Community Forums

fansill · 04-20-2011, 02:20 PM

Hello All,

I have been playing with the Revolution while she is still in the dooryard (driveway) and I have some questions about the awnings...

1. We have the Carefree Electric Awnings and was wondering on the off chance that the awning gets stuck in the out position, is there any way to retract it manually in order to get to a repair shop?? It is working fine now, but I want to be prepared just in case.

2. Is there any locking mechanism on the individual window awnings? Our previous RV had a manual patio awning and before we used the tool to hook the awning strap to pull it out, we had to "unlock" the awning. When it was fully entended, it locked itself out. When we were ready to put it away, we had to release the lock again to roll it up. It then locked itself when it was fully closed. I know that the lock helped keep it from unraveling on the highway. Do the window awnings have similar locks?

3. I don't have a wind-sensor on the patio awning and was wondering how strong are the arms on the awning? Again, on my old manual awning, even if it was just a tad breezy, I would use awning straps and awning flappers to hold it more securely. Is there anything similar for an electric patio awning and crank out door awning or do I just make sure to retract them at the slightest hint of wind?

Thanks for any and all insight into the care and feeding of my new awnings...

Faith

johnsonjm209 · 04-20-2011, 03:03 PM

I went to an awning seminar one time, when I stayed 3 months at a time in Florida. The instructor's advice was simple, "If you have an electric awning, close it every time you go out and it will be fine."

I use that philosophy now that I don't stay long in a compground, but if I do, then I tie down the awning with straps and put on the (de)flappers. If the wind is predicted to be over 30mph, everything comes off and I retract.

Tha_Rooster · 04-20-2011, 05:32 PM

Dido I never leave my awning out when not there especially at night on the coast.

Gary RVRoamer · 04-21-2011, 06:47 AM

If you have the Carefree electric with no wind sensor, it is probably the cantilever style that has scissor arms on the side. Probably looks something like this photo
Carefree Travel'r Patio Awning

If so, you cannot use straps or deflappers, so just push the button and retract it if the weather is in doubt or you go away. But it is quite rugged and the arms are spring loaded, so they can move around some in the breeze. The tilt is adjustable, but nothing else. There is no lock when it is extended - the motor holds it in any position. It auto locks when it retracts all the way.

If it gets stuck, there is a procedure for directly connecting a battery to the motor terminals - that is supposed to work most of the time. Of course, it it got stuck because the motor failed...

You need the awning manual. Check the Carefree site for yours:
Carefree of Colorado Product Technical Documentation

GaryKD · 04-21-2011, 03:47 PM

Hi fansill,
I do not know CareFree awnings. However, some brands have a screw on the top of the front arm (the end with the awning motor). If one loosens the screw, one can roll the awning closed and re-tightened the screw. Consider checking the awning arm for this screw.

AFChap · 04-22-2011, 08:50 PM

My original Carefree OneTouch did have elbow type arms that I sometimes tied de-flappers to. It also had a hole in the motor head on the front arm that you could insert a long straight allen wrench into (came with the coach) and use an electric drill to manually retract the awning ...and it had the contacts to use a jumper and external 12v battery/power source.

My new Carefree Eclipse (replaced my damaged arms using the original roller tube & fabric) has the scissor type arms and I have some de-flappers I need to get rid of now! It is far less reactive to wind ...it gives more and I believe it would will take more wind before being damaged than the OneTouch would. It also has the contacts for an external battery, but I don't know if it has the manual option.

The spring-loaded Carefree window awnings do NOT have any locks. I devised a way to secure mine with light hanger inserts and wire ties after strong side winds while driving caused them to "float" about 18 inches out on a couple of occasions ...getting a ladder out on the side of the road in strong winds ain't fun! About a year ago I figured out how to take an arm loose and rotate it a couple of turns to tighten the springs. That made a huge difference. Just this week the smaller one with the longer arms did "float" a bit in some 60mph crosswinds. We got off the road soon after ...not fun (or safe) to drive in winds like that either!!!

Roadking · 04-29-2011, 06:10 PM

As was suggested earlier... the safest thing to do is never leave an unattended awning extended. From experience, the wind will cause severe damage much faster than the wind sensors and electric motor can react.

My unattended One-touch was turned into a pretzel. I was able to locate parts from others (AFCHAP) and repair it but it would have been soooooo easy to retract it before the damage occurred.

As AFCHAP mentioned, their are no locks on the Colorado Carefree window awnings. I had one billow out and after putting two more turns on the springs, (each side) they have never billowed again.