Fixing sluggish Dometic awning.
If you have a Dometic (A&E) 9100 series awning on your RV you may wish to save this post. Last season I started having intermittent issues with our awning not wanting to extend. It would roll out about 6 inches and while the motor kept running, the awning fabric began to unroll in a baggy mess, the arm would not move anymore. I'd have to pull out on the vertical arm and then it would finish extending properly. Back then I just thought it was a lubrication problem and after oiling every moving part, it seemed to be better. The problem came back with a vengeance this season. This time lubricating did nothing. Rooting around the web it seemed the consensus was my gas struts had lost strength. Being they were 5 years old now, I figured that was possible so I ordered and installed new. No help. Wasted my money, the old ones were still perfectly good. Talking to the techs at a local RV shop they insisted the awning was just "worn out" and needed replacing ($1000+ !!!). Called Winnebago and several agents there had no clue but gave me Dometic's hard to get customer service number (800)366-3842. It took 3 agents there but one finally knew of a "bumper kit" for sluggish awnings. Found it online ($50!!) but the only review there was a complaint that it came with zero instructions and the purchaser had no idea how to install it or how it worked and the seller was no help to him, either. The part = 3310777.000 bumper assist kit. Looking at the picture, it seemed to me that all it was just some sort of rubber thing that would push the vertical arm away from the coach when you went to extend the awning. I happened to have some of a dollar store pool noodle left over from making corner guards for the slides so It occurred to me that it might do the job. The noodle was 2 1/4" in diameter and I cut a 2" slice and placed it between the vertical and upper arm. It tucks down in there nicely and seems pretty well trapped in it's location. I did this on each side and, voila! Problem solved! My only concern is whether the noodle will get too compressed and no longer push out on the arm. Time will tell. I may have to devise some sort of spring arrangement.
