Carefree main awning arm not closing completely flush to wall

[AKBrick]

Hi again esteemed Guys and Gals,
The forward awning arm on the "main" awning is not closing completely flush with the coaches' wall. It is getting stuck at about one inch from closing completely. The rear arm is closing completely. I think the front arm may be "tweaked" (bent) out of shape or something. I can't tell by looking closely at it. I am able to push the arm all of the way closed with my hand while running the awning motor, but it will not close all of the way by itself.

Does anybody have any experience with this type of thing. I called Monoco and they now have it on record as a warrenty item for 90 days. Luckily I called them on the last day of our warrenty period. We have extended warrenty also and maybe Carefree warrenties this type of thing unless there is actual damage. Hopefully there is just some adjustment to be done.

AKBrick

[AKBrick]

Hi again esteemed Guys and Gals,
The forward awning arm on the "main" awning is not closing completely flush with the coaches' wall. It is getting stuck at about one inch from closing completely. The rear arm is closing completely. I think the front arm may be "tweaked" (bent) out of shape or something. I can't tell by looking closely at it. I am able to push the arm all of the way closed with my hand while running the awning motor, but it will not close all of the way by itself.

Does anybody have any experience with this type of thing. I called Monoco and they now have it on record as a warrenty item for 90 days. Luckily I called them on the last day of our warrenty period. We have extended warrenty also and maybe Carefree warrenties this type of thing unless there is actual damage. Hopefully there is just some adjustment to be done.

AKBrick

[Diplomat Don]

AKBrick.....More than likely, the awning (over a period of time) is rolling up unevenly. Check to see if the fabric is evenly spaced from both arms. If it's closer to one than the other, you need to roll the awning out and push on either arm (it doesn't matter which one) either toward the rear of the coach or toward the front as you roll the awning in. This will re-align the fabric on the roll and re-align your arms so they close completely.

[AKBrick]

Hey Don,
Thanks for the good advice. We noticed this happening when we had the awning material replaced. Me thinks that maybe it wasn't put on evenly?.....I'll check to see if that's the case. It sounds like a quick and semi-easy fix. Good to know for the future too.

AKBrick

[AKBrick]

Diplomat Don
You are the hero of the day! I found that the awning was not matched at either end of the roller and had to pull it towards the front end. I then rolled it up and voila,....It closed both of the arms flush with the wall!! Ta Daaaaaa!

And let that be a lesson to myself!

Thanks again Don.

AKBrick
Tom

[Diplomat Don]

My door awning is a manual style and I had the same issue as you. After trying to adjust the fabric for about 30 minutes I realized the fabric had caused the arms to shift about an inch over to one side. Pushed the arms as it rolled up and problem solved. Glad it worked.

[Happycarz]

AKBrick,
I'm glad it was a simple fix. Last monday on my trip to San Diego, cruising I8 at 60 mph, I noticed my arms were looser than normal. That morning I had wiped the awning covers down and knew they were tight. So, I said to my DW to look and identify the switches which she did. The moment she touched "retract", the patio awning deployed. Pretty ugly! The 50 mph winds through the pass weren't helping either. Taking the cap off covering the awning motor, while eating a ton of sand, revealed one of the gears broke and fell off the shaft, leaving no way to lock the awning. The wind just kept billowing the awning fabric over the top of the motorhome , forcing the arms into the retract position and then, bang, and extend all the way out. ARRGH! After several cycles of that, I cut the fabric off at the cover side and then I was able to roll the material onto the spool. Then up the ladder to drill holes in the bracket and install super zip ties (aka handcuffs) supplied by CHP.
The worse I'll have to do is replace a gear, or gear kit, take the fabric off and to a awning shop to sew on a three inch extention and a new bead, or piping, and reassemble.

[AKBrick]

YIKES Harry!
It just so happens that we saw a Neptune drive into one of the dogshows in Nevada with it's awning arms and spool hanging out. The awnings' material was hanging down the side of the Neptune. It turns out that pushing awning buttons is not a good thing with the Carefree awning while driving or with gusty winds. These people said that they were just pulling into the show parking area and somehow they accidentally pushed the awning "open" button just enough to get the awning to open up a little. It so happens that we were having wind gusts and the wind caught the awning material and jerked the whole thing out ripping the material. Having the motor at the ends of the arms to roll up the spool makes it near impossible to get the whole rigging back up against the side of the MH without a big hassle like you went through.

Man, I feel sorry for you and your wife on that ordeal. Did the awning material beat the heck out of the Camelot's roof or parts up top before you were able to pull over?

For some reason I thought that the awnings were inoperable when the ignition switch was turned on. I'll have to check this out again on our Cheetah because I thought I did try rolling up the awning while the engine was warming up once and it didn't budge until I shut off the engine. Also we have a switch that locks out the awnings but unfortunately I keep forgetting to turn that switch on before we take off. Hmmmmmm....guess I better re-think things on my "breaking camp" check list.

I hope you get it fixed soon and get back on those happy trails.

Tom and Jo

[nodine]

I have not checked the large awning but I know the door awning will not work with the engine running. As we were leaving a campground one morning the wife informed me that we forgot to retract the door awning. I tried to retract it but it would not operate until I turned off the engine.

Bob

[Happycarz]

OK, you made me look. I started the engine and the awnings work. I thought I had pushed the button in the past when the engine was running, but you made me think.

[AKBrick]

Harry and Bob,
Okayyy... well you both got me wondering about our awnings with the key turned on. Well, I had to wait for a commercial break of "Dancing with the Stars" that CheetahGirl just loves to watch or I'd have been in trouble. As you all know, we can't turn on the key with the television on because it shuts off unless modified. I tried both awnings and niether one of them operated. I checked the kill switch that turns off both of the awnings and it was off (meaning that the awnings will work) with thier own buttons.

It looks like Monoco gave the 2007 Safari Cheetah a safety upgrade to prevent opening during driving. I don't have a CLUE why they didn't do it with thier brand name on a Camelot! I'm sorry that you had to find out the hard way. Total BUMMAGE Dude. Bob, It looks like you got the upgrade.

Tom

[PizzaGuy]

Checked both mine this morning. Will not open with the key on.

[nodine]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by AKBrick:
Harry and Bob,
....... Bob, It looks like you got the upgrade.

Tom </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well Tom, its about time I got something with an upgrade. I know what you mean about not messing around with the significant others TV time!

Bob

[Ed S]

Two weeks ago while driving thru road construction in IL I saw what didnt look correct in my right mirrow. Took a little while to process the thought that the awning arm was not tight against the coach. Started getting concerned since there was no way now how to pull over and stop for miles. Just kept an watchful eye until I was able to exit off the highway. Not sure if DW or I hit the switch or what but happy to report it is still intact.