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Old 07-14-2013, 09:08 PM   #1
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New to me owner

Hello, I have been looking for a 34FDDS for a while and finally found one that is not located in Oregon! I found it in Alabama and I am in the process of purchasing it. Its a 2006 and its in great shape. I am really looking forward to getting on the road with it. I still have about 20 months until retirement and then its going on the road seriously!
While we were looking over the coach there was a question that the owner could not answer. We found a winch located in the drivers side cargo bay and it looked like a manual way to retract the front slide. Since the slides are hydralically operated is there a bleed valve or something you have to open before wenching the slide in when it won't operate hydralically? Also we did not see the winch setup for the read bedroom slide. We looked in the manuals onboard but nothing about a manual override for the slides. Does anybody have info on this they could share? I think it would be good info.
Thanks
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Old 07-14-2013, 10:02 PM   #2
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Congratulations on your choice. I have a 2004 34'. You are correct about the wench to retract the slide if the hydrolics fail. The valves are located behind a small door over the passenger side front tire. I hope you will find all of the manuals with the MH when you pick it up. If not you will be able to find most of your questions can be addressed on this board. I think some of the manuals are on line. Some one else will direct you to them.
If I remember right, to close the rear slide, open the valve, push the slide in and close the valve. It is "handrolic". I and others have had the hose's to the rear fail at some point.
Most of the 34's are similar equipped but do you have the large motor?
Any way, you found the right place to find answers.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Vtxbiker View Post
Hello, I have been looking for a 34FDDS for a while and finally found one that is not located in Oregon! I found it in Alabama and I am in the process of purchasing it. Its a 2006 and its in great shape. I am really looking forward to getting on the road with it. I still have about 20 months until retirement and then its going on the road seriously!
While we were looking over the coach there was a question that the owner could not answer. We found a winch located in the drivers side cargo bay and it looked like a manual way to retract the front slide. Since the slides are hydralically operated is there a bleed valve or something you have to open before wenching the slide in when it won't operate hydralically? Also we did not see the winch setup for the read bedroom slide. We looked in the manuals onboard but nothing about a manual override for the slides. Does anybody have info on this they could share? I think it would be good info.
Thanks
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Old 07-15-2013, 03:31 AM   #3
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Right Place

Hey thanks Mule Skinner. Yes it has the 400 Cummings engine. I am new to the motor home side. I did own a travel trailer. I have been on this site since I have been looking for the motor home and have found it very informative and it has helped me with my decision to buy the Alpine. I really like it and I think it will serve me well in retirement. After looking this coach over I would have no problem driving to California tommorrow! It's in great shape. I will post some pics when the deal is complete.
Anyway back to the slide issue, we found the hydralic panel but I did not see a valve to open or close. The owner had a lot of manuals but could not find one on the hydralic system. The Alpine owners manual refers to a manual for the HWH. I looked at the manual online but it doesn't reference the emergency procedure. So you are saying that you have to manually push the rear slide in? Have you had to do this? How hard is it to do? More than one person?

Thanks
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Old 07-15-2013, 09:51 AM   #4
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VtxBiker,

Having the wardrobe slide hydraulics fail twice due to hose problems, I can tell you the the valves are located behind the HWH leveling computer board with the adjusting nuts facing the front of the rig. You will need a short handled wrench because the space between the valve tha the front bulkhead is very tight.

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Old 07-15-2013, 10:39 AM   #5
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Vtxbiker,

Welcome to the forum! You'll find lots of answers here. And, please consider joining the Alpine Coach Association and make sure and take a look at the Alpine Tech Library at alpinecoachassociation.com

We have also had the bedroom hyd. hoses fail and had to push the slide in. With no hyd. pressure to hold it out (in our case) it was a one-person job to lean on it and push it in (with the coach level). Of course, then the trick is how to get it to 'stay' in?

The answer to that is to look at the 'scissoring arms' apparatus from the drivers side head of the bed, actually you need to lean your head over the bedside table (on our 2004) to be able to see this. I ended up making a contraption out of 2x4's to jam into the 'scissors' to keep them jammed which kept the slide closed. Trust me, it makes a lot more sense when you're looking at it!

If you're in Vermont, as your avatar suggests to me, it's funny as we bought our 2004 used in 2007 from a couple in VT that had advertised it on the Internet. We flew out from CA, loved it, and drove it home.

Best of luck to you!
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Old 07-15-2013, 02:03 PM   #6
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The hydraulic solenoid valves have a 1/4" hex nut that you need to loosen. (The T-handles are the jack solenoids.) You need to loosen it a few turns to release the pressure. And you need to loosen both the extend and retract valves. It is in the HWH manual that you can find at HWH or on the tech library on the ACA website. The cap on the tank reservoir has a nut driver on it. (Mine cracked and was worthless.) I bought a stubby 1/4" nut driver at Lowe's, and it works great for the application.

You should hear the fluid hiss briefly when you get it loose enough. Otherwise the slide will be hard to move. (The voice of experience!) The bar on the slide that the winch hook is attached to can bend if you are not careful. If you loosen it too much you might damage the needle valve, so look in the manual for how far to turn it, and the MAX turns!
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Old 07-15-2013, 07:56 PM   #7
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Mine didn't come with a wench. I have to convince her to get in the coach.
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Old 07-16-2013, 03:50 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sdcyclist View Post
VtxBiker,

Having the wardrobe slide hydraulics fail twice due to hose problems, I can tell you the the valves are located behind the HWH leveling computer board with the adjusting nuts facing the front of the rig. You will need a short handled wrench because the space between the valve tha the front bulkhead is very tight.

sdcyclist
Thanks sdcyclist, sorry to hear about the hoses failing. What is the problem? Is there something I need to look at and fix? I did run the slides in several times and all seemed to work fine. Like I said at this time I don't have the coach here and I plan to pick it up somtime next week.

Thanks again for the info
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Old 07-16-2013, 06:15 AM   #9
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The procedure is described on page 8 of this manual http://www.alpinecoachassociation.co...7%20manual.pdf
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Old 07-16-2013, 07:27 AM   #10
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Curious question ... IF the HWH pump motor is the problem couldn't someone press the appropriate retract switch while someone else pushes the slide manually? This procedure would eliminate the need for identifying and messing with the valves.

I assume that any other failure (controls, valves, etc) would eliminate using the retract button to manually push the slide back in. My curiosity comes from likelihood of the motor failing which has happened to me before.
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Old 07-16-2013, 07:59 AM   #11
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I did exactly that when my Gen slide switch went bad. It would operate the valve but not start the pump. I used the switch for the Engine door to operate the pump and then the Gen switch to operate the solenoid. I replaced the Gen slide switch eventually to make a permanent fix. (N.B. only applies if you have the hydraulic slideout, not the later electric one).
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Old 07-16-2013, 08:13 AM   #12
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Hi John

I don't quite understand when you say "switch for the Engine door"!

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Old 07-16-2013, 08:26 AM   #13
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Geoff, as I said my situation only applies to early models which have hydraulic slides on the generator and a hydraulic ram that raises the engine door at the rear. Wasn't trying to confuse you, just confirming that what you suggested should work.
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Old 07-16-2013, 08:45 AM   #14
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Vtxbiker

There were several explanations of why the hoses fail: poor quality crimp on the end fittings and excess hose laying on top of the radiator (perportedly WRV used the same length hoses on all lengths coaches, ie; hose for the 40 ft models used on 36 and 34 models with the excess length coiled up on top of the radiator). I finally replaced my hoses with aircraft quality materials. No problems since.

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