Fancier isn't always better
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. ...
Forum Discussion
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
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
