Electric Awning Question

If the winds are strong and making it jump and the rain is a monsoon,, bring in the awning. You push the button and it winds up. Better safe than sorry. Yes, that is what insurance is for but having an awning torn off your camper, means your camper has been permanently damaged !

If your awning is the type that doesn't have adjustable arms then yes, he is exactly right. I hate my electric awning. I have no way to adjust one side lower than the other so rain can run off. I left it out during a light rain and water started pooling in the middle. If I had not been there the extra weight probably would have eventually bent the tube or separated the fabric from the TT. I would much rather have a manual awning.

I liked my manual awning on my old 5er better than the electric, non-adjustable, on my new one. Mine is a Carefree Awning and they do have a kit to make it adjustable. But yes, awning should be left open in the wind. If it is just raining then no problem, but if you see it flapping bring it in. I also always bring it in if there is a T-storm, as there is always a good wind with them.

I have an adjustable arm electric awning. I will pitch it on an angle and leave i out overnight. I will not leave it out if I leave the campground though in case high winds move in. Also, remember it best to be level when retracting it...so if you have it pitched, reset it to even up the arms then wind it in. Also, I've found that if gets a little windy at night, the electric awnings tend to flap in the wind. Hard for me to sleep with that added noise, so I will get up and roll it in if that happens.

I agree with all of the above.

You will learn about your own particular awning from experience. Assuming this is a brand name awning, like a Carefree, there are some things that are fairly certain.

First - A little wind is not a problem.

Second - A little rain should not be a problem.

Third - Unless there is a promise of thunderstorms, leaving the awning out at night is not be a problem.

Fourth - Gusty winds are a bigger problem than constant winds. So that turbulence that comes just before a storm is not to be ignored.

Fifth - An electric awning that cannot be lowered on one side is not always a problem in terms of pooling of water. It depends on how much slope there is. I have never actually measured ours, but I would very roughly estimate it is something in the neighborhood of around three feet, give or take maybe six inches. (Trailer is 12 foot high, awning is mounted somewhere around the 11 foot mark, and I can touch the awning at its lowest point/maybe 8 foot above the ground) So 11 minus 8 is right around 3 feet. In contrast, the guy that was camped across from me last winter had an electric awning that had almost no slope. It was an easy 9 foot off the ground at the lowest point, maybe even more. The bottom line, my awning has never collected water in the past five years, and we are snowbirds, so our awning has seen a lot of rain. My neighbor, on the other hand, retracted his awning every time it rained.

though i'm not a fan of electric awnings, any awning stands the chance of being damaged, if no one is around to put it up if bad weather/wind shows up.

it's always advised to put your awning up if you're leaving the campsite for an extended time, especially if you are camping in an area that has unpredictable wind/weather.

we don't get much bad wind or weather out here in California, so we've left our awning out overnite.
but if we lived somewhere else, we would probably put it up.
even with a manual awning, it only takes a couple of minutes to put it away or up.
not worth the risk.

tmac00 wrote:
The tech at the place we purchased could not stress more the fact the awning is a "Sun Shade" and should not be expected to withstand any wind and or rain.

This is indeed how some of the electric awning manufacturers describe their products. The one we have is similar even though it is a very expensive brand. We only extend ours when we are there and we take it in whenever we leave. I guess you can say the only good thing is that it is electric so extending and retracting is not a problem, but I would rather have a manual one.

If the wind is causing the awning to "hop" a little, then bring it in.
We leave ours out in rain and can adjust the arms so it dumps to either side.

A power awning seems like a needless complication to me. Wasn't an option when I bought our Roo though.

We've not experienced a storm so bad I had to retract the awning.

I usually "car port" at least one end to make it easier to get to the trailer door without clunking my head on the diagonal support pole.

-- Chuck

Experience is the best teacher. We went to bed one night knowing it was raining fairly lightly, but not thinking.....about 2:00 in the morning the awning and all its hardware came crashing down. Not a good sound. Really wakes ya up! $250 deductible and new awning. Fortunately no damage to the ROO itself.

Wind.....yep it can come up literally in seconds. Last year got all set up, tacky lights on, chilled wine in glasses. We sat down for less than 5 minutes and monster winds came out of nowhere. It was all DH and I could do to hold onto the supports. I looked over at a neighbor in a Class C, only to see his awning going over the top. We finally got the locks undone, the arms down and he yelled, "ok, I'm rolling it up, watch out".

You don't have to hit us over the head again. We don't leave the CG with the awning out. Even a light rain can have strong winds in seconds. Almost without exception, we put the awning in before going to bed. Even suddenly darkening skies will get it put away.