Problem with awning up/down lever

[Bigrick]

I'm having a problem with the lever which controls the up/down operation of my TT awning. When the awning is in the 'up' position, I have no problem flicking the up/down lever to the 'down' position with the awning rod. However, when in the 'down' position, the lever is extremely hard to flick up so I can close the awning. I have to bang it with a hammer to close the awning. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Thanks!

[Bigrick]

Took everybody's advice. Lever now works fine. Thanks again.

[Dick_B]

Rotate the awning roller over the top a little, ie. away from you, while flipping the lever. Be sure to hold onto the roller so it doesn't retract by itself.

[Bigrick]

Thanks. Lotta good replies. I'll work on it tomorrow.

[tvman44]

Yes, whenever I open the awning to it's fullest the lever is almost impossible to move. What I do is to not open the awning to it's max, I stop a half inch or so before full extension and the lever works just fine. Keep banging on that thing and it will break. 🙂

[wingsfan20]

BarneyS wrote:
Agree with the above. Wrap your left hand or both hands around the awning and twist it towards you while flipping the lever with your right hand. Then grab the awning strap with the right hand and gently let the awning roll up. I have to do this all the time.
Barney

I found it works better as a team project. I use the above method, except DW is in charge of the strap. Works great.

[Old-Biscuit]

X3 or X4 above^^^^^

Banging it with a hammer is just going to bust it.

The locking lever is a racketing gear/pawl assembly. Round the teeth off and no engagement........no more locking.

[sch911]

As stated rotate the roller tube just a little further open to release the lever.

[BarneyS]

Agree with the above. Wrap your left hand or both hands around the awning and twist it towards you while flipping the lever with your right hand. Then grab the awning strap with the right hand and gently let the awning roll up. I have to do this all the time.
Barney

[Jerallen]

Occasionally mine will be hard- I have found that if I roll it slightly forward as if trying to unroll it a bit further it will release the tension on the lever.