Is it possible to tighten a patio awning spring yourself?

Oh Bordercollie! I'm sorry you went through all that. It's always such a gamble buying an older RV. I knew with a 1985 with 47K miles on it, there was a lot of sedentary times and I know that can be the worst for a motorhome. So far, I'm doing okay. Had to replace the water pump and then found out that there was another thing (outside spout to drain the potable water tank) that also needed to be replaced. Took care of that myself (and largely, much of the water pump was my doing, too!) and that increased the water pressure significantly.

Then I decided to give the hot water heater a go and turned it on with the electric switch. The valves were so tight from years of not having been moved to the open position that I thought it was just broken. But now they move much easier. In fact, one of them drips water from time to time. I can always tell cause the water pump takes much longer to kick off. It's like, "Ut oh. Another water leak somewhere!"

It's an adventure, and I haven't even hit the road yet. God be with us all.

Sounds like you are pretty savvy about using You Tube, Google and Ebay. I would guess that you will need to use an after-market substitute spring. If you can find an honest RV repair service place with experienced old timer repair guys, it could save you a lot of frustration, time, and money. Luckily, old RV's don't have too many OEM parts that cannot be substituted with currently available stuff. We paid a nice old widow $13,000 for our first "old but nice looking used RV from hell" , plus another $8000 in repairs and replacements the first year to get it safe and reliable enough for cross country touring and camping. We probably could have done much better spending $21000 on a much newer rig if we had RV.net and other sources of advice back then. After a number of years we sold the rig for $4500. Never did get the water leak damage and mold smell repaired. If you have tools, work space, help, time and various truck mechanic, RV body repair, wood working, plumbing, RV electrical trouble shooting and repair skills, and are smart in locating parts at reasonable prices, you can avoid paying some of the $80 per hour labor costs
and make an old RV work OK for you.

I will look into it. It's a shame if I turn and change directions though, cause I already bought the strap and the metal pole that you use to put in the loop when it's no longer in reach. The awning had neither of those things. But I bought them before I realized the spring was wasted. The sellers were total sleaze balls.

I would recommend if you can use the crank out kit, go for it. I changed to one, because I was too short to trip the release lever and hold the pull strip straight. After managing to let it roll up crooked and having to get someone to help me (with a ladder at each end), hand force it out, I made the decision. I had mine changed out at an RV rally/show and dealer did it in less than an hour and even adjusted my crooked awning so it rolled straight.

Now I never struggle to get mine out or put it away. That is one of the absolute best modifications I have done to my trailer.

I forgot to say I'll look at that crank out thing, too! Thank you.

One guy says he has a Dometic awning and the crank thing wouldn't work cause it's meant for a Carefree awning. I seriously doubt it would work with my old Faulkner.

I always check Youtube before posting any questions here. I then try to do a search on this forum but that usually comes up empty so I just went and started this thread after going through the videos on youtube. Not one showed you how to tighten an existing spring. All were regarding removing an old spring assembly to insert a new one.

To the last poster, I have nothing wrong with the canopy fabric at all. It's just the spring. I'm glad you did your replacement with ease, though.

I'll check that link for Faukner parts but it's probably the one I know about, in Oregon or something. I will see what they have for an old spring assembly for the patio awning. Shipping charges will be horrible, all the way across the country. I'd almost rather wait until I get to Oregon to pick it up.

I would truly like the awning to be usable though. It's not necessary, so long as I can find a shady place to camp. However, when it rains, it would give me a way to get outside and not get wet. I love the awning. The guy who came to my rescue said, "They don't make them like THIS anymore!"

Money is always an issue, or I'd go right to the people who fix things. I agree with the majority of you that think there could be a partially broken spring inside so I won't try to tighten in myself, or pay to have someone else to tighten it, at $80/hour for labor.

I'll check that link that another person posted as another possible place to find suggestions on my problem. Thanks again, everyone.

Super easy job. I just replaced my shredded 10 year old canopy the springs are not intimidating at all. I followed the youtube video to the tee when pulled out a foot the springs have the least amount of tension 5-8 turns max.

Use vice grips and take your time counting turns on each side. The 2 helper thing is an absolute must when taking the canopy off and on. Rivets are a non issue super easy drill put new ones crimp till the stud snaps.

I did my canopy with oem parts for about 200$ I was nevous about ebay cheap ones. Was concerned with fit and quality.

So nice to have a working awning again mines a carefree fiesta.

If you have the money, recommend you pay to have it fixed. Watch You Tube videos on spring adjustment and replacement, requires drilling out rivets careful unwinding of spring if not broken, and replacement of spring, re-riveting and correct rewinding of spring, while standing on a ladder.

I had the fabric replaced by great a mobile RV service guy and his wife. Maybe there is a mobile RV repair guy in your area who does awnings. May require locating and ordering of OEM or substitute parts.

Faulkner company is long out of business, here's a place that sells Faulkner awning parts:

http://www.rvawningrepairs.com/faulkner.html

I'd lay odds on the broken spring.
My favorite update to the rusted / broken springs is this:

Carefree 850001 White Pioneer Crank-Out RV Awning Upgrade Endcap Kit

Google that, you'll love it.

I made a tool to tighten mine and was successful, however, If you are reckless you could suffer from injuries.
Marvin