awning spring tension

6 turns takes less measured effort

now climb up that ladder and try to spin your clamped vise grips around a complete turn, with the awning up against the RV
or try to hold the end of the cap single handed while you shift the grip of your channel locks every half turn

that six turns is on the ground before mounting, and you 'pin' so it can't spin before you lift it up to mount it

maybe 'you' can do it with the awning up against the RV, but not me, even with (2) pairs of large channel locks to try and alternate with, doing the grip and spin and hold in place, while changing grip

Yes you roll the awning manually up to the trailer support it on ladders tension it 6 turns ( much safer ) then when you roll it out it puts 14 turns on it. Which is easier 14 open turns or 6 closed turns?!?

download this
carefree service instructions

scroll down to spring winding, around page 12

12ft to 18ft awning, closed 7 windings , open/extended 15 windings

over 18ft, 8 when closed, 16 when open

both springs left and right are to be wound the same number of turns

a 7ft awning is 6 closed and 14 turns when open

Yes the average on bigger awning is 14 to 16 on manual awnings and on domtetic mostly

Ours were 14 winds on the big awning. We adjusted to 15 I believe.

MrWizard wrote:
7ft extension wrapped around the roller is going to take more than 6 of the turns to retract
with 6 turns of spring and roller, it won't even retract all the way

got a link ?

i wonder it that was 6 turns preload for hanging a NEW awning

its on carefree sight on their chart

7ft extension wrapped around the roller is going to take more than 6 of the turns to retract
with 6 turns of spring and roller, it won't even retract all the way

got a link ?

i wonder it that was 6 turns preload for hanging a NEW awning

Best to look it up on the CareFree site.

Mine took 16 I started with 14 but it just wasn't quit enough.

Be careful and do not let it get away from you when winding you could get a nasty surprise.

MrWizard wrote:
sounds simple but its a little complicated

there is 'always' a few turns of PRE LOAD

PLUS all the revolutions the awning makes as you pull it out

total turns for an extended patio awning is more than 6

when i replaced my springs, the total turns for the extended awning were 15 turns

look up spring replacement instructions for your awning
they will give you the number of winding turns for the awning
based on model and length

That was from the carefre book from carefree its only a 7'awning

sounds simple but its a little complicated

there is 'always' a few turns of PRE LOAD

PLUS all the revolutions the awning makes as you pull it out

total turns for an extended patio awning is more than 6

when i replaced my springs, the total turns for the extended awning were 15 turns

look up spring replacement instructions for your awning
they will give you the number of winding turns for the awning
based on model and length