Cleaning the awning, bubbles appearing
First time since new (five years) and Tilex worked like a charm. It was pretty bad up near the trailer. I left it on for a few minutes then hit it lightly with my long, soft brush and 99% of it washed...
Forum Discussion
These newer fabrics are only cold laminated… 2 sheet of vinyl glued to the center fiber… technology has allowed them to make the vinyl so thin that it isn’t uncommon to find pinholes in new fabric… the exposed area will weather faster but I have seen the vinyl cracking and peeling at or near the seams at both ends…
Almost all of them have bubbles in them and if there is a pin hole near the bubble water will get in a separate it much faster…
One awning I saw looked like a half inch thick water bag at the lower end on the tilt side and the water weight was causing it to delaminate even faster… we put a pin hole in the underside and water dribbled for several hours from the fabric… the separated vinyl was so thin and brittle when you handled it, it cracked as if it were dried peeled paint…
Older awning fabrics were hot vulcanized… the upper, lower, and center fabric were cross-linked and didn’t delaminate… my one Franklin trailer has a 24 foot awning that was installed in the mid-90s and is still in useable condition… the comparison photos of the two awnings is one reason Dometic replaced my long out of warranty awning fabric on my Hornet (as a good will gesture)…
Hopefully it stores well because instead of installing it I bought a complete used awning and switched them… when it wears out, and its beginning to, I will use the new fabric…
Almost all of them have bubbles in them and if there is a pin hole near the bubble water will get in a separate it much faster…
One awning I saw looked like a half inch thick water bag at the lower end on the tilt side and the water weight was causing it to delaminate even faster… we put a pin hole in the underside and water dribbled for several hours from the fabric… the separated vinyl was so thin and brittle when you handled it, it cracked as if it were dried peeled paint…
Older awning fabrics were hot vulcanized… the upper, lower, and center fabric were cross-linked and didn’t delaminate… my one Franklin trailer has a 24 foot awning that was installed in the mid-90s and is still in useable condition… the comparison photos of the two awnings is one reason Dometic replaced my long out of warranty awning fabric on my Hornet (as a good will gesture)…
Hopefully it stores well because instead of installing it I bought a complete used awning and switched them… when it wears out, and its beginning to, I will use the new fabric…
