Secure electric awning?

[acker1]

On my old MH with manual awning I would put the legs down and using ratchet straps, anchor the awning for the winter in Fl. Never had a problem. Now have an electric awning. Any tricks, ideas for anchoring the awning in the extended position for a few months? We kept stuff stored under the manual one and woul;d like to do the same with the electric on.

Thanks
DICK

[Tom_Diane]

4x4van wrote:
Actually, the manual awnings ARE made to be anchored. The legs are made to disconnect from the RV at the bottom, and have holes to stake them down in what's known as a "Patio Position". It is shown in the manual for my AE 9000 awning, and even refers to the "provided stakes".

It shows you the patio position with a place to put anchor stakes to keep the poles from moving! The stakes will not hold in a strong wind!
The dealer will sell you the things to anchor it but will not tell you that they advise doing it when they cant guarantee they will hold and you might come back and try to get a new awning because they told you it was a cure for excessive winds!
I say anchor it if you want but the de-lappers and tie down ropes are not standard equipment and that is why it is not an added option when buying an RV! Otherwise the manufacture would recommend them!

[4x4van]

Actually, the manual awnings ARE made to be anchored. The legs are made to disconnect from the RV at the bottom, and have holes to stake them down in what's known as a "Patio Position". It is shown in the manual for my AE 9000 awning, and even refers to the "provided stakes".

[acker1]

austex--Thanks, that was the info i was looking for.

On my old MH I always anchored the manual awning for the winter in Fl. Never had a problem in those 12 years.

Thanks all,
DICK

[Tom_Diane]

On our old TT with a manual awning, I used a clothesline tensioner with a 3/8 thru it and tied to the hooked to the ground anchors. It had a spring on it and required only a little pull to tighten and loosen it!
That said, I would not tie one down again, manual or electric!
One day at a park with the manual awning out and tied down and secured, an older seasoned camper that I know came by and made some valid points!
First, the rule is if its windy or raining, its best to stow it!
Second, he suggested that if it did get caught in a sudden burst of wind, that it would probably not hurt anything and you could put it in at that time, but you would know the conditions at the time!
Third, when you anchor the awning, you make it rigid and it couldn't move, Hence you are making a weak point for it to tear away like it wants to in a wind! If you are caught in a strong wind, maybe its best to let it go if you did not plan or ignored the existing winds! He point out that the weak point while anchored is probably going to be the mounts that your awning is attached to the RV with, Therefore you not only lose the awning, you have also damaged your gelcoat or whatever you have for the outer shell and stripped out mounting hole for the bolts or screws that holds it in place!
This is why I will never anchor an awning of mine again.
Also, when I went to get the de-flappers and things I needed to tie the awning down, I asked the dealer if it worked pretty well, He just smiled and told me that lots of people do it, but he personally does not and I didn't ask why he didn't, I just assumed it was his choice!
But he went on to tell me that he sells the things to anchor them but will not push them because there is no way he wants to be responsible for them failing to do what the RVer wants them to do!
I would do as was suggested, maybe use a tarp on your things, other wise I would stow the awning when I'm not around the RV!
The awnings were never intended to be anchored and that why they don't come with awnings!
Another point is that just last year, a camping neighbor called his insurance company to find out if the awning was covered on his new motor home?
The ins. Co. asked him if it had the wind and rain sensors, which it does. They pretty much told him that they would be more apt to cover the awning if the sensors failed but also suggested that if the awning, "sensors or not" was left out intentionally or they find evidence that there was sufficient time to put it away and it wasn't because you wanted to sit under it to stay dry during a rain, or to just catch a breeze and shielded from the sun they could reject a damage claim! He was however covered in the event of a mishap, but the best policy is to stow it if your not there !

[Veebyes]

Use a little boat mooring know how to prevent awning flap. Rather than tying it down rigidly add a bit of shock cord between tie down point & tie down line. Set it up with just a little tension on the shock cord. Depending on shock cord resistance this will prevent movement at all in a light breeze & eliminate harsh jerking in a gusty wind.

Don't have a good ground anchoring point? Use a couple of gallon containers filled with water so that the awning will have to pick them up in a breeze.

[austex]

acker1 wrote:
Thanks for the replies. Interested in the support poles and how they were made. I can fix most things but cannot visualize new projects. I can copy others ideas! Pics would help.

DICK

I don't have pics, but you can get the idea from the pic ependydad posted. You'll need a set of telescoping poles; ependydad's are aluminum, I used PVC 'cause it's cheaper (1.5 and 1.25 Schedule 40 PVC fit together well enough; I bought a ten-foot length of each, cut each in half. Fit together with six-inch min. insertion, I can get up to 9.5-foot poles). The inner section has a series of through-holes drilled every 1.5-or-so inches for adjustability; the outer has a through-hole a couple inches from one end; a pin goes through the holes to set height needed. ependydad has a bracket attached to the awning arm to fix the upper end of the pole (there's a guy on the Forest River Owners Group forum who makes/sells these, another guy there who sells poles). My upper end is less fancy - another couple holes near the end of the inner pole with a bungie hooked/stretched over the awning tube. I filed a bit of a "saddle" in the top of the pole to cradle the awning tube.

I've also seen painter's poles from Home Depot/Lowe's used, but they can be pricey if you get one's with sturdy-enough clamping mechanisms. I have a fiberglass adjustable pruning pole that could be adapted, as well, but PVC is cheap and easily worked...

[myredracer]

Carefree has an optional sensor that automatically retracts the awning when it's windy. Never seen anyone post about them and don't know if they work okay.

[ependydad]

acker1 wrote:
Thanks for the replies. Interested in the support poles and how they were made. I can fix most things but cannot visualize new projects. I can copy others ideas! Pics would help.

DICK

Here my son is helping me secure the ratchet strap to the end of the pole (this site was sloped so that it was a pretty healthy reach):

[acker1]

Thanks for the replies. Interested in the support poles and how they were made. I can fix most things but cannot visualize new projects. I can copy others ideas! Pics would help.

DICK

[austex]

You can use the ratchet straps like you used to IF you fabricate a couple support poles ("legs") to go under the ends of the roller tube so that you are not stressing the extension mechanism, AND turn off any wind-sensing auto-retract you may have. Be sure to tilt awning a bit to shed water.

[cpaulsen]

I use my electric awning all the time. The last 2 months it never got put in. I made some adjustable pvc poles with a saddle to fit the awning tube.....adjust the height of the poles and then anchor the awning to the ground with rachet straps. Have had it out with winds up to 25 mph. You have to use common sense on when to put it in or not. My homemade awning poles cost me about 20 bucks.

[Ivylog]

He's in Fla, not TX.:B
I turn my Girrard awning off so it cannot retract and the sun shade that I add stabilizes it. I leave it out for the three months that I snowbird in WPB, Fla. My awning is on the south side so I need the extra sun protection.

[GoPackGo]

I agree with the above comments. I wouldn't leave my electric awning up if I wasn't around. It really only takes a little breeze to get them flopping.

I do know there is a kit containing ground anchors, rope, and a kind of sleeve that you put on each end of the awning so you can tie it down..

[Lynnmor]

IMHO the electric awning is just a sales gimmick. They have far less strength than the manual type. For your type of use, either replace it with a real awning or forget that you have one.