When we picked up our new TT it was drizzling. the wife had a whole suburban load to unload in it. So we put out the awning so we wouldn't get her truck and everything wet. We went inside and not 15 minutes later we hear the awning crash. yep the arms were bent and twisted all to hell. in the first 3 hour we owned it the thing collapsed. Now just hours before at the dealership the dealer made sure that he pointed out the fact that the awning "auto dumps" water off of it…… Hence I wasn't too worried about leaving it up in the Drizzle……. Has anyone else had this issue….. and was I a Dumb@ss for leaving it open in the drizzle….. But!! the dealer had all new parts over nighted and will have it up and running tomorrow, so Good on them for that.Again first trailer, don't have a clue what I'm doing when it comes to RVs.

IMO, awnings are the most fragile moving part of a RV/TT. They don't like wind, they don't like rain weight and they don't stay clean very long. Especially the underside white ones. For my previous TT, I tried to lower its large awning myself. One of the pins let go and it all came crashing down. Broke several small parts on it. Luckily, my fingers weren't in the way - as it came crashing down. And, it didn't make dents in the side of my TT. Long mumblings short. It isn't you. It's the cheap design of fragile awning systems.

And now with all of those nice new shiny parts what I would do at the dealers is to spray water from their hose to recreate the problem. If they balk at this then you have your answer...But from your description your awning was either not set up correctly or not designed for rain. Just so you know: RVs do not have the warranty and dealer support that cars enjoy. So if your dealer stands behind the product then great! And if not then you will be better prepared for the future. BTW Water pooling is common - breakage is not.

Nice the dealer is willing to do that! I saw many others with their awnings out also, so left mine out in slight rain. However, it pooled so much that my roller bent. Now I think its just too long, a shorter one wouldn't have let so much build up. However, instead of spending another $1000, I think I'll just get an EZ up, for less than $250, and it can be moved around!

I have never put my awning up because of rain. Now srong wind is a different thing entirely

If my MH did not come with an awning. I would not have one. Only open it a few times a year for cleaning.

dumping water off awning | Good Sam Community

the_happiestcam
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
I've always left one side lower - but during a severe downpour a few years back, it collected a ton of water, which caused the crossbar to bend. That is now actually a good design - I don't roll it out the last few inches, so the crossbar is bowed down - it never collects water anymore.
Steeljag
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
Sorry to hear about your damaged awning.

Going on five years with our auto awning without issue. The auto dump feature works great so I don't worry about heavy rains. Living here in central fl, I've spent numerous afternoons sitting under that awning sipping a cold one during a typical / tropical afternoon down pour.

With the auto awning you still have the option to lower and lock down a side if you choose to.

I cannot imagine having a unit without an awning!
TxTwoSome
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
camperforlife wrote:
I always leave one side of the awning a little lower than the other so pooing is never an issue.

Why do you put your stinky slinky on the awning?
Mr__Camper
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
camperforlife wrote:
I always leave one side of the awning a little lower than the other so pooing is never an issue.

Exactly
RoyB
Explorer II
Mar 13, 2015
I always have one side of the awning lower than the other side... This makes the rain water flow off the awning. Both my awnings are manual but I think you can setup the auto awnings to do the same thing...

I didn't do this one evening and we went to bed and I forgot to take down the awning. It rained during the night and I had so much captured water it would not allow me to open the trailer door. Got exciting for bit while I figured out how to get out of the trailer... I finally found a broom and pushed up on the awning to drain off the water enough to let me get outside...

A good way to make you learn not to forget things...

Roy Ken
LarryJM
Explorer II
Mar 13, 2015
spike99 wrote:
IMO, awnings are the most fragile moving part of a RV/TT. They don't like wind, they don't like rain weight and they don't stay clean very long. Especially the underside white ones.

For my previous TT, I tried to lower its large awning myself. One of the pins let go and it all came crashing down. Broke several small parts on it. Luckily, my fingers weren't in the way - as it came crashing down. And, it didn't make dents in the side of my TT.

Long mumblings short. It isn't you. It's the cheap design of fragile awning systems.

WOW that sure isn't what I've experienced even with my extra long 21' awning. I've had it out in some fairly serious winds too. Of course I'm always sure to make sure I have an extremely good tilt down at one corner for runoff. However I can see how easily these very long awning tubes can be bent since I have to put a center support under mine to keep the tube absolutely straight. Mine is a Dometic Sunchaser manual vintage 2006/7.

Larry
Huntindog
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
mdamerell wrote:
Auto dump Awning

As long and the knob on each side was not tightened down the awning should function like this.

You can pull one arm down and tighten the knob to cause it to drain to one end but you must ensure both arms (knob loose) are free to move before closing the awning.
Mine works like that with the knobs tight.
But if you don't want the surprise dump, then loosen on side ; tilt it, then tighten it in the tilted position. I have found that if the wind kicks up, that you CAN roll roll it up while tilted. It won't seat all the way, so you will need to reroll it for transport, but you can quickly get it rolled up for a unexpected wind event. My knobs are always tight, unless I loosen them to tilt it. It is how my dealer showed it to me, and has been working this way for 5 years now. And I use my TT a LOT in bad weather
SAR_Tracker
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
kaydeejay wrote:
camperforlife wrote:
I always leave one side of the awning a little lower than the other so poo(l)ing is never an issue.
X 2

Yep.
kaydeejay
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
camperforlife wrote:
I always leave one side of the awning a little lower than the other so poo(l)ing is never an issue.
X 2
mdamerell
Explorer
Mar 13, 2015
Auto dump Awning

As long and the knob on each side was not tightened down the awning should function like this.

You can pull one arm down and tighten the knob to cause it to drain to one end but you must ensure both arms (knob loose) are free to move before closing the awning.

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dumping water off awning

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