to failure... unlike the Schwintek Mechanism.
2. I have personally compared the Vroom components side by side with the Schwintek components before they were installed. The tracks, gears, bearings and H-Column are far more robust than the Schwintek Components. They also fit together better and operate more smoothly with far less frictional forces. The ease of movement of the components was amazing when it was demonstrated before installation.
3. While the Schwintek Mechanism is adequate for a smaller or lighter slide, closer inspection of it can easily detect why it is problematic for large and heaver slides such as a full wall slide. There is a reason the higher-end manufacturers don't use the Schwintek Mechanism on their large slides.
4. It's not if..... but when two parts.... of the Schwintek Mechanism will fail. The nylon / plastic V-rollers and / or the motor mounting mechanism.
4a. There is a reason LCI sells an H-Column Rebuilt Kit. The V-Rollers support a lot of weight and the small bearings don't hold up well over time with a lot of use. Once the V-Rollers start to wear enough there will be movement causing alignment issues with the mechanism.
Instead of V-Rollers, the Vroom Mechanism uses high load capacity bearings on the leading and trailing surfaces of their pinion housing (pinion housing = LCI bearing block) to move along the track. No nylon or plastic components for high load surfaces.
4b. There are four alignment pins on the motor housing and one set screw to keep the motor secure in the bearing block. Ultimately, the slide motors are not mounted in a truly secure manner. There is an incredible amount of torque in play when opening and closing the slide..... especially with the motors geared for 500:1. If you closely watch the motor you can almost always see slight movement of the motor when opening and closing the slide. The four alignment pins are supposed to deal with the rotational forces while the set screw is supposed to deal with the lateral forces. The lateral forces are also very strong and more than the set screw can often take over time. The set screw can shear off or even bend upward because it is only threaded through a very thin piece of metal in the H-Column mount. Once the set screw starts to fail the motor lifts out of the bearing block and causes the "pop-pop-pop" sound people hear when they are having slide issues.
Instead of the four motor alignment pins, Vroom actually uses four bolts to keep the motor secured into the pinion housing (pinion housing = LCI bearing block). Regardless of the rotational and lateral torque forces, the motors stay secure and will NEVER move during operation.
5. The LCI / Schwintek Bearing Block is not a very robust design and it also uses a composite gib for the V-Roller Mounting. Again, it is fine for a small and light slide but not a big and heavy slide. LCI thought they could overcome the weaknesses of the design by adding a third track on big slides (hence the Thor 3Trax System) but ultimately it didn't help much.
Vroom designed their system to have a wider track with deeper groves. This allowed them to also design a larger pinion gear with teeth that provide a deeper engagement into the track. They also used heavy duty needle bearings in the pinion housing. These design improvements to the tracks and the pinion housing plus the use of the heavy duty bearings instead of V-Rollers eliminates the need for the 3 tracks that are used on the larger slides.
All of these mechanism changes and improvements leads to a slide that opens and closes more smoothly and quietly. The difference in performance before and after the Vroom Mechanism was installed is undeniable in my case.
I had them retrofit the LCI motors for their mechanism and use the LCI Controller. Vroom has designed their own motors with better encoders (the encoders measure the rotational speed of the motors to help keep the motors in sync) and they also designed their own controller.
The Vroom motors and controller weren't available back in October because of supply chain issues but I am scheduled to have them installed when I am out that way for the Balloon Festival in late September. But if the slide performance doesn't change at all during the season, I may just continue to use the LCI motors and controller.... especially since I have spare retrofitted motors and a spare controller.
One other improvement Vroom made is they designed a more robust wiring harness between the motors and controller. This will help ensure less voltage drop and steady current to the motors as well as it will hold up better to the movement and flexing of the harness with every open and close of the slide.
I don't get paid by Vroom to tout his slide mechanism but I have worked with enough electrical and mechanical systems to tell the difference between good and bad systems. If your slide works just fine and you have never had a problem, then there is probably no reason to spend the money on replacing the Schwintek Mechanism.
However, if you have had issues with your Schwintek Slide or you have a large and heavy slide, then I would certainly consider it if you plan to keep your coach for awhile or use it a lot in remote areas with minimal access to RV service.
It makes no sense to spend good money to replace a Schwintek system with the same Schwintek system.
I learned the hard way.... I will never purchase a coach with a full wall slide again.... unless it is using a mechanism designed for the size and weight of it and it has a solid track record.
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