I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for writing this post, but I'm going to go ahead and say it anyway because it's true. Fancier and more sophisticated isn't always better than simple and cheap.I'm talking about my power awnings. I used to have a 12 foot awning on my Fleetwood Storm 32BH and I loved it. It had two attachments to my MH. One at the top and the poles attached at the middle or I could stake them to the ground. In addition, there were side bars that I could attach de-flappers to and make it much more stable. I had the ability to angle the awnings to prevent any water buildup in the rain.Fast forward to today and I'm in a much nicer, comfortable and luxurious coach. I love this coach and feel very lucky to have it; but I don't love the awnings. I have two 20 foot Girard Nova Dual Slope awnings and I can rarely use them. They deploy and retract with the touch of a button and even come with a remote control. When I deploy them on a still day or evening, they are fantastic, but the moment the winds pick up to over 5 mph, they start bouncing up and down until eventually they protect themselves by retracting automatically, like a scared turtle.Basically, I can rarely use them for two reasons, 1) the wind is rarely below 5 mph and 2) they are 20 feet wide each. There are almost always trees or some other obstruction within a 40 foot length 8 feet away from my coach.Now, I know many of you will say that I have no right to complain because I'm privileged and drive such an expensive coach and I agree. I really shouldn't complain and I recognize how silly it sounds, but I have to say that I miss my old awnings (just the awnings). I envy the outdoor spaces many of you create with yours just outside your coaches. I also miss opening my door in a rainstorm and not getting wet.And no, I wouldn't want to switch coaches just to get more practical awnings.

I totally agree. I had no problem with any of the manual awnings that came my previous motorhomes. There are somethings in life that automation does not make better. I can understand that some will benefit from power awnings and they should have them.

You are okay liking your old awning better than your new one. Every product purchased has good points and less than great points. As long as you use in health and safety and give thanks to our creator for the blessing, go for it.

It's called the KISS principal. :)

Alabama Jim wrote:You are okay liking your old awning better than your new one. Every product purchased has good points and less than great points. As long as you use in health and safety and give thanks to our creator for the blessing, go for it.So true. We are very lucky to be in good health and able to live this lifestyle. I am grateful.

My Dutch Star is not "luxurious". However, when I special-ordered it, I knew dern well I would NEVER want electric automatic awnings. I ordered Zip Dee manual awnings, and had them delivered to a shop in Elkhart Indiana, where they were installed.

Fancier isn't always better | Good Sam Community

35 Replies

PA12DRVR
Explorer
Feb 01, 2016
Bipeflier wrote:
Well I'm going to catch flack for this but from the large number of awnings that I've seen torn up or off over the years because the owner was (choose one) to lazy, too stupid, too drunk to retract it when the wind comes up, would benefit from the electric awning as it is apparently smarter than a large number of RV owners.

To me it is very annoying to be sitting in a campground and hear a half dozen awnings slamming and banging in the wind.

^^^^^ This.
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Feb 01, 2016
Well first of all KISS is just not always better period. Think of carburetors vs. Fuel injection. Ill take computerized fuel injection ANYDAY over and old fashioned very simple carburetor.

What is wrong here is not complexity. It is POOR DESIGN. Which for what I am guessing he paid for his coach (around 500k) is inexcusable.

And this kind of thing is wht is being talked about on another thread regarding the Manufacturers rushing headlong to make ever bigger and bigger more power hungry RV's with little regard for customer or the industry and it's infrastructure.

In many cases like the OP's the manufacture valued bigger, more complex and showmanship over quality and elegant design.

My first BMW 733i back in 86? came with MANUALLY adjusted seats. but you could make those seats do anything and everything was so well balanced and easy to use you never had to shift your weight. Of course electric seats were an improvement but our idea of luxury has meant that we do nothing but push a button rather than appreciate a fine design and have more real options.
mgirardo
Explorer
Feb 01, 2016
We have a Carefree electric awning on our Class C. It does not have the wind sensor, so it doesn't come in when it is windy. Where we spend the summer, we are directly across from a farm to the west. Literally across the main campground road. During the summer, there is a constant wind blowing off the farm. It is great to for keeping the temps feel cooler, but is a pain with the awning.

2015 was our second year directly across from the farm. The first year we didn't do anything with the awning other than pull it in when it got too windy. Last year, we bought a set of awning tie downs that made a huge difference. We bought this set from Amazon for $18. I had never seen a set with the springs, but the springs were an awning saver for us.

Setup is simple, just screw the pegs in the ground (put the spring on before the peg is complete screwed into the ground) and connect the straps. Without the springs, the pegs could be pulled out of the ground in a really strong wind. We had a macroburst storm come through at the end of June - the forecast was for a severe thunderstorm, no warning of high winds. The storm downed trees and electric poles in the campground, 4 campers had trees through roofs. Since there was no forecast of high winds, I left the awning out.

As soon as I saw the massive dirt cloudy move over the trees on the farm, I knew we were in trouble. There was no time to pull the awning in, the wind was on us seconds later. The wind blew strong (NWS says up to 80 mph) for 15 minutes or so. The springs on the awning tie downs were permanently stretched to twice their original size. They could not be compressed again. The awning survived the storm and works fine. I wouldn't have left the awning out if I knew winds were going to be that high. An $18 investment, saved us a big repair bill.

-Michael
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Feb 01, 2016
I have a manual awning. I rarely ever use it. I live on the prairie where the wind always blows, or comes up suddenly. I'm so afraid of it getting ripped off of the camper that I never put it out. If I do put it out and the wind changes, then I have to run quickly to the camper and struggle to put it in while the wind is trying to rip it away from me.

I , for one, would love to have a power awning where I could just push a button every time a wind / rain storm blows in.

I walked though my favorite campground one day last summer when there was a thunderstorm in the forecast. The only people with there awning still out were the people with electric awnings. Everyone else had pulled theirs in just to be safe.
pennysmom09
Explorer
Jan 31, 2016
Our sunscreen is 8' long...it retracts slowly but it goes up. We take it off when traveling though, because of the weight.
hershey
Explorer
Jan 31, 2016
pennysmom09 wrote:
We have a Carefree electric awning and have no problems with it. We bought de flappers for the sides, slid a sun screen into the tube and used stakes and bungies to hold it down. Only one time did we have to pull the stakes all of last winter, and the sun screen rolled right up with the awning.
How long is your sun screen? I've never tried leaving mine on when retracting the awning.
pennysmom09
Explorer
Jan 31, 2016
We have a Carefree electric awning and have no problems with it. We bought de flappers for the sides, slid a sun screen into the tube and used stakes and bungies to hold it down. Only one time did we have to pull the stakes all of last winter, and the sun screen rolled right up with the awning.
nomad_297
Explorer
Jan 31, 2016
I remember a great thread on here a while ago, titled "I Love My Manual Awning."

Bruce
hershey
Explorer
Jan 30, 2016
holstein13 wrote:
Veebyes wrote:
A suggestion for the OP.To stop the flapping use a couple of containers filled with water tied off from the end of the awning so that the awning will have to lift them off the ground to flap. Jerking can be eliminated by having a bit of bungey cord connected inline.
I've thought about this but didn't do it out of fear I'll damage the mechanism if it tries to retract against my tie down.
You can turn the auto function on and off. I have never tied mine down but I do see a huge number of auto awnings tied down. Solution is simple...spend the big bucks and get a mechanical awning if thats what winds your watch.
FunnyCamper
Explorer II
Jan 30, 2016
you just happen to not like your awnings.

doesn't mean others don't love theirs that are fancier and 'better'

change yours if you want. go to RV place and for cost you can probably do alot of things to make them more to your liking :) money can do wonders on making changes you want. of course if you want!