The never ending slide saga

[PDR John]

As most of you know we've had a strange problem with our full wall slide since the coach was new. The factory has looked at it, the dealer looked at it and each has called the slide builder to come up with a solution.

Still after every so many cycles the rear motor would pause on the in coming cycle. From there it would compound each time the slide was used until it was to crooked to move.

We then had to reset the soft limits, which would last for a while. Then start the process all over again.

The dealer tech found a bad plug on the mother board and repaired it. That gave us the longest break between resets, but did not fix the problem. I have repeatedly checked the plugs and the torque on every bolt and nut. Still the issue persist.

Sitting here in WY with the high winds has really tested things. It was time to check everything again. Starting with the rear motor, seeing how that's where the problem is.

I grabbed the plug and it was tight, you can't see it, only by feel. This time something felt loose. Out came the wire cutters to start removing zip ties.

Look at what we have here:



A plug pin is not in place, no problem just push it in and all will be well. Except it won't go, but why. Keep in mind this is on top of the slide motor at the very top of the electrical bay.

Here is why I'm having a problem:



The loose pin should plug into the top right slot of the other plug, notice something wrong?

Two female pins, the plug was put together wrong at the factory. Who knows which factory. Doesn't matter, I'll just pop out the other side and fasten them together. That will bypass the plug till I can get the tools to fix it proper.

So I pushed it through to the Oasis compartment and the wire just fell out.



Wait, no it's a different wire. What the heck could be wrong?

Looking in the back of the plug and nothing has been crimped correctly. You can see the copper crimps not even squeezed in there.



So I bypassed it till I can get all new plugs and pins.

When I hit the slide button the whole thing worked, when just 1 hour before it didn't.

So maybe, just maybe, I got it this time.

I checked all the other plugs and their pins are tight. So it looks like somebody just put 1 pin in incorrectly.

[Twomed]

Great job McGiver !!! It's always fun to out engineer the engineers and all the techs...but sometimes for $400K you get a little bit tired of it.

At least you have the satisfaction of knowing that "intermittent" problem is gone.

[JFXG]

That's great, John--- just too bad you're the one who had to stay on the search!

I gather from your description that this was not directly a Newmar problem-- except in the important sense that your coach has their name on it. Either a third party slide builder or the harness supplier to that slide builder. Either way, its another classic case of the ten-cent part or the ten-second lapse in concentration ultimately costing Newmar and the dealer thousands$$$$, and costing you untold hours of frustration.

In any event, enjoy all the free time you'll have now!!

[PDR John]

Thanks, hopefully it will help somebody else.

[Lee L]

Great job PDRJohn, those types of problems are the absolute worst to find. Hats off to you, my friend!

["007"]

John has the expertise to deal with a problem like this some other person may get the run around.
I will be talking with a person from the factory tomorrow on the new COM_NET LINK, how do we use it problem and will have him look into this thread.
Thanks John for the pictures.

[Gordon Dewald]

And send the invoice for trouble shooting and defect fixing to Newmar.

Either they pay you or the tech! You they do not have to pay benefits for - cheaper that way.

[britcon]

Thanks John ! Haven't had this issue with my slide yet, but will remember your findings if I do.
This seems to be a recurring theme with Newmar these days. A few cheap parts causing a lot of grief. It's time the bean counters backed off and let the engineers go back to quality.

[DSL417]

Wow...good job of troubleshooting. I honestly don't know how the dealer's service departments and the manufacturer's CS departments do it without us tracking down this kind of stuff, but I try to tell the folks with new coaches that you need to learn to troubleshoot, and sometimes fix yourself, to stay on the road. Hope this solve your problem. good luck.

[Dutch Star Don]

Wow....Isn't nice to have an issue and then finally find the problem.....Even when things are still under warranty, I want to know what broke or how to fix it myself.

From the first day I bought our coach and read about your issues and others with the FWS, I've been watching mine and checking gaps. I'm finally at the point where I operate it without worry (knock on wood).

We just arrived in St George Utah today after an all day drive. I was surprised that the dash air kept it comfortable in the coach until about 2:30 pm and 107 degrees outside. I started the generator and had a dead Dometic A/C control panel. I didn't have a trouble shooting guide and no internet. I called the Newmar line and left a message. I felt that 108 degree and no A/C was an emergency....apparently they didn't...they never called back. I finally pulled the wall control and disconnected and connected the cable....it came back to life.

["007"]

John mentioned your thread to Newmar this morning to look into and see what may be a growing problem by who ever is making up this harness.
Two things on list COM_NET network and this problem.

[harleychief]

Originally Posted by Twomed

Great job McGiver !!! It's always fun to out engineer the engineers and all the techs...but sometimes for $400K you get a little bit tired of it.

At least you have the satisfaction of knowing that "intermittent" problem is gone.

^^^^ x2 ^^^^^

[PDR John]

Thank all, I was shocked to find it was a pin in a plug.

Hopefully an isolated incident.

[PDR John]

I should add; I ordered a whole new plug assemble with male and female pins.

When it comes in I'll replace the whole plug, just start over.