Travel'r awning issue

[schwartzworld]

We have a Carefree of Colorado Travel'r awning. It went out but didn't come back in. No noise, nothing. I got a ladder and I was able to turn the tube while my wife hit the button. It then very slowly went in. I called Carefree and they gave me some trouble shooting to do. I hooked the motor right to a cordless drill battery and it went in and out very quickly. The battery was an 18 volt which Carefree said was OK. Being higher than 12 volts it should move quickly. I checked the voltage at the wires to the motor. With the switch in either direction we had 12.45 volts. At the switch I had the same voltage. Battery water was checked, it's at the correct level.

Any ideas why it stuck out? I can run it out half way and it will come back in. Haven't tried all the way yet. Could the motor still be bad? If they would send me one under warranty I think I have enough people to help me change it out.

Thanks

Fred

[schwartzworld]

MrWizard wrote:
You found the awning fuse
On a protected circuit that is disconnected? When the engine is running
Move it to another circuit, an accessory circuit heavy enough to carry it,
Something hot when engine is on
Like maybe dash A/C , heater blower, etc..
No need to run new wire all the way from the house batteries
It has it own fuse, you can even move it too a main b+ line
Or the power circuit for the step ?
Quite a few possibilities exist

Your theory is good but the problem is that the chassis battery doesn't have the power like the house batteries. This is on a 2015 coach so I really don't want to mess with the wiring too much. If I can use the existing circuit to power a relay that will bring house power up to the awning I should have the retraction issue fixed. If not, I'll have to get another motor under warranty.

[MrWizard]

You found the awning fuse
On a protected circuit that is disconnected? When the engine is running
Move it to another circuit, an accessory circuit heavy enough to carry it,
Something hot when engine is on
Like maybe dash A/C , heater blower, etc..
No need to run new wire all the way from the house batteries
It has it own fuse, you can even move it too a main b+ line
Or the power circuit for the step ?
Quite a few possibilities exist

[schwartzworld]

MrWizard wrote:
your on the right track, following correct trouble shooting procedures
check the voltage on the chassis batteries before you start up, then check voltage on the switch with the engine running

I think I have it figured it out. I have 12.45 volts at the chassis battery. I also found the awning fuse under the dashboard in an ignition protected circuit. The awning won't go in or out with the engine running.

The fix? Pull the 12 volt wire off the awning switch and put it on a relay. Then run a new wire from the house batteries to the relay and then from the relay to the switch. This will give me 13.65 volts to the awning. Big problem is getting the wire from the batteries to the switch which is basically from the bottom of the coach to the top. If it can't be done I may be able to tap into a wire up near the switch but I'd rather not do that. The awning is on a 15 amp circuit, don't want to overload something else.

[MrWizard]

your on the right track, following correct trouble shooting procedures
check the voltage on the chassis batteries before you start up, then check voltage on the switch with the engine running

[schwartzworld]

westend wrote:
It sounds to me like you have a battery charging issue. Nominal 6V batteries in series should have higher voltage than 12.45 when fully charged. The low battery voltage would effect the performance of the awning.

Each battery reads 6.67 volts. Combined the meter reads 13.65 volts. What I didn't try was having the coach running and checking the voltage. I still need to try this but I may have solved this issue. My fuse box in the back does not have a fuse for the awning. I realized tonight that there is another fuse box under the dashboard. If the awning fuse is there, then it gets its power from the chassis battery. A theory I'll check tomorrow. If I'm correct there may be nothing I can do but run the engine to get the awning in and out.

[schwartzworld]

westend wrote:
It sounds to me like you have a battery charging issue. Nominal 6V batteries in series should have higher voltage than 12.45 when fully charged. The low battery voltage would effect the performance of the awning.

Wonderful. Where do I start with this? I have the Magnum Energy MMS1012 inverter/charger and the MM-RC remote for it. I have seen it go through the charging cycle based on the lights on the remote. The inverter is running the refrigerator only, no other outlets. The batteries are new this year, as of March and the water level is correct. Wiring is clean and tight. I'll have to see how much voltage the batteries have. At this time I don't know what model converter I have, it's a WFCO and that all I know for now. I don't know how this is wired either (yet). Do I have AC going into the inverter which charges the battery and then from the batteries it goes to the converter to supply the 12 volt circuits? The converter and inverter are almost 20 feet apart, they are almost at opposite end of the coach. Isn't that a long run to the converter?

I have some investigating to do tonight. Please send me anything else to check.

Thanks again

Fred

[westend]

It sounds to me like you have a battery charging issue. Nominal 6V batteries in series should have higher voltage than 12.45 when fully charged. The low battery voltage would effect the performance of the awning.

[schwartzworld]

MrWizard wrote:
12.45 at the switch while on shore power
Either a connection problem,
Or a converter voltage problem
That is too low
Should be at least 13v+ and possibly as high as 14v
Check the voltage at the house batteries, Is it good or is it low
Start your engine and try the awning again see if it moves faster and easier

I'll give these a check and a try.

We have a residential refrigerator. It's powered by a Magnum Energy inverter which also handles the charging duties of the house batteries. We have 2 of those, 6 volts each, new this year.

I'm not home right now, I can only assume that the converter has a fuse for the awning which means that there is a line from there to the switch. We're not tapped into another circuit, I hope. Thinking out loud, if the converter is not putting out the correct DC voltage, is there an adjustment on the main board (it's a WFCO) or am I going to have to have it replaced?

Thanks

Fred

[MrWizard]

12.45 at the switch while on shore power
Either a connection problem,
Or a converter voltage problem
That is too low
Should be at least 13v+ and possibly as high as 14v
Check the voltage at the house batteries, Is it good or is it low
Start your engine and try the awning again see if it moves faster and easier

[schwartzworld]

Lynnmor wrote:
In your owners manual you will find the connection points for the motor. Check the voltage there while operating the switch. Low voltage can be caused by poor connections, high amp draw caused by a faulty motor or high amp draw caused by the awning not operating freely.

Did the test. 12.45 volts at the wiring with no load. 11.5 volts going out and 9.8 volts trying to come in. I'm thinking that the motor has an issue.

I may be getting a new motor under warranty. Not sure if this is the fix. I'll have to install it myself which, with a few people to hold things in place, it doesn't seem that hard to do.

Only other thing to do is add an DC converter and boost the 12 volts to 14 volts. The awning moved really good at 18, 14 should be just fine.

[Lynnmor]

In your owners manual you will find the connection points for the motor. Check the voltage there while operating the switch. Low voltage can be caused by poor connections, high amp draw caused by a faulty motor or high amp draw caused by the awning not operating freely.

[schwartzworld]

Chris Bryant wrote:
You need to check the voltage *at the motor* while it is acting up. I suspect a bad connection somewhere.

There are 2 connections at the motor, 2 part way down the arm and then 4 at the switch. After the switch I have no idea where it gets its power from. I can redo the connections but don't think that is going to help.

My other crazy idea is to get a DC converter that will boost the voltage from 12 volts to 14 volts. 10 AMPS max draw. The awning moved very nicely with the 18 volt battery so 14 should be good.

[Chris_Bryant]

You need to check the voltage *at the motor* while it is acting up. I suspect a bad connection somewhere.

[schwartzworld]

j-d wrote:
At least you got the awning stowed and it seems the EXPENSIVE motor is good. Did Carefree give you trobleshooting instructions over the phone or are they on a webpage somewhere? If you can tell or show us what CF said to do, maybe we can help.

Is there a Wiring Diagram?

Usually what those small motors (entry steps, power windows, awnings) do is reverse two wires electrically. Say he two wires on the motor are Red and Green. To go one way, Red is Positive, Green is Negative. To go the opposite way, Red would be Negative and Green would be Positive. That may be accomplished simply in a Switch, or with Relay(s). It'd help to know how CF wanted it done, and to hope the RV builder did it that way.

There is a service manual on the Carefree website. The unit is wired correctly. 2 wires to the motor from the switch that have the polarity reversed to switch direction. I checked voltage in both directions and it was the same, 12.45 volts. No relays according to the Carefree manual.