Forum Discussion

Loving_God_s_Co's avatar
Loving_God_s_Co
Explorer
Jun 03, 2017

Rewinding the Awning spring???

Does anyone know of a video that shows how to rewind an awning spring? Hubs accidentally unscrewed the slideout awning screw that held the spring in place and when we heard it unwind we both said, uh oh!!! Any help is greatly appreciated!! :)
Class A
  • tropical36's avatar
    tropical36
    Explorer
    Jun 03, 2017
    tropical36 wrote:
    tropical36 wrote:
    Loving God's Country! wrote:
    Does anyone know of a video that shows how to rewind an awning spring? Hubs accidentally unscrewed the slideout awning screw that held the spring in place and when we heard it unwind we both said, uh oh!!! Any help is greatly appreciated!! :)

    Don't know how that could have happened, but did once see a deviation from the normal procedure and where the arms were unpinned from the coach and then using a few people to hold the awning up high on ladders, the arm was turned round and round to wind the spring.
    Never tried it, but was prepared to try on our old coach for tightening it a bit and before selling it last year.

    Never mind, if this is indeed a slide topper, but will leave the info for others.
    With the topper, it sounds like it's gonna need to be pinned and then removed for winding it up on the ground. I did one of these and with it from dead rest, it took 13 turns on each side.
    Just in case it might be an A&E, try this and there are other brands as well with info on the net ... SLIDE TOPPER
  • tropical36's avatar
    tropical36
    Explorer
    Jun 03, 2017
    tropical36 wrote:
    Loving God's Country! wrote:
    Does anyone know of a video that shows how to rewind an awning spring? Hubs accidentally unscrewed the slideout awning screw that held the spring in place and when we heard it unwind we both said, uh oh!!! Any help is greatly appreciated!! :)

    Don't know how that could have happened, but did once see a deviation from the normal procedure and where the arms were unpinned from the coach and then using a few people to hold the awning up high on ladders, the arm was turned round and round to wind the spring.
    Never tried it, but was prepared to try on our old coach for tightening it a bit and before selling it last year.
  • tropical36's avatar
    tropical36
    Explorer
    Jun 03, 2017
    Loving God's Country! wrote:
    Does anyone know of a video that shows how to rewind an awning spring? Hubs accidentally unscrewed the slideout awning screw that held the spring in place and when we heard it unwind we both said, uh oh!!! Any help is greatly appreciated!! :)

    Don't know how that could have happened, but did once see a deviation from the normal procedure and where the arms were unpinned from the coach and then using a few people to hold the awning up high on ladders, the arm was turned round and round to wind the spring.
    Never tried it, but was prepared to try on our old coach for tightening it a bit and before selling it last year.
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    Jun 03, 2017
    Ivylog wrote:
    It's a "slideout awning" or topper...big awnings don't have a single bolt holding the spring and you do not need two men to tighten.

    OP, you have to slide the frabic out...remove it. On the same end as the loosen bolt (leave it loose) there should be a hole in the tube that you put a nail in that will snag the spring. Ten turns pulling the top of the tube towards you while on the roof and then tightened the bolt, put the frabic back in and finally take the nail out and let the frabic roll up slowly.

    If there is not a hole on at the end of the tube on the circumference...drill a 3/16" one for the nail.
    Your right, I thought the op was talking about the main awning.
  • Ivylog's avatar
    Ivylog
    Explorer III
    Jun 03, 2017
    It's a "slideout awning" or topper...big awnings don't have a single bolt holding the spring and you do not need two men to tighten.

    OP, you have to slide the frabic out...remove it. On the same end as the loosen bolt (leave it loose) there should be a hole in the tube that you put a nail in that will snag the spring. Ten turns pulling the top of the tube towards you while on the roof and then tightened the bolt, put the frabic back in and finally take the nail out and let the frabic roll up slowly.

    If there is not a hole on at the end of the tube on the circumference...drill a 3/16" one for the nail.
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    Jun 03, 2017
    It is much easier and safer to remove the arms from the side of the MH and wind one around several times to tighten it. You can tell which way to turn the arm when it is hanging straight down. It will take two people. After several turns check to see how far the awning goes up by spring tension and make more turns as required.
  • ScottG's avatar
    ScottG
    Nomad
    Jun 03, 2017
    Go to youtube and looks for awning replacement video's.
    Rewiding the springs isn't hard but can be dangerous. Make sure you head is not over the tool you use to grip the shaft. If it slips out of your hand the centrifugal force may launch it into you.
    You will need to find the number of turns for your length of awning. It's not an exact science and if your awning is older and the spring isn't as tight as it once was, you can add 1, 2 or even three extra turns to it.
    My awning is 17' and IIRC, called for 13 turns. It worked a lot better with 15 turns.
  • Loving_God_s_Co's avatar
    Loving_God_s_Co
    Explorer
    Jun 03, 2017
    stickdog wrote:
    Wouldn't it be easier to Google "Rewinding RV Awning Spring"?


    Yep, you are correct! I was hoping though that there would be a good YouTube video out there that would show how to do this but I'm only finding ones that are replacing the spring.

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