I want to replace awning

[jjohnson1179]

Looking to replace my old manual awning with an electric one. Looking for any recomdations on what kind and where to by? Difficult?

[jjohnson1179]

Thank you all some great information and some second guessing lol. I just pike the thought of being able to retract ir from inside. Never any issues with my manual one

[j-d]

We have a 21-ft Carefree manual awning. I like it, and I can deploy and retract it very quickly. That said, I can see where a citizen not much more senior than I, would have trouble with the weight when extending the awning arms. Got to thinking, a power awning could be nice in that size. Sounds like time to re-think.

[imgoin4it]

If my electric awning fails and needs to be replaced it will be replaced with s manual one. In the AM if east sun is on side of coach, can’t lower it enough to get any shade. If afternoon sun shining on drivers side, passenger side is shaded and I don’t need the awning. It’s good for shade around noon. Other wise we just seldom use it.

[bucky]

Stay with the manual. You will regret changing over.

[drsteve]

My Coachmen came with an electric Dometic awning. It seems to be OK, decent adjustability, and reasonably sturdy. That said, the manual Carefree on my previous TT had a greater range of adjustment and was much more heavy duty.

If the electric one dies, I'll probably go back to a manual.

[ReneeG]

Yes, definitely not easy to clean!

[myredracer]

We have a Carefree awning on our KZ. No issues with design or quality or use (except as noted below). It does tilt by pushing in the little button at either of the awning arms. It does flap a lot more in wind compared to a manual type so needs to be brought in sometimes when a manual one will stay put. If in a CG/area where a wind could possibly come up suddenly, gotta bring it in if you go shopping or for a drive. I think it's Carefree that has a wind sensor option that will automatically retract the awning. If you want your RV to look more upscale and sexier, gotta have electric. 🙂

The best thing about electric awnings is definitely convenience. They don't offer much protection from the sun so we bought a screen for it that rolls up with the awning when you retract it. They are hard to clean because you can't tilt them low like with a manual. It's dang high off the ground too and need a stepladder to get to it when out.

Our Carefree awning has made a VERY loud moaning/groaning sound from day one. Three trips to the dealer and they could not figure out how to fix it. I called Carefree and they were useless. Someone posted on the forum a few days ago that their customer service is cr*p and I agree. I eventually traced the sound to a defective gas strut so I bought a replacement. I've yet to install it because it's a real PITA but it's now moving the top of my to-do list.

The LED strip in the roller tube was cheap shite and a whole bunch of the LEDs burned out and the dealer had to replace it under warranty. Now, 2+ years later, the same thing has happened again and I just bought an LED strip to install myself. Hope it lasts longer, but we'll see.

We had a manual awning in a previous TT. They def. have advantages. Waay better shade and waay better in wind. Also waay, waay easier to clean!! The worst thing about a manual is accidentally letting go of it when you're rolling it back up and everyone in the CG thinks a shotgun went off. :R

So manual or electric? I'm okay with our electric and would get another. Carefree or Dometic? I'd go Dometic depending on other's experiences. Dunno about Dometic's design or quality.

[ReneeG]

Lynnmor wrote:
After watching how my electric awning flipping around like a fish out of water, I no longer use the useless thing. If it can't protect an area when the weather is less than perfect, what is the purpose in having it?

What happened? Was the weather bad, raining, windy?

[Lynnmor]

After watching how my electric awning flipping around like a fish out of water, I no longer use the useless thing. If it can't protect an area when the weather is less than perfect, what is the purpose in having it?

[ReneeG]

SoundGuy wrote:

ReneeG wrote:
Carefree is the most popular brand. Check for local RV techs or dealers with good reputations to do it for you.

Our previous K-Z Spree came stock with a Carefree of Colorado power awning and it was such a POS I couldn't wait to get rid of it. My dealer agreed to swap it out for a Dometic 8500 manual awning, asking only that I wait until the fall when his shop wasn't so busy to have the job done. That gave me 6 months with the Carefree and it proved to be the worst awning I'd ever had. It had little tilt but when it collected a sufficient quantity of water it would suddenly dump off one end, soaking anyone who happened to be unfortunate enough to be anywhere nearby. The swap work fine but holes in the trailer side wall after the Carefree was removed had to be sealed and although I had no later issues with leakage I did have quite a few plastic caps where these holes were located. Unquestionably the swap was worth the effort as I could lower the Dometic at a much more severe angle and therefore could leave it deployed in even the worst rainstorms. All that said, our current Coachmen came with a Dometic 9100 power anwing that also does tilt quite a bit so I can leave it deployed as well during heavy rainstorms, no issues at all. I'd only retract it when the wind really comes up, no different than I'd do with the manual awning. JMO, but if the OP wants a power awning I'd recommend the Dometic 9100.

You may be right for Carefree awnings. Our current is Dometic, I just checked, and the slideout awnings I think are Carefree which are different. We've had Carefree slideout awnings installed on our last RV and it was troublefree.

As for our Dometic shade awning, we can keep it out in breezes and it flexes to accommodate. What I love about an electric awning is the ability for one person to bring in the awning. Maybe some of you can bring a manual one in yourself, but it always took both two of us to do it. We have always been careful of our awning and leaving them out. We've learned our lesson of leaving it out at night! Had to wake up in the middle of the night in a rain and wind storm to bring it in! We never leave it out unattended. A strong sudden burst of wind can come up suddenly and having the electric awning is great in being able to bring it in quickly. We also accidently discovered that our awning has a rain dump feature. We were washing our awning and we had the awning halfway out to rinse. Before we could dump the water on top, it did it automatically. Startled us! I would never go back to a manual. If we were ever to purchase another RV and it had a manual awning, we would have an electric installed.

[SoundGuy]

ReneeG wrote:
Carefree is the most popular brand. Check for local RV techs or dealers with good reputations to do it for you.

Our previous K-Z Spree came stock with a Carefree of Colorado power awning and it was such a POS I couldn't wait to get rid of it. My dealer agreed to swap it out for a Dometic 8500 manual awning, asking only that I wait until the fall when his shop wasn't so busy to have the job done. That gave me 6 months with the Carefree and it proved to be the worst awning I'd ever had. It had little tilt but when it collected a sufficient quantity of water it would suddenly dump off one end, soaking anyone who happened to be unfortunate enough to be anywhere nearby. The swap work fine but holes in the trailer side wall after the Carefree was removed had to be sealed and although I had no later issues with leakage I did have quite a few plastic caps where these holes were located. Unquestionably the swap was worth the effort as I could lower the Dometic at a much more severe angle and therefore could leave it deployed in even the worst rainstorms. All that said, our current Coachmen came with a Dometic 9100 power anwing that also does tilt quite a bit so I can leave it deployed as well during heavy rainstorms, no issues at all. I'd only retract it when the wind really comes up, no different than I'd do with the manual awning. JMO, but if the OP wants a power awning I'd recommend the Dometic 9100.

[jerseyjim]

I REALLY suggest staying with a "manual" awning. In my travels I've seen the electrical ones rip off (the "wind sensor" did not work) or fill will rain water (THAT sensor did not work),so the arms collapsed .When deployed, they're too high (IMO) only extend 7 feet (manuals extend 8 feet).Some of them you can't tilt...gotta depend on the sensors that may or may not work. No thanks.

If I ever order another RV in the future, I will specify a manual awning. Absolutely.

[rhagfo]

path1 wrote:
My old manual so much better in many ways

X2

We still have a manual awning, we have had it out in on the Oregon coast in some pretty heavy winds. I do tie it down with three ratchet straps one at each end, and one in the middle hooked into two light hanging straps, this is a 21' awning.

[Artum_Snowbird]

Some electrics come straight out, others have a variable slope and drain away to one end or the other.

One we had would fill with water, then all of a sudden one end would collapse the spring and dump about 50 pounds of water, then it would pop back up again.

So shop around, get a good one with lots of different features.