Bed Slide went Catiwompus

[richhop25]

Schwintek Slide Failure - Mis-information
Electronic Manual Override Mode - this is long but you need to know about this.

My Bed Slide had gotten out of sync for some reason. You may know that the slide is driven by two motors which must be synchronized lest the slide goes catiwompus.
Electronic Manual Override can be very tricky - as I discovered after nearly 20 trips from Bed Slide switch around to the water pump area where the Bed Slide Controller is located.
The slide controller is mounted above the water pump, on the ceiling, and a bit off to the left side in that compartment. It is in a very, very difficult location to use.
It is very hard to reach and also hard to see what you need to do
I was able to read important instruction information on the couch slide controller which is mounted further to the left but easier to see.
Had I not previously downloaded the owners manual, I’d have been SOL. Even armed with that information, which was quite good in some respects, it failed to provide enough detail in this segment. [More explicit instructions are below] — I’ll explain.
The controller will provide codes to indicate how the slide is malfunctioning. My failure was indicated as a wire short between the controller and the motor.
I did not find a wiring problem.
The slide was in (good in that I could travel if needed). I wanted to fix it on my second day so I began to troubleshoot and ended up getting the slide out but could not get it back in.
After exhausting all physical problems, I resorted to the electronic manual override provisions.
I read the owner’s manual and learned how to initiate the override mode.
Problem with the instructions was that it did not differentiate between entering the mode and exiting the mode. Instructions written failed to even indicate that the LED's pulse at two different brightnesses depending on if you are entering or exiting the mode. A major oversight if you ask me. [I’ll report this to them]
Not knowing to look for this, and discovering that the pulse of the LED’s is exactly the same except for the brightness, I ended up initiating and exiting the mode on multiple occasions thinking I was entering the mode. The slide did not act as it was supposed to but I could not figure out why.
Once I finally realized that the LED’s were pulsing more brightly in the exit mode [NOT mentioned in the manual], I was able to remain in the active mode condition and get the slide back in. Then I exited successfully.
Here are MORE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS improving on those offered by the company in their operations manual —
1) Count the red LED blinks to learn the trouble mode indicated.
Start the count after the green LED blinks.
For my failure it was 8 blinks indicating a wiring fault.
2) Find the mode button. Press and release the mode button 6 times and HOLD it in for the 7th push. You will need to use a ball point pen with the tip extended to find the button. It is not visible, but if you hold the pen exactly vertical and in the middle of right hand side of the opening, you’ll hit it. Hold in for about five seconds.
3) You will see the LED’s (one green and one red blinking rapidly - I had to observe reflections since I could not see into the opening) Once they are blinking, release the button.
4) Careful now - If you hold it down longer than the five seconds, the LED’s will get brighter. This indicates that the controller has moved on into the exit mode. If so, you will think you are in the override mode when in fact you’ve exited it. The slide will NOT respond favorably and you will question your sanity.
5) Once you are correctly in the override mode, the controller bypasses the trouble code condition and supplies 12 volts directly to the motors. You can now operate the slide without limits. (Be careful, you can push the frame pretty hard without something to shut the motors off.)
6) Just make sure the slide is fully out and sealed. When you exit the mode, the controller will reset the motor stops.

Here’s how to EXIT the override mode.
1) Until now the controller should be in the override mode. If you look at it before touching it you will not see any LED's flashing.
2) Using the pen again press the mode switch in and hold until you see the LED’s blinking (more brightly than when you entered the mode).
Release the mode button and the controller is back into normal operating mode.
3) You can now re-synchronize the slide motors so that they operate properly again.
Good luck if you get caught up in this scenario. It is a great feature that you can override the synchronization failure with some button pushes, but the instructions are sorely lacking and misleading. I hope this writeup saves you some aggravation should it happen to you.

[SeaDog]

Good info

[nusslejj]

I sent it to my email and put it into my Schwintek folder so I have a quick way to get to the instructions !

[richhop25]

This is to update the slide failure condition and troubleshooting. If you didn't notice, most of my frustration was lack of clarity with the instructions. Had they been clearer, I'd have saved a full day of monkeying around with this until I happened to notice a slight difference in brightness of LED indicators.

I was able to confirm with Lippert (the supplier that bought Shwintek):
1) I was able to isolate the error code condition - "wiring fault to motor". There was none although that is the code that came out of the controller. I reversed the motor drive wires and the condition did not transfer to the other motor. Wiring was not the problem.
2) I was able to repeat the over-ride mode condition each time, so the write-up on the proper way to get into and out of that mode is correct - the manual description is flawed.
3) I found a supplier of the controller Lippert # 211852 but the number on the controller itself is 13398-C2. I will purchase from an internet supplier I found for about 40% of the retail asked by Lippert. -- newproductsgreatdeals.com -- The parts gal at Lippert suggested that. I guess she was quite aware that their price was sky high. Cost to me was $220.
4) Interestingly, when I switched motors 1 and 2 at the controller, the in and out button designations switched. So when I pushed the button to "out" it tried to go in, and etc. Have no clue why that happened. And, it turned out to not be significant to the solution.

I have an inquiry into FR on this. I'll let you know if anything is resolved at their end.

Safe Travels !!

Rich Hopkins