A&E Awning Sensor Installed Incorrectly

[GaryKD]

I just had my A&E awning control box and roof mounted auto retract sensor replaced,,,,again. This is the 4th box and sensor. All were done by the same dealer (but different tech). This time I got up on the roof with the tech and found the real problem. When Newmar cut the hole, in the roof, to run the wire from the sensor to the control box they never sealed the hole!

My symptom was when in a driving South Florida rain storm, I would loose the auto retract capability. In addition the area below the control box was always wet.

The solution was to:
1. seal the hole in the roof
2. drill a 1/4" hole in the rear bottom of the plastic sensor tower. This will allow water to drain out the tower instead of forming a swimming pool or running down the sensor wire, into the control box and onto my basement floor.

Sometimes I wonder if dealerships really want to fix warranty problems. Maybe Newmar pays them for each "fix" even though the real problem wasn't fixed but just replaced parts. It seems like it is a good "business" for dealers to keep the techs busy.

[GaryKD]

I just had my A&E awning control box and roof mounted auto retract sensor replaced,,,,again. This is the 4th box and sensor. All were done by the same dealer (but different tech). This time I got up on the roof with the tech and found the real problem. When Newmar cut the hole, in the roof, to run the wire from the sensor to the control box they never sealed the hole!

My symptom was when in a driving South Florida rain storm, I would loose the auto retract capability. In addition the area below the control box was always wet.

The solution was to:
1. seal the hole in the roof
2. drill a 1/4" hole in the rear bottom of the plastic sensor tower. This will allow water to drain out the tower instead of forming a swimming pool or running down the sensor wire, into the control box and onto my basement floor.

Sometimes I wonder if dealerships really want to fix warranty problems. Maybe Newmar pays them for each "fix" even though the real problem wasn't fixed but just replaced parts. It seems like it is a good "business" for dealers to keep the techs busy.

[Iron Man]

It seems that way. We have had several issues "fixed" several times by our dealer. They billed Newmar for warranty work each time they "fixed the problem". Got to the point where we quit taking it to the dealer. Could that be part of the reason for losing a 3 year warranty?

[rebelsbeach]

While I do like "my" dealer, I fell victim to the "we fixed it now pay us" routine with respect to my basement fridge/freezer and the KVH R6.
Terry basically said I COULD call KVH and find out what the software issue was and signed off on it and then with respect to the freezer he stuck a thermometer in there and said his specs indicated it only cooled on #1 and froze on all the other numbers...
Seems funny I FINALLY got the KVH fixed this trip to Newmar with a new board in the antenna and they replaced the thermostat on the fridge/freezer as it was faulty...
Don't get me wrong, North Trail does good work for the most part as they did fix my slide issues and several other problems,I just think ALL the dealers fall victim at one time or another to the "we'll get our money from Newmar no matter what" scheme...

[Lug_Nut]

Bob, Terry is a pretty bright guy that I believe takes his work very seriously. Is it possible that he just falls victom to mis-information from the suppliers? I know I've experienced different answers from different people from several suppliers. Some times it just depends who you talk to.

Peter