Your power awning may be ****...
I THINK my power awning is a Dometic; not sure. Pretty sure it's not a Carefree of Colorado. It was installed back in 2014 when my trailer was in the shop for a bunch of other work; the old manual-style awning got destroyed and I had them replace it with a power unit.
Since that time, it's worked great. I've always rolled it in whenever the forecast called for "breezy" or if a gust of wind came up that I wasn't expecting.
This morning, we had a gust of wind. It happens from time to time here in Arizona. So I hopped up and hit the IN button on the wall. I opened the door to watch it go in... and it wasn't going in. It stopped. I thought I had pushed OUT. I checked, pushed IN again. Nada. Then I noticed the awning roller didn't look completely attached to the rear awning arm. I ran outside and got a ladder.
Turns out, whatever idiot designed this thing only required two screws to be put in to hold the giant (and heavy) roller with the awning on it, to the outer pieces (the front has the motor, the rear doesn't). And one of the screws had popped out, while the other was thinking about it.
A quick call to a friend for some help, and we removed the remaining screw, lined it up, and put new screws back in. Except they weren't staying very well. He suggested adding a few more, so I did. In the photo, you can now see the original screw (the square-head one) and my new hex-head ones, which were the self-tapping type. There are now about six screws holding this in on each end. FWIW, the photo is of the front (powered) unit, but they are identical visually.
So.. if you have one of these awnings, please check and see how it's attached. You may want to add some more screws to ensure it doesn't come undone. had it come loose and fallen, who knows how much damage might have been done, especially since I had a motorcycle parked below it that would have gotten hit.
It continues to amaze me at how cheaply RV stuff is made. It really is time for the Japanese to get in on this market and bring up the level of quality.
Since that time, it's worked great. I've always rolled it in whenever the forecast called for "breezy" or if a gust of wind came up that I wasn't expecting.
This morning, we had a gust of wind. It happens from time to time here in Arizona. So I hopped up and hit the IN button on the wall. I opened the door to watch it go in... and it wasn't going in. It stopped. I thought I had pushed OUT. I checked, pushed IN again. Nada. Then I noticed the awning roller didn't look completely attached to the rear awning arm. I ran outside and got a ladder.
Turns out, whatever idiot designed this thing only required two screws to be put in to hold the giant (and heavy) roller with the awning on it, to the outer pieces (the front has the motor, the rear doesn't). And one of the screws had popped out, while the other was thinking about it.
A quick call to a friend for some help, and we removed the remaining screw, lined it up, and put new screws back in. Except they weren't staying very well. He suggested adding a few more, so I did. In the photo, you can now see the original screw (the square-head one) and my new hex-head ones, which were the self-tapping type. There are now about six screws holding this in on each end. FWIW, the photo is of the front (powered) unit, but they are identical visually.
So.. if you have one of these awnings, please check and see how it's attached. You may want to add some more screws to ensure it doesn't come undone. had it come loose and fallen, who knows how much damage might have been done, especially since I had a motorcycle parked below it that would have gotten hit.
It continues to amaze me at how cheaply RV stuff is made. It really is time for the Japanese to get in on this market and bring up the level of quality.
