Power awning self retracts - why?

First. the Dometic awnings (Carefree as well) have a wind sensor, I do not know what Carefree is using today but when my rig was new they used a 3-cup anemometer (Thing that spins in the wind) far as I know it worked well.

At that time Dometic used a "Lighthouse" sensor, this is a little "Chimney" that sticks up on the roof. More on that in a bit.

I know dometic (And I think Carefree did this too) Switched to a motion sensor in the awning arm.. or so I'm told.. Supposedly this works much better.. But since I don't have it, i can not be sure.

now the lighthouse.. Piece of ... {Deleted by poster} never worked right, never will far as I can tell, bad design. And you have described the symptoms.

Rolls her up on a very calm (Dead air) day.

How it works

Two theories. one is the sound of wind through the lighthouse the other is two PTC resistors one burried deep in the plastic one near the surface.

You hit 'em with a regulated CURRENT and measure voltage, or a regulated voltage and messure current, and the one near the surface is cooled by the passing breeze and thus passes more current (or same current at lower voltage) and when the difference is great enough roll'em up.

Of course. sunlight shining on the top affectrs it,, So do other things. and it fails if it freezes. Vewry bad design in my opinion.

I was working around the outside of my RV and the electric awning kept going in and out at random. There was no wind so I figured this was something to be added to the fix list. Finally I figured out that during my movements, the buttons on the awning remote were being pushed while I had my key ring in my pocket. Haven't done that again!!

I had the problem with the Carefree and found it was the out side switch, water intrusion, as the switch is not really an outside unit.

Happened to me also Ken when my coach was new in 2004 the Winnebago Dealer I purchased the coach from told me to bring it in for a adjustment and I never had any trouble since. Good Luck

JoeH wrote:
I see you have a 2013 model....Check your Newmar product spec sheet that has the Dometic serial #.
There is a NHTSA recall for certain serial #'s... seems the motor will act on is own -- here's a brief description.
“This potential condition affects only the power awning products manufactured between February 13, 2013, (306XXXXX serial #) through April 9, 2013, (314XXXXX serial ..”
My awning deployed while driving !! It was one of the listed serial #'s

I heard about this recall several months ago. My coach was built in May 2012, and thev awning is not in the serial number sequence.

Increase the wind speed setting. May not be accurate as to setting.

Thanks for all the replies. We were "off the grid" but the batteries were not low. I think I have the wind speed set at 18 mph. It was very much breezy during the day than at night, and the awning didn't retract, so its still a mystery why it retracted 3 nights in a row.

Ken

barnrt wrote:
I had the same thing happen, though not always at night.
I researched it a bit and here is my story ..... It turned out the motor was weak and finally did die completely and needed to be replaced. I concluded that it was retracting because the motor was getting weak and it was giving me a warning that the wind sensor was not going to be able to work and don't rely on it. My RV has so many kinds of warnings to keep me safe that it seemed that this is just another of them! Replaced the awning motor and no more retractions on it's own.

Would be nice if this were the case. Both Carefree and Dometic electric awnings have no such feature. A weak motor will not cause the awning to retract or indicate the motor is weak or defective. Doug

JoeH wrote:
I see you have a 2013 model....Check your Newmar product spec sheet that has the Dometic serial #.
There is a NHTSA recall for certain serial #'s... seems the motor will act on is own -- here's a brief description.
“This potential condition affects only the power awning products manufactured between February 13, 2013, (306XXXXX serial #) through April 9, 2013, (314XXXXX serial ..”
My awning deployed while driving !! It was one of the listed serial #'s

It is NOT that the motor acts on its own. It is because the Motor cannot stay in the locked position and can release and let the awning unfurl. Doug

Not about retracting, but a CAUTION
05 Itasca Horizon. Had found a wet spot on the wall and floor behind the passenger seat. Thought I had solved the problem by sealing where the wires for the door awning entered. Last night we had a very heavy rain (3") in 1 hour, so this morning we checked for leaks and only found 1. The same spot behind the passenger seat, just rear of the seat belt anchor post at the floor and wall. Wall feels wet a foot up and the carpet is also very wet. This time I found it. At the bottom of the A&E electric awning arm, but you can't see it. Remove the 2 screws that hold the bottom end cap on and you can see the hole. It originally had caulk in it, but long gone! The plastic insert that hides the wire in the arm funnels the water directly to the hole in the coach wall. I drilled a drain hole in the cap, filled the hole with wet/Dry sealer. Could apply to any coach with the A&E electric awning