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Old 03-17-2022, 08:06 PM   #1
NWCampers
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Cable slide pulled from wall

We have a 2020 HC 330RL and while putting the dining room slide out I heard a pop. I stopped to inspect and found the cable mechanism on the back of the slide pulled away from the wall. I have a call into our service tech but while waiting for a return call I thought I would check with all of you to see if you have ideas as to what happened.

I’ve searched the forums and can find where welds have broken in the wall causing slide problems but I’m not sure if that’s what our problem is. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, as a side note, can anyone please help me figure out why some pictures post correctly and others rotate? Thanks in advance.
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Old 03-17-2022, 10:28 PM   #2
Carl n Susan
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I can't help specifically with the cable but there have been previous reports of this problem. A Search should help you find them wile waiting for others to answer.

As for the pictures rotating, read this posting
https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...ad.php?t=83314
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Old 03-17-2022, 10:47 PM   #3
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It sounds like anchoring an aluminum plate to the wall then remounting the cable pulley has resolved the issue for another owner. I’d still like to know the cause of it. I don’t see any fraying of the cables or wear as if its dragging or out of alignment. We’ll spend more time tomorrow looking into it.

And thank you for the link to address how to get my pictures to be oriented correctly.
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Old 03-18-2022, 06:10 AM   #4
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Don't know how to respond about the pully yanked from the wall, other than it looks like it wasn't anchored correctly. I've got no clue how that would be fixed.

But, about photo posting. The link above explains how to post using this forum site. I use https://imgur.com/ as my photo hosting site. Create a user id and password and then you simply drag the photos from your computer to the site and they upload.

Before doing that, most forum sites have a size limitation on photos. So what I do, when I have a photo I want to post on a forum, I'll open the photo on my computer using the right mouse click and "Open With". Instead of letting the computer default to the photo application, select "Paint". Open with Paint. (Microsoft's original very simple photo editing program that comes with every Windows install.)

The next thing I do is resize the photo to 640 x 480 pixels or smaller. If the photo is in "portrait" position, I also rotate it 90 degrees and put it in "landscape". Then save the edited photo under a new name so I retain the original photo as is and make sure it's saved as a .jpeg image somewhere on my computer.

I can now drag the new edited photo into imgur.com. Once on imgur.com I open the image, and do a right click on the image to bring up the image URL. I copy that URL and then paste it with the link on the forum.

I know this sounds like a lot of steps, and I guess it is, but the entire process takes less than a minute once you done it a time or two.

imgur.com is absolutely free too. No gimmicks, absolutely free. I do get an occasional add from that site offering to use their paid subscription which give you more storage.

If you have noticed, on public available web sites, forums, chat room, everything, if you attempt to post a photo taken in "portrait" position, the web site will almost always turn it sideways to make it "landscape", and the end result is, your photo is turned sideways.

So, in order to simplify things from the very beginning, avoid taking photos in the "portrait" position of your camera or phone. Always take them in landscape if you plan to upload them to an internet site somewhere.

When taking odd angle photos from a cell phone, the phone image will probably rotate automatically, which can cause an unwanted "portrait" photo. When that happens, for example taking a photo straight down, go to your phone setting, and click off the "auto rotate" feature on your phone. Then the image will always stay in landscape, no matter what angle the phone is in. Once the photo is taken, switch back on the "auto rotate" feature.

If you do it this way, this web site will recognize both landscape and portrait images.

Landscape.... yesterday's breakfast:



Portrait, same image:

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Old 03-18-2022, 01:56 PM   #5
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Got it fixed

In case someone finds themselves in our position, in need of moving the rv and can’t get the sides back in due to the cable pulley tearing away from the wall I thought I’d post our solution. After sending pictures to the dealer for repair we were told this unfortunately is rather common. They said the fix is a steel plate attached to the wall with larger screws and then the pulley remounted. Since we were supposed to be on the road today we decided to do the repairs ourselves. Using a jack we supported the slide in that corner then loosened the cables enough to work with the pulley. The service tech said it’s important before loosening the cables to measure the ends to the adjustment nut so after reattachment we would have them back at the correct tension. After losing the cables we cut a steel plate and mounted it to the wall at the studs then attached the cables pulley and tightened the cables back. We ran the slide in and out several times and it seems to have worked. The service tech is ordering plates for the other pulleys and we’ll be adding those as a precaution. It took about 2hrs to do this repair and we don’t want to have it ruin anymore trips if another one comes out.

And thank you for the advice on posting pictures. I took this one in landscape so hopefully it posts correctly.

Also, Dutchman, your breakfast looks great! I notice in the background you have a carpet runner on your steps. If you don’t mind my asking, how did you attach it?
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Old 03-18-2022, 03:17 PM   #6
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Wow sorry about that I have heard about the cable issues, if you can get Montana’s customer service to help would be the first thing but the Affinity rv group in goshen would be a great place to ask they have a lot of experience with all the Montana’s.
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Old 03-18-2022, 08:12 PM   #7
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Good job on that fix. Looks like it should go the distance.
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Old 03-19-2022, 09:46 AM   #8
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Curious here. I don't quite understand the picture and pulleys. It looks like the pulleys and cable run sideways across the slide instead of perpendicular to the wall. Is it just the way the picture came out or what?
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Old 03-19-2022, 11:20 AM   #9
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twindman, the pullies are correct. The motor is in the center of the slide on the top. Each side of the slide has 4 cables. Two on each side (top and bottom) for pulling the slide in - those are the cables on the outside of the slide, two on each side (top and bottom) for pulling the slide out - those are the cables on the inside of the slide. The cables run parallel (side to side) along the top of the slide as the motor is in the center of the slide on top. They run perpendicular (up and down) on the sides of the slide.

NWCampers,
That is a fantastic fix. I've never seen anything like that before. I've had a few of my cables break over the last 3 years, but never any problems with the pullies. Thanks for sharing, this is definitely something to keep a close watch on.

Also, the carpet on the steps. That is a rug-mat I picked up form a home improvement store. It's got a rubber back and a fiber top. You'd use these, maybe in a garage. We original bought 2 of them so they fit under our kitchen table in the house. They worked great for our original purpose, until we picked up a larger kitchen table. So they got put away.

Move forward in time and we got two new wiener dog puppies and those steps with the open back and slick aluminum surface scared them and neither would go up or down. The goal was to put something on the steps that was not slick and something that would cover the open gaps behind the steps. That's when I remembered those 2 mats.

The length was almost perfect, but if I cut them in half long way, the width was just perfect to fit the width of the steps.

I laid the mat on the steps and shaped them (the way they look in the photo above) and I had only about 6 inches of length that was not needed. I didn't cut that off, I realized I could just tuck it under the bottom step.

Fastening it to the steps was really pretty simple. It took two different attempts, but I finally found the longest zip ties I could find. At the top of each step, I punched a hole through the mat, put the zip tie through the hole, over the top of the step and through another punched hole under the step. Pull the zip tie nice and tight on both sides, and repeated the next step down. The tail of the zip tie is under the step and then trimmed.

At the bottom, I tucked the extra length under the step and the zip tie holds it up and out of the way. We've had these on the steps for over 2 years now. The only problem with them is, it does add weight to the steps and to close the steps, they are a little heavier now. And when it rains, they get wet. I don't remove them, they usually dry pretty fast and drain very well being rubber on the bottom side. The only time they dripped water on the floor on the inside of the camper in the up position was when we had a torrential rain and we needed to close up because we were traveling.

I've removed them twice and reattached after giving them a good cleaning, and once to swap out smaller zip ties hooked together, which resulted in the connection between the zip ties (that square thing), being on the top of the steps, which was really hard on bare feet. So, I keep searching for really long ones, until one day I found them.

My dogs have no problem with the steps, and when it snows, they sweep off very easy. No problems with slick steps any more.

Original (I added the reflector because this the back door on the opposite side of the camper. It's an attention getter, when we stop at rest stops or on a curb and need to access the bathroom). Anything to get traffic attention.



After:



Here's what the under side looks like:

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Old 03-21-2022, 07:17 PM   #10
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Dutchman, thanks for jumping in to explain the pulley system. We were out of service for a couple days but I’m happy to report the slide cable pulley fix is solid and we were able to make our destination. Nothing like having reservations then having something go majorly wrong at the last minute.

And thank you for the explanation and pics of your steps. I tried using a harbor freight rubber mat meant for garages only on the back of ours (we also have a dog that doesn’t like the gaps) but the way I attached it wasn’t securing well. The zip ties were ripping through the mat, but I see you’re going completely around the steps which is more secure and also having the rubber backed rug would help it to not rip through and add extra traction. This is my next project. Thank you.
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Old 03-23-2022, 02:34 PM   #11
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Feel lucky it was only the bracket that pulled out. Many have issues (including my HC) with the cable system breaking internal wall stud welds at base plate or ceiling header and the whole wall section has to be replaced / repaired.

I don't think most RV'ers know just how much stress the cable system places on the wall and pulleys. While the concept of using cables seems on the surface to be a much lighter weight and less costly way to move slides in and out, in reality, everything has to be perfectly aligned and assembled correctly to work reliably; the walls, cable tightness, pullies and supports have to be strong enough to handle the high stress / torque. As we all know, RV's are not exactly built to high standards and there is a lot variances in aluminum wall stud locations, welds, hardware, mounting and quality control. In a cable slide system, if any of the components, cables and supports are not within intended design tolerances, you're almost guaranteed to have a slide issue as the RV bounces down the road over many years.

It should be no surprise that Keystone has gone away from cable slides in all Montana products (including HC's) in recent years.
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Old 03-23-2022, 03:47 PM   #12
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I heard they now use Schwintek. RV technicians do not like those either.

I certainly dislike the cable system but hear of problems with all slide systems.

I'm gonna try to educate myself on repairing cable systems.

In the long run, I'm gonna downsize and might go to a single or no slides.
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Old 03-23-2022, 04:42 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fishin2dMax View Post
It should be no surprise that Keystone has gone away from cable slides in all Montana products (including HC's) in recent years.
We weren’t aware they stopped using the cable system. What are they using now?

We agree with what you said about the tension on the slide and were skeptical of the cable system for that reason. I’m glad it wasn’t the wall weld breaking for us, pulling from the wall was bad enough. Hopefully whatever system they’ve chosen to change to has less problems.
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Old 03-23-2022, 04:48 PM   #14
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Having a hard time here with posting a pic..Our slide cable gear box broke.. Another box was installed. However the installation was not correct.. The cable blocks grabbed the gear box and tore the unit from the wall... A steel plated was mounted due to the screws on the original box being stripped from the aluminum studs... What was wrong with electric motor drive slides..Our other slide literally crushed the Little buddy heater.. Our new Trailer's big slide caught an open cabinet door. Instead of destroying the door, the slide broke!
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Old 03-23-2022, 04:49 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by DaveK View Post
I heard they now use Schwintek. RV technicians do not like those either.

I certainly dislike the cable system but hear of problems with all slide systems.

I'm gonna try to educate myself on repairing cable systems.
You were faster to post. So it looks like the Schwintek system is a rack and pinion system. I don’t think there’s a system that’s been used that hasn’t had its share of problems but this system seems like an upgrade from the cable system.
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Old 03-23-2022, 04:57 PM   #16
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[QUOTE=NWCampers;1247211]We weren’t aware they stopped using the cable system. What are they using now?

The new HCs are starting to get hydraulic slides similar to their higher end Montana cousins.
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Old 03-23-2022, 05:02 PM   #17
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I’d believe it with the electric side crushing the buddy heater! We had an experience on a previous rv with one bending and shooting a safety slide bar (used to have to put these between wall and slide as a safety bar while in transit). That bar ricocheted off the opposite wall and the slide kept on going. ��

We’re wishing we would’ve bought a unit with a different slide system but that’s always hindsight. Instead we’ll add the plates to the pulleys and try to bridge the aluminum studs. Maybe buy some extra cables to pack just in case those break too.
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Old 03-23-2022, 07:33 PM   #18
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If the cable slides were done right, installed correctly with high grade components it should never go bad. Apparently that is wishful thinking. All these systems give trouble. And most of the trouble is from cheap components. Like the hydraulic hoses that go bad. Think about that they are enclosed out of the sun and fairly low pressure and they go bad. My JD tractor is 14 years old and all the hoses are like new after being out in the sun. Spend a few bucks and use quality parts and charge us for them.
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Old 03-28-2022, 04:17 PM   #19
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I must be the lucky one here, I have all three types.
Two Schwintek in living room, one cable (the closet) in the bedroom and the other three are hydraulic.
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Old 03-28-2022, 05:13 PM   #20
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I think they need to go back to electric motor slide drives. The motor was under the bed with gears. Worked great .simple too.
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