Door awning repair

[chunker]

On another thread I mentioned looking into a malfunctioning door awning. I'm waiting on some silicone to dry so thought I'd write up my repair. Coach is as shown on signature line, and has Dometic side and door awnings. Door awning is Oasis Elite and is controlled by a awning selector switch, side or door, switch and an IN-OUT rocker switch. Switches are located by entry door.

Just before the summer trip the door awning quit working, stuck on the stowed position fortunately. I looked into it while on the trip but that might involve removal of the awning and didn't want to fool with it or have the issue of having to tie the awning closed. Back home I got into it. Side awning works fine, door not. Unfortunately with the awning retracted you can't access the motor plug to test the motor and the switches by the door are a real pain to access. "thervgeeks.com" has done an excellent write up and video of how to remove the motor. Water intrusion into the motor seems to be the frequent culprit. Following the written and video instructions I did get the motor off and fortunately the awning when it extended, didn't hit me and ruin my day. WATCH THE VIDEO!!!

After motor removal I did discover that the motorhome supplied electrical pigtail has different plug type so wouldn't connect to the motor to retract the awning as described in the Dometic owner's information. Replacement motor from Dometic is $950. Yes you read that right, $950 even on Amazon. I put power to motor on the work bench and nothing. Figured I had nothing to lose so I took the motor apart, easy to do. Upon disassembly I found rust corrosion on the bottom bearing, one away from the output shaft and the motor rotor. Using my bench grinder wire then cleaned up the motor shaft, and rotor and using a dremil tool wire brush cleaned up the bottom case, magnets, and sleeve bearing. Top bearing, brushes, stator etc, were all good no corrosion. Put ample grease in the bottom bearing and reassembled it.

VOILA it works. I put a bead of silicone along the seams to hopefully keep out future water and after the silicone dries, will put it all back together.

It's a simple job with no real special tools needed and by following the advice from thervgeeks, made the job easy and affordable.

NOTE; awnings are actually made by Fiamma with either a Dometic or A&E name. Motor direct from Fiamma is almost 1/4 of Domestic price but fortunately I didn't need one. Hope this helps someone.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by drwwicks

On another thread I mentioned looking into a malfunctioning door awning. I'm waiting on some silicone to dry so thought I'd write up my repair. Coach is as shown on signature line, and has Dometic side and door awnings. Door awning is Oasis Elite and is controlled by a awning selector switch, side or door, switch and an IN-OUT rocker switch. Switches are located by entry door.

Just before the summer trip the door awning quit working, stuck on the stowed position fortunately. I looked into it while on the trip but that might involve removal of the awning and didn't want to fool with it or have the issue of having to tie the awning closed. Back home I got into it. Side awning works fine, door not. Unfortunately with the awning retracted you can't access the motor plug to test the motor and the switches by the door are a real pain to access. "thervgeeks.com" has done an excellent write up and video of how to remove the motor. Water intrusion into the motor seems to be the frequent culprit. Following the written and video instructions I did get the motor off and fortunately the awning when it extended, didn't hit me and ruin my day. WATCH THE VIDEO!!!

After motor removal I did discover that the motorhome supplied electrical pigtail has different plug type so wouldn't connect to the motor to retract the awning as described in the Dometic owner's information. Replacement motor from Dometic is $950. Yes you read that right, $950 even on Amazon. I put power to motor on the work bench and nothing. Figured I had nothing to lose so I took the motor apart, easy to do. Upon disassembly I found rust corrosion on the bottom bearing, one away from the output shaft and the motor rotor. Using my bench grinder wire then cleaned up the motor shaft, and rotor and using a dremil tool wire brush cleaned up the bottom case, magnets, and sleeve bearing. Top bearing, brushes, stator etc, were all good no corrosion. Put ample grease in the bottom bearing and reassembled it.

VOILA it works. I put a bead of silicone along the seams to hopefully keep out future water and after the silicone dries, will put it all back together.

It's a simple job with no real special tools needed and by following the advice from thervgeeks, made the job easy and affordable.

NOTE; awnings are actually made by Fiamma with either a Dometic or A&E name. Motor direct from Fiamma is almost 1/4 of Domestic price but fortunately I didn't need one. Hope this helps someone.

Hey Drwwicks,
Nice write up, very understandable. And, we may have something very close in common. My door awning is an Oaisis Elite, I think. My problem, which continues to this day, is that it will extend just fine. But , if we extend it all the way out, to the point the elbows are actually straight, when it comes time to retract it, the motor hits the point at which it comes time to "bend" those spring loaded elbows and, gives up the ghost. QUITS!

And, when that happens, we have to walk away from it for around 5 minutes or so. I'm presupposing that, you have a control box for both awnings, just inside your first compartment, on the passengers side, correct? Well, inside that control box are a few relays, small, but relays none the less. Apparently on mine, one of those relays that handles both extend and retract, get's hot rather quickly and, simply stops allowing juice to pass through it.

When it cools down, we push the button (same switches you have) and, we hear the relay click, the door awning grunts a tiny bit and, that's it, no retraction. We can do that for umpteen times and it won't bring that door awning in. I've even posted videos of the voltage shown in my meter when it's extending and retracting.

But, here's the kicker. If I stand at the bottom of my door entry and, with both hands, literally "kink" both of those elbows ahead of time, so the motor doesn't have to work to do it, then she pushes on the retract toggle and, vuuuuuallllaaaa, the door awning zooms right in, all the way to the coach.

Now, here's how I think it's either a bad relay or, another bad electrical part. When it throws a fit, and won't retract that awning, and we're all packed up and ready to head out of camp, AND FOLKS ARE WAITING ON US, If I have a portable 12V source, such as battery or, my motorcycle near by, I can run some jumper wires to the motor wires in the awning and, ZAP, that awning will self-kink those elbows, JUST LIKE IT SHOULD WITHOUT all the jury-rigging, and come right in.

So, I'm pretty sure mine has no rust anywhere as, I've had that entire awning and motor out on the workbench. And, I've clamped that awning down to the workbench and, using a motorcycle battery, I jumped the two wires on the motor. ZAP, that awning extends, straight up in the air, to the full extension. Then, I reverse the wires and ZAP, that awning zooms right back down to the fully retracted position. I can do that as many times as I want, 1, 10, 100, it doesn't matter.

But, on the coach, as stated, if it's extended ONE TIME, all the way out, it's DONE. And I have to jump through hoops, in order to get it to retract. Someday, I'll dig into that board and replace what's needed. Thanks again for the very nice write up. Man I dig it when we can stick it to the HIGH PRICED replacement parts divisions.
Scott

[chunker]

Scott when I extend the door awning the arms do not go straight but stay with a slight bend. I haven't researched yet but there may be a limit switch that needs adjusting so the awning doesn't extend so far. I'm finishing up the install and getting the motor back on turned out to be a PIA. Not much working room for the rear screw.

[RedT]

Where the arms attach to the outer awning frame, loosen the attaching bolts, move the arms to the point they are slightly bent and tighten. You may have to tweak the adjustment several times in order to get the awning to travel straight.

Also drill a drain hole in the plastic cover below the motor.

[chunker]

Newer ones have a limit switch, mine appears to be limited by the fabric itself.. No limit switches on mine.

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by RedT

Where the arms attach to the outer awning frame, loosen the attaching bolts, move the arms to the point they are slightly bent and tighten. You may have to tweak the adjustment several times in order to get the awning to travel straight.

Also drill a drain hole in the plastic cover below the motor.

RedT,
I'll take another look at the main structure for my door awning and see if there's any adjustments possible. If I recall, there isn't on mine but, I'll check again. Thanks for the suggestion.
Scott

[RedT]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

RedT,
I'll take another look at the main structure for my door awning and see if there's any adjustments possible. If I recall, there isn't on mine but, I'll check again. Thanks for the suggestion.
Scott

Check where the arms attach to the outer frame of the awning. When the attach bolts are loosened, the outer frame will slide forward and aft. By adjusting the arms, you can determine the travel, and alignment of the awning.

[jrclark]

The Dometic Oasis door awnings are manufactured by Fiamma, Inc. It is an Italian company that has a USA location in Florida. You can Google Fiamma and it will show the web site. Sadly, there was a mass shooting at their Florida location that killed a number of employees. They are temporarily closed as you will see on their web site.

[AFChap]

Mine is a Carefree but can jam in the over-extended position just as described. I just pull out DW's walking stick or anything else with a little length and tap the elbow inward when I hit the retract switch. That gets it started and all is good ...not a big deal. My original Carefree patio awning had a similar problem overcoming the "lock" position on the arms and would often need a little manual boost to get started. We replaced the arms several years ago after some wind damage and no longer have that problem.

[id04265]

Originally Posted by chunker

On another thread I mentioned looking into a malfunctioning door awning. I'm waiting on some silicone to dry so thought I'd write up my repair. Coach is as shown on signature line, and has Dometic side and door awnings. Door awning is Oasis Elite and is controlled by a awning selector switch, side or door, switch and an IN-OUT rocker switch. Switches are located by entry door.

Just before the summer trip the door awning quit working, stuck on the stowed position fortunately. I looked into it while on the trip but that might involve removal of the awning and didn't want to fool with it or have the issue of having to tie the awning closed. Back home I got into it. Side awning works fine, door not. Unfortunately with the awning retracted you can't access the motor plug to test the motor and the switches by the door are a real pain to access. "thervgeeks.com" has done an excellent write up and video of how to remove the motor. Water intrusion into the motor seems to be the frequent culprit. Following the written and video instructions I did get the motor off and fortunately the awning when it extended, didn't hit me and ruin my day. WATCH THE VIDEO!!!

After motor removal I did discover that the motorhome supplied electrical pigtail has different plug type so wouldn't connect to the motor to retract the awning as described in the Dometic owner's information. Replacement motor from Dometic is $950. Yes you read that right, $950 even on Amazon. I put power to motor on the work bench and nothing. Figured I had nothing to lose so I took the motor apart, easy to do. Upon disassembly I found rust corrosion on the bottom bearing, one away from the output shaft and the motor rotor. Using my bench grinder wire then cleaned up the motor shaft, and rotor and using a dremil tool wire brush cleaned up the bottom case, magnets, and sleeve bearing. Top bearing, brushes, stator etc, were all good no corrosion. Put ample grease in the bottom bearing and reassembled it.

VOILA it works. I put a bead of silicone along the seams to hopefully keep out future water and after the silicone dries, will put it all back together.

It's a simple job with no real special tools needed and by following the advice from thervgeeks, made the job easy and affordable.

NOTE; awnings are actually made by Fiamma with either a Dometic or A&E name. Motor direct from Fiamma is almost 1/4 of Domestic price but fortunately I didn't need one. Hope this helps someone.

I love the fact you solved it without buying new! kudos

[chunker]

Originally Posted by id04265

I love the fact you solved it without buying new! kudos

Thanks that door awning is still working fine to this date. Used it just a few days ago.