Awning damaged in the wind! - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 11-21-2018, 04:33 PM   #1
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Awning damaged in the wind!

Luck finally ran out for me as I became the unlucky one whose extended awning got caught in a windstorm . By the time I got to it, the right set of arms were mangled, twisted and bent up over the top of the trailer (Voltage 3805). Surprisingly, the left arms survived with barely noticeable damage. With a lot of work and the help of two other people, I was able to at least get the awning rolled back up (it's motorized) and secured snug against the trailer so I could get home.
Question is: will I have to replace the entire awning - including both left and right arms, motor, etc., or does Dutchmen sell just the right arm mechanism?
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Old 11-21-2018, 05:01 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by homerut151 View Post
Luck finally ran out for me as I became the unlucky one whose extended awning got caught in a windstorm . By the time I got to it, the right set of arms were mangled, twisted and bent up over the top of the trailer (Voltage 3805). Surprisingly, the left arms survived with barely noticeable damage. With a lot of work and the help of two other people, I was able to at least get the awning rolled back up (it's motorized) and secured snug against the trailer so I could get home.
Question is: will I have to replace the entire awning - including both left and right arms, motor, etc., or does Dutchmen sell just the right arm mechanism?

A dealer replaced one arm for me when it died from water weight. It took some engineering to keep the awning fastened to the RV for the 50 mile trip.

It's not a Dutchman product, the original supplier will have them available for you or the dealer.
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Old 11-21-2018, 05:41 PM   #3
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Happened to me as well. On top of the arm damage, I had scrapes across all five of the colors on my full paint unit. My Voltage 3990 (2015) had a Carefree awning. You can order just the arm parts from them.
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Old 11-24-2018, 02:38 AM   #4
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Our voltage did the same thing a year ago one side flipped up on top of the trailer just make sure your tube does not have even a slight bend ‘ it ended up being one side of the arms and the motor but if you have even a slight bend replace the whole thing you’ll be ahead of the game
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Old 11-28-2018, 11:45 PM   #5
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It happened to me on my 3990 Epic, like wise, had 2 other campers try to help, we couldn't hold it down, it was actually pulling us off the ground. Finally just let it go over the trailer. then had to disconnect the motor, wind it up by hand, and secure to the trailer so we can get home. All parts needed can be bought individually from the manufacturer of the awning, even down to the smallest screw.
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Old 11-30-2018, 08:24 PM   #6
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A few short years ago we were camping at the beach in our old motorhome. It had the old manual awning that you could leave out in a virtual hurricane. Nevertheless, there was a minor breeze that would gust every now and then but, really nothing one would consider winds. This guy pulls up towing a brand new looking travel trailer, sets everything up, rolls out the awning, jumps in his truck and heads out for a bite to eat. A gust of wind wrapped that awning over the top of his RV just like that. I was amazed at just how little wind it took to ruin that awning.


So, we sold the motorhome and bought a 2017 model TT with the power awning. I asked the people at CW if we could have that awning switched out for the old manual style. They said no. I really do not like the power awning. It's fragile. Why would you build an awning that can't take a standard old breeze.
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Old 12-01-2018, 10:02 AM   #7
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I agree with you falconbrother. While it sure is easy to set up, unless you tie it down (which I do religiously since losing one!) 13 or 14 mph causes problems. The old one could withstand a mini-hurricane, and if you tied it down, a full hurricane.
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Old 12-01-2018, 02:51 PM   #8
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While I did like my old style awning, it's no stronger than the fabric it's attached to, hardly hurricane proof. I have noticed that my electric awing has far more substantial looking arms than most other models do. I see a lot of pencil thin support arms that flail about without much wind. When mine starts really moving it takes all of 30 seconds to roll it up, that wasn't possible with the old style, even though setting it up carport style was cool
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