awning problems

[bcommonda]

awning was partly deployed and quit, cannot rewind (electric awning)

[wildwest450]

Who makes the awning?

[bcommonda]

don't know manufactuer

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by bcommonda

don't know manufactuer

How's the weather on your side?

I have to go, but look up Carefree of Colorado and the Dometic web sites, they have the most commonly used awnings. The onlines manuals can point you in the right path.

[nineoaks]

That is the reason I like my manual awning, only takes a few minutes of my time and fewer thing to go bad. My Dad once said "the more complicated things get (meaning cars) the more things to go bad" and I have found that he
hit the nail on the head.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by nineoaks

That is the reason I like my manual awning, only takes a few minutes of my time and fewer thing to go bad. My Dad once said "the more complicated things get (meaning cars) the more things to go bad" and I have found that he
hit the nail on the head.

Roy,

Yep, give me my old points, plugs and condenser ignition and a carbutator I can always limp it home. Computer controlled stuff just brings out the sixteen pounder in me.

[lcv800]

I'm with you. Hard for me to keep up, although when Henry Ford came out with his car, people probably said if their horse threw a shoe, they could limp him home and that cars were too complex. LOL
Rusty

[snakebitten]

Originally Posted by hddecker

Roy,





Yep, give me my old points, plugs and condenser ignition and a carbutator I can always limp it home. Computer controlled stuff just brings out the sixteen pounder in me.

Ok, I'm alright with the carb. And obviously the plugs. And it's even ok if you uncomputerize the vast majority of everything related to combustion.



But points? Lol



Nope. I want the "electronic" distributor!

[wildwest450]

I'm with snake, no one should ever miss points.

As for the electric awning... I can get my awning in way faster when a storm hits, around here you may less than 2 minutes to get it in before the wind rips it off.

Most electric awnings have a simple way to retract them if the motor goes bad, but there's no way to help if you don't know your equipment.

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by snakebitten

Nope. I want the "electronic" distributor!

Snake,

As long as there's no computer involved, OK I could go with a mechacically fires electronic distributer.

Originally Posted by dawniewest

I'm with snake, no one should ever miss points.

As for the electric awning... I can get my awning in way faster when a storm hits, around here you may less than 2 minutes to get it in before the wind rips it off.

Most electric awnings have a simple way to retract them if the motor goes bad, but there's no way to help if you don't know your equipment.

I'd take the challenge to see who's awning goes in faster, your electric or my manual awning.

Never had a problem getting it stowed and locked in place, in under a minute. Even the old worn out A&E with the out of adjustment, curved arms stowed fast. A bump on this arm, one on the other. They may need a little

I love mechanical things that purr along, nothing beats the sound of a well oiled machine ticking away.

Your absolutely right about knowing your equipement, that's the main reason I do my own maintenance. While I'm in the comfort of my driveway, I check stuff out and get a sense for how it's put together, so I have a good idea on how to fix stuff on the road.

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks, but some tricks this old dogs refuses to learn.

[snakebitten]

Hey Jim, if you could choose ANY manual awning you wanted, which would you prefer?

I'll use this fancy electric one until it crashes. (Hope that is many years from now but I bring it in and back out once daily. Don't want the coastal breeze to catch me away)

[hddecker]

I like the A&E/Dometic, that's what was on the Airstream and what I have on the brick. If and when it needs it, I can adjust it with my eyes closed now.

I like the nice big, wide, sturdy arms. Unlock the awning, pull on the tab, the awning rolls out and locks fully deployed. Slide the support armes up and lock them in place, adjust the angle if needed and take a rest along with a nice adult beverage.

[wahoonc]

The manual awnings are good, have A LOT of advantages, like the ability to be staked out in higher winds. FWIW I currently have a Dometic 9100 power awning on my motor home, it has to come in anytime the wind picks up even a little bit. I am in the process of modifying it to add a set of vertical legs so it can be tied down for the occasional afternoon thunderstorm.

One of my Airstreams had a CareFree on it and it was okay. I also had a ZipDee, which is probably one of the best awnings I have ever owned. One reason I really liked it is because the company supports their products and stocks parts for even their very old awnings.

Aaron

[wildwest450]

Never understood tying an awning down. Electric or manual, excessive flapping is a sign it's time to roll it up. A strong gust will just rip it off from the wall of the camper, i suppose that's better than it flipping over the roof, but neither is ideal.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by dawniewest

Never understood tying an awning down. Electric or manual, excessive flapping is a sign it's time to roll it up. A strong gust will just rip it off from the wall of the camper, i suppose that's better than it flipping over the roof, but neither is ideal.

Awnings keep things dry. I have seen a 15 mph wind gust flip an awning when it caught it just right. Sometimes new and improved ain't. With my previous manual awning, with de-flappers and tie down straps we could sit outside in a decent downpour with wind gusts into the 35 mph range and not worry about the awning. My current one doesn't like wind gusts above 12 mph, sustained winds in the 8-10 mph range cause it to flap. The manual says its a "sun shade" Sorry the sun shines when the wind blows too. We spend a lot of time outside our RV. I don't want to have to put all my stuff up every time the wind blows or there is a bit of rain. We have also done the separate shelter thing too, it is fine, but one more thing to haul along.

My first camper had an awning that had to be installed every time you used it. You got the awning and the poles out, then you unfolded the awning, slid the rope in the track, put the bar in the sleeve, then fitted the poles and staked it out with guy lines.

We thought the trailer mounted awnings were a miracle, then they started adding powered ones. The manual ones with the adjustable arms were probably the pinnacle.

Aaron

[hddecker]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

My first camper had an awning that had to be installed every time you used it. You got the awning and the poles out, then you unfolded the awning, slid the rope in the track, put the bar in the sleeve, then fitted the poles and staked it out with guy lines.

We thought the trailer mounted awnings were a miracle, then they started adding powered ones. The manual ones with the adjustable arms were probably the pinnacle.

Aaron

Them do it yurself awning kits were fun, then came the baggie awning, hanging on the side of the camper.

I like my stuff nice and simple, fixable on the road, without having to get the manual out, so I can figure out how to get get stuff stowed for travel. My old school A&E might be simple, but it is sturdy and like you say deflappers and staked down it takes a pretty good gust to get it to move any.

[lcv800]

'd take the manual any day, especially since I lost one on a relatively mild wind. My Mom had a manual on her old Tiffin. I would drive her down to Florida and set her up. I'd set the awning up, run a strap over the top, put de-flappers on, then stake the arms. It would be fine all winter until I took it down in April. It may take a minute to set up, but it was rock solid. Now I gently tie the arms down on my electric. It gives me a little more more safety in the wind but not much. 12-15 mph and I roll it up.
Rusty

[wildwest450]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

My current one doesn't like wind gusts above 12 mph, sustained winds in the 8-10 mph range cause it to flap. The manual says its a "sun shade"
Aaron

That aint my fault you bought a big fancy rig with a tissue paper sun shade.
We recently camped right on a lake and had decent breezes the whole weekend, easily in the 10-15mph range and had zero worries with the awning. I'm talking the Tennessee storms that come up out of nowhere and it's 50-60mph straight line winds, no awning is surviving that.

We had one of those this summer as I was headed home for work on Sunday afternoon, ran through a storm that was one of the worst i've seen down here, called the wife at the campground and told her she had 10-15 minutes to button everything up, because they were going to get hammered. She just made it as the storm hit, it completely washed 2 newly constructed sites away, ripped an awning off next to us, and put a 6"limb through our neighbors roof.

I will concede that my old manual awning was sturdier but my wife could have never taken it down without help, we would have lost it. That's when I started loving the new flimsy electric ones a little more.