Unwound my awning spring

Question

We have a 2005 Holiday Rambler 40' diesel coach with CarefreeofColorado slide toppers. I removed one of the toppers so I could do some caulking. It came off just fine, with the cotter pin installed, and all was well. When I went to reinstall it, I guess I did something in the wrong order, because, first, the cotter pin didn't want to come out; I had to use pliers to remove it. And when I did, whoosh! I heard the spring inside come unwound. And now, of course, the topper fabric won't retract.

So, has anyone else done this? Did I break anything, or just allow the spring to come unwound? And if nothing's broken, can I rewind the spring myself, or do I have to take it in? And if I can do it myself, where might I find instructions? (looked on Carefree's site already, and called them, but gave up after 20 minutes on hold).

Thanks for any thoughts-

dave

artum_snowbird · Answer

Detailed Carefree Instructions here

scottg · Answer

First, you didn't hurt it so don't worry about that.
You need to pull the end loose from the arm and using vice grips, turn the shaft 12~15 turns (depending on length but it's not an exact science) and then, while holding the shaft in tension against the spring, install it back in the arm. You have to do this for sides after the spring has unwound.
Caution, DO NOT get you face or head over the vice grips while tensioning the spring!!

francesca_knowl · Answer

If it's not too complicated to take the roller off, I'd do that and hand roll the fabric back on. Then reinstall and the first time you pull it down it will become tensioned again.

rhochnadel · Answer

If you have never done this before I would get some help from someone who has done it.  Both ends of the roller need to be tensioned the same amount.  Just pulling the roller down will not adequately tension the roller.  I believe I ended up with 12 to 15 turns of the springs on mine.  Good Luck!

powderman426 · Answer

Francesca Knowles wrote:If it's not too complicated to take the roller off, I'd do that and hand roll the fabric back on. Then reinstall and the first time you pull it down it will become tensioned again.That won't work correctly as it still has some tension on it when closed.  As for the proper tension I believe the best thing to do now is using the vise grips remove the tension on the other end and keep count of the number of turns. That way when you rewind it you can get the same number of turns on each end which is important so it will close evenly.  Just take your time and be careful as they can hurt you.

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Unwound my awning spring

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