Shortening an awning

Chris Bryant wrote:

74vette wrote:
My question is will the retracting mechanisms that are in the 20 foot tube work in the cut down 15 foot tube?

Thanks,

Yes, though the 20 footer will likely have heavy duty springs, not required in a 15 footer, but they will work fine.

Chris, I think you should be alright. Just shorten the tube and make sure to orient the end camp back in proper position. You can look on Carefree website and fine out how many revolutions to use for the 15' awning which will more than likely be a couple of turns less than your 20' If I remember right the larger awning would take around 15 turns if doing it with awning open. That is easier than trying to do it with awning shut. Also when you order new material they measure from the center lines of the arms and will send right fabric for that. I think a 16' awning would have about 15'6" fabric. Good Luck and as said before, be quite careful when taking the tension off/on when working with the springs.

I had to cut the awning tube on my old motorhome.......I was replacing the arms and related hardware and I had to shorten the tube by 1" on both ends.......

I unrolled the awning and supported the tube with a 6' ladder....I removed the hardware on one side at a time.......I then used a large hose clamp to mark where I wanted to cut the tube.....then with a jig saw I cut up against the hose clamp.....the thin tube cut very fast.....


I then installed the new arms one at a time and it was done.....not a bad job at all!

I do not have a problem with the springs in the awning. I realize the tension and wil be careful. I have replaced many garage door spring and have the respect of the power.

Go for it! But please be careful. The Spring unit is only about a metre long so it will certainly fit the shorter tube!

I have one of the longest awnings on a camper and would love it if it was even longer. I would think order specifically what u are looking for

First person I've ever seen wanting to shorten their awning. :-)

I'd watch craigslist and see if I could score a shorter tube, as opposed to trying to cut the current one.

Then, once found, I'd put my current one on craigsist and see if it will go.

PDF on how to replace awning and how the springs work.

You can do the cut down of the tube. Just be careful of the springs.

When you dissemble an awning and release the tension on the torque spring you need to count the number of turns it takes to remove the tension on the spring. Usually around 8-10 turns. Then when you put it back together you put that number of turns on the spring so it will retract properly. Whether you can adjust the tension that way on a lighter awning is the question--use fewer turns maybe.

There are youtube videos on how to dissemble awnings take a look at one to see what the parts look like.

BK

74vette wrote:
My question is will the retracting mechanisms that are in the 20 foot tube work in the cut down 15 foot tube?

Thanks,

Yes, though the 20 footer will likely have heavy duty springs, not required in a 15 footer, but they will work fine.

Be very careful! There is a huge high torque spring inside. It is designed to take up the weight of your current awning material, and might spring back to much with a lighter material on it.

You can take it apart (carefully) if you like, and find out, but personally I would rather buy a replacement awning, with a aluminum cover to protect the material under it. My awnings are now 18 years old, and still look great!

That spring is wound up tight, with enough torque on it to lift about 50 pounds of material! That is some serious pull, be really careful, as even dismounting the awning will release some tension.

Fred.