Schwintek Replacement.

[Arkie_ENT]

2013 Itasca Suncruiser 35P (IE - Same as Winnebago Adventurer) with the full wall drivers Schwintek drive failed again. This is the 2nd time for failure. 1st time Lichtsinn in Forest City was courteous enough to fix it and bill Winnebago for warranty repair even though my coach was purchased in another state.

Looking for others who have Schwintek drives replaced with the newer Power Gear that Winnebago is currently using on 2016+ models.

Any new failures after modification? Did you do replace all slide drives (Even shorter ones that haven't failed)?

What was the cost to do replacement? Did Winnebago contribute to any of the cost for replacement if modified to Power Gear when out of warranty?

Lots of questions. Thanks for your replies. Feel free to email me directly if you have specific information you don't wish to post in this public forum.

Thank you for your assistance! ([email protected])

[georgelesley]

We have an Itasca 2014 33C with a full wall slide. The Schwintek mechanism was just changed out for the new Powergear design. So far, so good. A bit louder and slower, but who cares. Winnebago did help with the repair as did our extended warranty so our cost was nothing. My understanding is that Winnie has extended the warranty for all to three years so I would recommend you get yours done asap.

[donnariley53]

We have a 2014 Journey 36M. Our slide out mechanism on the full wall slide only was changed out to the Powergear system in March of 2016. Winnebago covered the cost for us. In May of 2017 one of the motors of the Powergear system had to be replaced as the slide out was creeping out while driving. Winnebago covered this repair. We were disappointed as we have been ultra careful with the slides never extending unless completely level. Winnebago indicated the internal brake of the motor had failed and that this sort of failure was very rare. We will continue to use our coach, but wish we had more confidence that further failures are not going to happen.

[Ranger Rick]

We had ours replaced In junction city after three failures. Power gear system working out well so far. It's a bit louder but seems to be faster than the original. We have a 2013 Tour and Winnebago covered all costs.

Ranger Rick
2013 Winnebago Tour QD

[georgelesley]

Originally Posted by donnariley53

We have a 2014 Journey 36M. Our slide out mechanism on the full wall slide only was changed out to the Powergear system in March of 2016. Winnebago covered the cost for us. In May of 2017 one of the motors of the Powergear system had to be replaced as the slide out was creeping out while driving. Winnebago covered this repair. We were disappointed as we have been ultra careful with the slides never extending unless completely level. Winnebago indicated the internal brake of the motor had failed and that this sort of failure was very rare. We will continue to use our coach, but wish we had more confidence that further failures are not going to happen.

Although it is not required, we use slide lock bars on our full wall slide. I understand that at one time early in fixing the Schwintek mess Winnebago was giving them out free. I figure that with all the trouble this system has had slide locks may help and at least keep strain off the motors some.

[powercat_ras]

One thing I have found that has no cost to help the Swintek slides work well is to only operate the slides with the RV engine running, this gives the highest DC voltage for the slide system to operate on. This gives the slide motors the most voltage possible (about 14 volts) and in particular on my long heavy 16' slide it makes a big diference. Just operating the slide on battery alone, it still works but sounds like the motors are straining to their limit. On the higher voltage with engine running they sound better and the slide moves faster.

Engineering wise, max power produced by a DC motor is related to the square of the voltage applied. So, with 14 volts vs. 12.5 volts power is 25 percent more. The extra voltage does not seem to matter on the shorter lighter dinette and wardrobe slides in my RV but it sure makes the slide move faster and sound better when operating the 16' wall slide.

[georgelesley]

Originally Posted by powercat_ras

One thing I have found that has no cost to help the Swintek slides work well is to only operate the slides with the RV engine running, this gives the highest DC voltage for the slide system to operate on. This gives the slide motors the most voltage possible (about 14 volts) and in particular on my long heavy 16' slide it makes a big diference. Just operating the slide on battery alone, it still works but sounds like the motors are straining to their limit. On the higher voltage with engine running they sound better and the slide moves faster.

Engineering wise, max power produced by a DC motor is related to the square of the voltage applied. So, with 14 volts vs. 12.5 volts power is 25 percent more. The extra voltage does not seem to matter on the shorter lighter dinette and wardrobe slides in my RV but it sure makes the slide move faster and sound better when operating the 16' wall slide.

+1.

[cdrprn]

We have a 2014 Itasca 34H with a bedroom slide and the full wall slide opposite.The full wall slide failed the day we bought the coach and twice more out of warranty for which we paid out of pocket (ouch!) We contacted Winnie and the tech said he could see records of all the repairs. He agreed that if we were willing to go to the factory they would fix it for free. So we have an appointment at the end of July. We really hope that they upgrade the mechanism and end the problems. Fingers and toes crossed on this one folks! BOL to all experiencing Schwintek issues.

[Honwing]

We have now had our third Powergear failure on our Vista LX 27N. Full Wall passenger slide failed at six months. Motors replaced at Camping World in Midway, Florida. On our way to the factory in Iowa both the full wall and Dinette slide failed. Factory repaired what Camping World did wrong and replaced both Dinette slide motors. Now in Seattle and Dinette slide has quit again. Today Camping World in Fife, Washington called telling me to pick the RV up as they we're unable to fix it. Now waiting for next "authorized Winnebago Dealer" to attempt repair. Only 13,000 miles on this coach but it is time to get rid of it. Poor quality makes it too expensive to keep.

[TOMFEN]

Honwing
Since you are only 130 miles from the Winnebago Factory in Junction City, OR why don't you take it there for repair? Had my Itasca 27N repaired there last year, only took a couple of weeks to get an appointment. May take longer now that vacation season is here.


Tom

[Arkie_ENT]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my original request for comments. On Saturday we purchased a new 2018 Coachmen Miranda 35KB to replace our 2013 Itasca Suncruiser 35P. I'll be swapping units at MHSRV on (07-07-17) and then be headed directly onto the FMCA Summer Rally in Indiana.

This will be our 6th Class A and our 3rd gas coach. With the exception of a used Tiffin Phaeton which was our 1st motorhome, all others have been Winnebago products. I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you that there was a "tinge" of sadness not buying another unit from Winnebago, but in all truthfulness I just don't have faith in their ability to manufacture a product that will perform without continued failure.

I've made a note to re-post (1) last time here in this forum at +30 days to advise how this new venture has started. More than I can share here, we LOVE to motorhome and appreciate more than I can tell you all the EXCELLENT advice on the Winnebago forum!

[Honwing]

Wherever I get it fixed I will still have a unreliable system that will worry me every time I touch the switch. I have no reason to believe that things will be any different in it's second year. Once fixed it will be put up for sale.