HWH Living Room slide slow to retract

[Cinequip]

I have an issue with the curbside living room slide when retracting. This is the slide that lowers when extended, so slide floor is level with coach floor. It's found in all APEX's, plus all 40' quad slide models.

The issue is it's very slow retracting. Slide extends quickly. However, when retracting, the room lifts promptly, but as it's "shifting gears" to begin sliding in, I can hear the pump loading, and then after a long pause, the slide will very slowly creep in.

I've tried various slide lubricants, and I keep the rails polished - which seems to help a little. Another game, is tipping the coach to the left, giving the slide a little downhill advantage. Again, it helps a little.

My current theory is that the HWH fluid diverter is defective. This is the device that (I think) sends fluid to the lifting action first, then diverts to the sliding rams for retract. An alternate theory is that only one ram is receiving fluid on retract. I don't think its a jamming problem, because the slide freely extends.

Anybody have any experience working with this particular slide, or have experienced a similar problem? I keep thinking we'll be in Iowa someday, and can have the HWH factory resolve it, but, that never seems to be in the cards. We're in the NW, and haven't found any HWH EXPERT up here.

[c_oneil]

I'm thinking that I have the same slide mechanism in my FDTS curb slide that you have. I just replaced a leaking room cylinder hose on it so I know a bit about what is going on there. The "diverter valve" you suspect is bad is, I think, the valve under the floor right next to the aft lift cylinder. My understanding of the system from tracing all the hoses is that it is just an on/off valve. It has a single hose that delivers pump pressure from the manifold that is separate from the two hoses that go from the manifold to the sync cylinder and room cylinders. The valve is operated and timed mechanically by a steel lever in the lift mechanism operating a button on the valve when the room is in the lifting/dropping position. When the room is fully extended and the floor starts to rise as you retract the room there is pump pressure at the lift cylinders and at both ends (rod and cap ends) of the room cylinders. Due to the different areas of the pistons involved all seeing the same pump pressure at the same time you get movement of the lift cylinder first and the room rises till the mechanism closes the lift cylinder valve and leaves pressure only at the sync cylinder and room cylinders. That is when the room starts to retract.

When the room is extending the room cylinders are retracting and there is pump pressure only at the rod end of the room cylinders. When the room gets to the drop position the weight of the room lowers it.

The other theory that only one room cylinder is moving the room doesn't sound right to me because the room would cock sideways and jam right away. I proved that trying to get the air out of my replaced hose.

It could be a mechanical rather than a hydraulic issue. Have you checked the plastic rollers in the drive chains? I have read about those breaking. There are also four bronze rollers (two each fwd and aft) that the lift mechanism pivots on as the room lifts and drops. They are at the bottom edge of the lift mechanism at the back side of the moving room wall. Mine had pretty large grooves worn into them as they support the entire weight of the room against the steel mechanism when lifting.

Gary A. has experience with his slide or AZpete could help on this too.

[Cinequip]

Carter, You definitely have the same slide, and are speaking my language. I have seen another FDTS also with this slide.

Upon reading your narrative through, I started wondering if the lifter isn't hitting the button, would the slide then creep inward as the lifter fluid has nowhere else to go? I have an Apex mechanical schematic of the Level Out Slide, which doesn't include any electrical. I can see the hose routing to the diverter and lifters, but no mention of a button. That would be a critical piece of the puzzle! The drawing only shows one pressure feed line to a + fitting in the top of the diverter. Concept being pressure goes to lifters AND cap end simultaneously, but the smaller lifter cylinders move first, because its an easier fluid route. Once they are at limit, fluid then has to flow to the slide rams, entering at cap end. There is a note on the drawing which states that there is pressure at all times on the Rod end hose. I assume that the sync-cylinder maintains pressure on the rod end when fully extended.

One other thought I have had during studying the drawing: The Rod end hose fitting is a T, with another jumper cable also running down to the cap end. There are two hose fittings at the cap end. Knowing the disfunction of WRV in the final days when my coach was built, I wonder if they attached to two hoses at the cap end backwards? The retract has always been slow, but it's getting worse in recent years.

Thanks for your input, could be very helpful.

[c_oneil]

You can watch the lever move and push the button or plunger from below in my cargo space after the carpeted cover on the roof of the cargo space is removed.

The picture above shows the "diverter" valve and the lever arm that pushes the button or plunger on the valve as well as the rod end of the lift cylinder to the right. The valve body is unpainted steel and a bit larger than a deck of cards. The lever arm is the black painted steel thing that pivots on a short shaft and is retained by an E-ring. I put a yellow arrow pointing to the shaft and E-ring. The button or plunger on the valve is behind a square tab on the lever arm. The tab is bent at 90 degrees to the rest of the lever arm and I pointed the tab out with a red arrow.

The second picture is a view of the valve from the inboard side. You can see a hose connected on the inboard side of the valve at the bottom and can also just make out a second hose connected at the top with an elbow. The hose fitting at the left of the valve is connected to the rod end of the lift cylinder.


I would like to see your drawing that shows just one hose to the diverter valve because my valve definitely has two. Maybe your later model Apex is a bit different. My room cylinders are both the same as you describe with a tee connection on the rod end and two elbow connections at the cap end. The extra connection on the cap end is for locking the cylinder in the extended position for travel. When the room is fully retracted the cylinder is fully extended and locked. If your connections at the cap end of the cylinder were reversed it wouldn't work at all. Inside the cylinder cap is a valve and ball check arrangement that locks and unlocks the cylinder.

[Cinequip]

Looks like later coaches had a different system. On mine, the extend/retract cylinders are mounted inside the coach, vertically on the wall. This makes access to the aft cylinder almost impossible due to the refrigerator wall being adjacent to the aft side of the slide. I will post pictures in the next couple of days.

Thanks.

[c_oneil]

After looking at your connection drawing I see that your slide mechanism is similar but not the same as mine. We both have the vertical room slide cylinders and the chain drive extend/retract mechanism but your lift cylinders and mechanism are totally different. You have a second synchronize cylinder that operates the two lift cylinders that I don't have. I have that lever operated valve that runs my lift cylinders. Also the HWH part numbers are all different. I can tell you that to get access to the aft room cylinder you need to remove the rear window in the slide room and then retract the room. You have decent access then through the window opening. You do have a rear window I hope.