Full wall slide fail!! 2020 DS 4081

[gburgman]

I saw this post awhile ago, thou a Monaco the Pinion and chains are the same.

 

[Rustymayes]

Update. I took apart the forward actuator system to see if I have a similar issue as what happened to the aft unit. There is unusual wear on the Stainless Steel washer between the pinion and the cylinder which I am concerned with but after sharing photos of the wear with the tech at HWH and they do not share the same concern. They will keep the notes in my file should any future issues develop that might require action so they may do more good will warranty work. They are sending me a new washer to install. Hopefully the damage to it happened in the short period the aft unit was failing causing some binding which should be corrected once I repair and adjust the system. I did note and report to them that there is grease on the pinion and smeared on the rack. According to the tech, there should be no lube at all on the assembly, period. I think someone at Newmar noticed an issue during delivery or final inspection and attempted to correct it with grease. The forward trim parts have been previously removed and reinstalled which would support my notion. HWH has no documentation of any trouble with the assembly reported by Newmar so who knows who did what to it.
I did get word that my new actuator assembly shipped on Wednesday so I should see it here early in the week and get back in business.

 

[Stuart W]

Update. I took apart the forward actuator system to see if I have a similar issue as what happened to the aft unit. There is unusual wear on the Stainless Steel washer between the pinion and the cylinder which I am concerned with but after sharing photos of the wear with the tech at HWH and they do not share the same concern. They will keep the notes in my file should any future issues develop that might require action so they may do more good will warranty work. They are sending me a new washer to install. Hopefully the damage to it happened in the short period the aft unit was failing causing some binding which should be corrected once I repair and adjust the system. I did note and report to them that there is grease on the pinion and smeared on the rack. According to the tech, there should be no lube at all on the assembly, period. I think someone at Newmar noticed an issue during delivery or final inspection and attempted to correct it with grease. The forward trim parts have been previously removed and reinstalled which would support my notion. HWH has no documentation of any trouble with the assembly reported by Newmar so who knows who did what to it.
I did get word that my new actuator assembly shipped on Wednesday so I should see it here early in the week and get back in business.

Great up date

 

[Rich W.]

Update. I took apart the forward actuator system to see if I have a similar issue as what happened to the aft unit. There is unusual wear on the Stainless Steel washer between the pinion and the cylinder which I am concerned with but after sharing photos of the wear with the tech at HWH and they do not share the same concern. They will keep the notes in my file should any future issues develop that might require action so they may do more good will warranty work. They are sending me a new washer to install. Hopefully the damage to it happened in the short period the aft unit was failing causing some binding which should be corrected once I repair and adjust the system. I did note and report to them that there is grease on the pinion and smeared on the rack. According to the tech, there should be no lube at all on the assembly, period. I think someone at Newmar noticed an issue during delivery or final inspection and attempted to correct it with grease. The forward trim parts have been previously removed and reinstalled which would support my notion. HWH has no documentation of any trouble with the assembly reported by Newmar so who knows who did what to it.
I did get word that my new actuator assembly shipped on Wednesday so I should see it here early in the week and get back in business.

I know you would rather not have had the pleasure, but you have certainly gone above and beyond taking charge of this problem and I’m sure the results will far surpass that which could be gained by taking it to some local RV shop.

 

[Rustycoach]

I know you would rather not have had the pleasure, but you have certainly gone above and beyond taking charge of this problem and I’m sure the results will far surpass that which could be gained by taking it to some local RV shop.

Well, the silver lining to the story I guess is now I will have a thorough understanding of the hydraulic system and know what to inspect for in the future. Part of the experience of owning boats and RVs and aircraft over the years has been working on them myself. If I did not enjoy that aspect of ownership, I would never have owned these things. I am happy that HWH is stepping up with the goodwill in providing the parts.

 

[Rustymayes]

My new slide actuator assembly showed up via UPS yesterday. Today I was able to get it mostly installed. Tomorrow I will finish it and a buddy is coming by to give a hand with syncing up the system. It takes two or three hands to do it safely and not damage things. The cylinders need to be extended and retracted several cycles detached from the chain rails to equalize and synchronize so the room extends and retracts evenly. This needs to be done with the elevator cylinders disabled so the room does not drop and break the tiles. This will be interesting. The coach has been down for five weeks now. crossing fingers that all will go well.

 

[Rich W.]

My new slide actuator assembly showed up via UPS yesterday. Today I was able to get it mostly installed. Tomorrow I will finish it and a buddy is coming by to give a hand with syncing up the system. It takes two or three hands to do it safely and not damage things. The cylinders need to be extended and retracted several cycles detached from the chain rails to equalize and synchronize so the room extends and retracts evenly. This needs to be done with the elevator cylinders disabled so the room does not drop and break the tiles. This will be interesting. The coach has been down for five weeks now. crossing fingers that all will go well.

Good luck with all that. Definitely beyond what I would tackle - I’m impressed. Are you out of warranty or did you just give up on the “experts”? Take some pics…

 

[Rustymayes]

I have heard such horror stories about the service guys at Demartini so I was not about to take it there. The slide mechanism was so jammed that I could not get the room retracted anyway to take it anywhere. I have been keeping machinery of all kinds operational my whole life so this is just a different machine to work on. I find that if you take your time and ask the right questions most things can be done with out calling a guy. Ill post some pics.

 

[J&JD]

I have heard such horror stories about the service guys at Demartini

Interesting. I have not been there but have heard only good things about them. I guess it’s all in who you talk to and believe.

 

[Rustycoach]

To be fair, I don’t have personal experience either and they are 100 miles away so I wouldn’t use them for just that reason alone. There is nothing special about Newmar that requires expert knowledge as the coaches are all assembled using off the shelf components. HWH has been great to work with in support of this issue. If there was a mobile HWH service guy, I would have farmed it out but HWH offered no such referral.

 

[Rustycoach]

Well I am happy to report that I can close this chapter out. Today I finished the replacement of the aft actuator, figured out which hoses to swap fittings on the sync cylinder to ensure the room did not drop on the floor and then followed the protocol to synchronize the two room extension cylinders. I am grateful for the built in creepers we have in the basement locker. The synchronization cylinder is conveniently located in the ceiling of the large full width basement storage so using the siding tray made getting in there easy. I had to borrow an extension hose to get the hose swap done. HWH supplied the schematics but they do not mark the hoses or fittings so figuring which hose and fittings are which is an art.
The project was nerve racking but I am satisfied that it was done right and only cost me my time. Working with Frank at HWH was a pleasure. I need to package up the old damaged unit and ship it back to HWH so they can determine what and why it failed. I will be keeping an eagle eye on the room when it extends and looking for any sign that it is not going out or in evenly.