[pairodice]

I had a friend who knows how to weld much better than me come by and weld up the HWH slide pin actuator/ram/solenoid thingy… 
It came out good compared to how it used to look and the only problem is that we welded it in the wrong place!  It is about 1” away from where it needs to be (completely my fault for not checking the outer pin hole before welding it up… :-(  So while I’m waiting to get the nerve up to weld on the coach again I’m going to rebuild the hydraulic pins using the write-up from Latitude and getting the o-rings ordered… some day this slide room is going to be completed! Any advice on what to do the next time we are welding this up will be appreciated (please do not be too critical of his welds - I told him no one would ever see them with the valance on! Lol)

[Richard]

I am confused by the pictures. It appears the pin is lined up with the slide out, but misaligned with the slide in? Is that what happened?

Go slow, short welds, and use air blowoff gun to cool the metal before welding again. The spray foam that Newell uses will ignite and smolder from welding sparks. Don’t ask how I know this. Keep a spray bottle of water handy in case.

Cover everything in a 10 ft zone to protect from flying sparks. One spark will ruin pricey upholstery.

[pairodice]

Thanks Richard! Yes we took it slow and kept everything wetted down. I will try using compressed air in a can (flammable?)… I don’t have an air compressor…
The pictures are random but the issue now is that the pin is misaligned with the outside pin hole as you suggested :-(
We will rework it this weekend.

[Richard]

Let me try again. I see it is not aligned with the outside pin hole. Is it aligned with the inside pin hole?

Because if it is, you have a bigger problem. The room is supposed to go in and out square with the coach. If you reposition to align with the outside hole, you are going to punch a new hole when the slide goes out.

Compressed air in the cans is often flammable.

[Gnawrocki1]

Let me try again. I see it is not aligned with the outside pin hole. Is it aligned with the inside pin hole?

Because if it is, you have a bigger problem. The room is supposed to go in and out square with the coach. If you reposition to align with the outside hole, you are going to punch a new hole when the slide goes out.

Compressed air in the cans is often flammable.

Richard, it seems like the welded the position of not only the bracket that holds the actuator, but also the pin hole steel piece, and it seems like it was welded in a different axial position.  

The actuator seems to be located to far to the front (right) based on where the shadow of the previous location used to be and that is why it does not line up in the closed position.  

Good measurements will need to be taken from the original location and welded there or you will run in to issues when your slide is retracted.....so it seems

[pairodice]

Yep you are correct Richard we managed to weld it on without taking into consideration the outside pin hole so it did not line up - it was close enough to not make a hole but it was not happy and I stopped it when Karen started screaming lol. Now I’m here cutting it off again and will try to reweld it on tomorrow. What is odd is that the same hydraulic hoses that used to fit now are too short to go where they are supposed to fit not sure how tight these are supposed to be. Also I’m rebuilding the HWH block/pins tomorrow when the orings arrive from McMaster Carr. Of course now that I have taken my sweet time to get it all apart my Mom and Dad have both went in the hospital - we had planned on visiting in two weeks but may be pushing that timeline up and having to use big pins to hold the slide room in…

[pairodice]

I noticed last night when I was removing the front (nearest the windshield) HWH Slide Pin block that it took some force to get the block out from behind the steel bracket that is welded to the frame of the slide room. The slide was NOT fully extended as the floor had not risen up all the way flat with the rest of the floor. The Aluminum HWH block was holding the entire weight of the upper part of the slide room. I have been reluctant to fully extend the room due to rear HWH Slide Pin block and steel bracket missing (while we are rewelding it). When I removed the block the slide room moved OUT about 1/4 inch (estimating). It was enough to scare me… so my questions are:
1) should I go ahead and extend the room all the way out before welding the lower steel bracket on? I figured I would pull the slide room IN some so I was not welding up against the slide seal rubber…
2) if so what would I need to cap off the high pressure hydraulic lines before attempting to do so (so I don’t soak down the interior of the coach with red fluid)? I have the hydraulic cylinder pressure relieved via the manifold T-handles. Maybe I can just engage one of hydraulic cylinders to slide it out the rest of the way?

I am going to re-measure the front bracket and make the rear bracket exactly the same dimensions today.

[Gnawrocki1]

Adrian, the fittings on the hydraulic system are all JIC type. The hoses for the pins are all 1/8", and I believe the fittings are 1/4"

[Richard]

Hang on.

In the basement floor, center of the slide are two microswitches. When the “out” one makes, it stops the room, and activates the pins and floor. The room may already be all the way out. It is not unusual for the pin to move the room 1/4 of an inch. As the tapered pin goes into the hole.

The slide seal is affixed to the coach as is the HWH mounting plate. Makes no difference if room is in, out, or completely missing with regard to distance from welding to slide seal. Wet rags are your friend. Cotton, not microfiber polyester.

[pairodice]

Thanks for the info Gnawrocki1 and Richard!  I talked to Newell and they indicated that the when extending the room it would push up against the HWH block normally and then allow the bottom of the room to continue out. That would mean there would be pressure on the ‘stop’ part of the ‘bracket’ for lack of a better term (the part that has the hole in it for the pin to slide into on the slide room).
I’m planning to pull the long metal piece that hides all the wiring/hydraulic hoses off today since the slide room metal tubing is all rusty up there and will have a go at prepping/painting all of that (as long as I have it apart).
I will also work on getting the hoses to reach where they need to - I just can’t imagine why they would change their length…
Also I’m going to measure on the outside of the slide room between the centers of the outer pin holes to make sure that the inner pin holes and also their distance from the sides of the slide… I don’t want to have to weld this again :-(
Hopefully someone will learn from my mistakes:
1) do NOT remove the brackets from the slide room - just bang them as flat as possible and re-weld them! (I’m such an idiot sometimes)
2) hire a friend that knows how to weld properly :-)
3) make sure to go SLOW when welding so heat does not build up in the slide seal (this was NOT a lesson I had to learn) We used a heavy piece of angle iron to protect the slide seal when welding and that helped to dissipate heat
4) do not try to add ‘gussets’ to the back of the HWH block mount or the back of the bracket with the hole in it (if you have to remove the bracket/block… this will make the outer pin hole not match up! (Don’t ask how I know this - luckily no holes in the roof!)