Tie down Electric Awning

Familiar looking picture jerem0621....only difference our was on our HTT. Sooo not good.

Personally, have never been able to grasp the concept of tying down the awning...if it's windy enough to lift it up and is tied down, seems to me that it needs to be put back in.

We enjoy our awning(s) both on the HTT and now on Rocky, the TT. But....didn't care for the damage that was done or the $250 insurance deductible....which actually got us off for less than if we had to replace it. When in doubt, it goes back in.

Lynnmor wrote:
I find that an electric awning is pretty much a useless accessory. Even if you tie it down, the supports are not sturdy and may be damaged. When the weather turns foul that is when you need an awning but it is time to roll up the fragile electric awning.

Me too. I hardly ever roll mine out. Once I did it when we went to a concert and it was hot and we needed the shade. But, the rest of the time I'm so worried that it will get ripped off by the wind that I leave it rolled up. I've had TT's without them and I don't miss having one at all. A cheap screen tent works just as well if not better and is a lot easier and cheaper to replace.

It was stated above that the only ones he has seen torn up were ones not tied down. I can't say that. I've seen two or three shreaded still attached to the tie downs but pulled loose from the trailer. I have a manual awning and it takes less than 4 minutes to put up or down, add another 4 minutes to remove the roller hooks and lights if I have those installed. I will leave mine out with a good rain, strictly wind drives my decision to put it up. I also put it up if we won't be there. Wind gusts can come out of no where on a blue sky day as well as a cloudy day. To me the risk reward is a simple decision when we are talking at least hundreds of dollars for new fabric and or bent support arms and maybe thousands if it does damage to the camper where it attaches or the roof from being thrown on top of the camper, all of which I have seen on this forum or while camping. I know many tie down and say they've had no problems ever. Congrats on your winning streak. Hope it never ends. But I'm putting my money on the only sure bet.

All awnings are fragle, even the manual ones.

Friend of mine left his manual awning out. Gust of wind came up. Tore it off.

NO awning can withstand wind gusts, and gully washer, frog strangler rains don't help them either.

An awning is only good for shade in good weather, or during light showers that have no wind.

If the truth be known, I'd rather be without an awning than a lot of other things on my RV.

Lynnmor wrote:
I find that an electric awning is pretty much a useless accessory. Even if you tie it down, the supports are not sturdy and may be damaged. When the weather turns foul that is when you need an awning but it is time to roll up the fragile electric awning.

I find that an electric awning is pretty much a useless accessory. Even if you tie it down, the supports are not sturdy and may be damaged. When the weather turns foul that is when you need an awning but it is time to roll up the fragile electric awning.

Sorry, I will never just tie off my awning again. I never want to experience this again.



Notice the neat-o red ratchet straps attached to the ground? Yeah, this storm just laughed and proceeded to rip off my awning.

I still have awning lights but they are the large globe type and can be removed in 1 minute if needed.

Light rain, I leave it angled and out.... If I am present, otherwise it goes in if I leave or if its gusty.

Thanks,

Jeremiah

Has anyone read the owners manual for electric awnings as well as manual ones? They state that you shouldn't leave them up in high winds. If the wind is strong enough it will rip the awning and damage the support poles. I retract mine when leaving the campsite, if a storm comes up, and also at night. It's a pain, but I don't care to be shelling out extra $ for awning replacement and repair.

have never tied ours down on either our HTT or the new TT. However.....after 2 "stupid owner" experiences, the awning goes in if there is more than a handful of rain drops or anything resembling a gust of wind. Waking up at 2:00 in the morning to the sound of the awning roller collapsing due to a monsoon that wasn't predicted was just not good. If any doubt at all, that puppy is rolled back up.

gcloss wrote:
I have a Care Free electric awning and tie it down with large corkscrews and ratcheting straps.

My DW is always complaining because every time we leave the campground or when we retire for the night I unhook the straps and roll up the awning.

DW also complains because I don't allow her to hang lights on the awning. I look at the awning as a sunshade and cover for light rain.

What's the point of tying it down if you roll it in at night and when you are not there?

I have an 2014 trailer. I understand that Dometic removed the auto roll-up feature mid way thru 2013 and recalled the other awnings made prior to this. Form reading postings, the Dometic would roll up if you farted. Anyway, I usually leave mine out "un strapped" but open. This past weekend I woke up to a horrible racket and found that the awning was getting blown about, and at 2 AM I was outside losing the black knobs and then retreating inside waiting for a calm moment when both ends were level and hit the roll-up button. We ended up with an F1 tornado 30 miles away. The following day I opened up, no damage and this time I tied her down, We again had strong winds come through with more rain, I put her in storm position, and she held fast and true. The old trailer was non-electric and I always tied it down. I'd say 90% of the campers in our area tie theirs down, electric or not. Some leave them out when they are not camping and some roll em up. The answer is clear as mud ain't it! By the way, the only ones I've seen broken, are the ones that weren't tied down.