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Old 04-29-2017, 08:00 AM   #1
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A&E slide topper tension

Our slide topper has torn off and the roller unwound. I had been nursing the tear near the rail along to get it back to the sticks and bricks home and replace it. Naturally at the last CG we planned to stay at when opening the slide it let go all the way.

From a search here I found a thread that mentions 13 turns to tension it. Is this correct. I will be taking whats left of the old one to a canvas guy we use for the boat to see if he can make a couple of new ones for us. The other slide is still intact but sags a little. Can I put a couple extra turns in it?
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Old 04-29-2017, 07:06 PM   #2
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HD4Mark,

You might want to try "Tough Topic Awnings".

They fabricate the highest quality slide topper awning out there compared to oem awning toppers.
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Old 04-29-2017, 07:07 PM   #3
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Darn...auto correct!

It's Tough Top Awnings
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Old 04-30-2017, 06:42 AM   #4
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HD4Mark,

You might want to try "Tough Top Awnings".

They fabricate the highest quality slide topper awning out there compared to oem awning toppers.
Thanks Toribk. The canvas guy has made a few boat covers and even a neat cover for the table top grill we bring in the MH. He does very good work, is reasonable and is at the marina right across the street now. I dropped him off the old one and he says no problem making one just like it. I'll look up Tough Top if he has any problems.

I still am looking to find how many turns to put on the roller though. Anyone?
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Old 04-30-2017, 07:00 AM   #5
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What awning do you have.

If it's a Dometic, I probably have the service manual.
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Old 04-30-2017, 08:15 AM   #6
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What awning do you have.

If it's a Dometic, I probably have the service manual.
It sure is a Dometic A&E
Product number 958303535
model 86101FP.0131-R

I replied to your PM with my email, Thank You
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Old 04-30-2017, 09:25 PM   #7
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http://www.makariosrv.com/content/Do...r%20Manual.pdf
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Old 05-01-2017, 04:32 AM   #8
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I really appreciate the help guys but I'm still confused. Both of these manuals are for new installation and start out with the fabric on the roller. As far as I can tell the tension is factory set. Ours is unrolled so the tube needs to be rolled to add tension, pinned then the fabric slid on to the rail on the MH and tube at the same time. Right? So we need to figure out how many turns to tension it still.
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Old 05-01-2017, 07:14 AM   #9
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Update

I found this http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/exterior/AE_topper.pdf It says all slide toppers 13 turns. Great, now I have a starting point.

The only thing is, I did not plan to remove the the roller tube. Just re-tensioning it by turning it then pinning it with the slot upward should make it possible to slide the new fabric onto the MH rail and into the tube at the same time. So since there is always a turn or two of fabric on the roller, should we give it an extra turn to suck up that slack?

On the bedroom slide that is smaller we should be able to just unroll it until all of the fabric winds off and the slot is exposed and upward, pin the roller then slide the old fabric off. The new would go on in reverse then release the tube.

Does this make sense?
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Old 05-01-2017, 11:03 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HD4Mark View Post
I found this http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/exterior/AE_topper.pdf It says all slide toppers 13 turns. Great, now I have a starting point.

The only thing is, I did not plan to remove the the roller tube. Just re-tensioning it by turning it then pinning it with the slot upward should make it possible to slide the new fabric onto the MH rail and into the tube at the same time. So since there is always a turn or two of fabric on the roller, should we give it an extra turn to suck up that slack?

On the bedroom slide that is smaller we should be able to just unroll it until all of the fabric winds off and the slot is exposed and upward, pin the roller then slide the old fabric off. The new would go on in reverse then release the tube.

Does this make sense?
Mark, it says that 13 turns is for the Elite and Deluxe slide toppers. It may be different for other toppers.
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Old 05-01-2017, 06:53 PM   #11
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There is a great YouTube short on this. The guy walks you through replacing the topper. Great info. Google.
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Old 05-02-2017, 06:47 AM   #12
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Mark, it says that 13 turns is for the Elite and Deluxe slide toppers. It may be different for other toppers.
Thanks Joe & Anette. I hoped the rollers were all similar. Can't find much to go on for the tension though. The only two references I have come up with say 13 turns. Also are the 13 turns applied with the slide in or out. Still looking.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PappyWood View Post
There is a great YouTube short on this. The guy walks you through replacing the topper. Great info. Google.
Thanks Pappy. I have watched a couple of vids on it. All of them have had the spring still tensioned and pinned the roller in place. In our case the roller unwound. The actual replacing of the fabric seems to be the easy part.
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Old 05-02-2017, 07:08 AM   #13
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HD4Mark,

The "RV Geeks" video that another forum member referenced is one you may want to familiarize yourself with.

In the two instances I have helped replace an awning topper, we did it the same way as depicted in the video and locked the roller pin in place with long Allen Wrenches.

There was never a need to re-roll the tube, or the spring to unwind, while replacing the fabric.

Anyway....let us all know how it worked out in the end and best of luck with the replacement.

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Old 05-02-2017, 03:24 PM   #14
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My problem is that the tension unwound because the fabric (vinyl) ripped completely across causing the roller to spin undone. So we need to turn it to get tension back before sliding in the fabric. After that the instructions from RVgeeks works. In the vid they unroll the fabric then stick screw drivers in the tube to keep the tension. Our tension is already lost. We can trial and error the tension if it turns to be loose. If it's too tight I worry something bad will happen. I have looked at a few vids.

Sorry if I seem dense. Is it easier than I think?
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