Rain conditions with Girard 2000 awnings?

[Gonna_Wander]

I've read a number of posts about leaving the Girard 2000 awnings out in the rain, the prevailing view seems to be to bring the awnings in when it rains. Today it started to rain and I left our awnings out for about an hour. The rain was light to medium throughout the hour and there was no wind. The water continuously drained off the awnings and there was never any pooling.

I recognize the safest thing to do is always bring them in when it rains, that is what I have been doing. However, it was very nice having a dry area today and I wonder if I am being unnecessarily cautious with lightish rain.

Are there owners with the Girard 2000 awnings that leave them out for extended periods of time in light and medium rains?

[Quincy]

I am only responding because no one else did but after RVing for 35 years I would not hesitate to leave the awning out with no wind even though I have never owned one and am sure there are others that would.

[Buly]

I left mine extended in the rain, and was horrified to see a huge belly hanging full of water. Was afraid any moment the awning will collapse. Pushed from underneath with the long brush and dumped some of the water. But from now on I will be watching closely for rain, so I don’t leave them extended.

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by Buly

I left mine extended in the rain, and was horrified to see a huge belly hanging full of water. Was afraid any moment the awning will collapse. Pushed from underneath with the long brush and dumped some of the water. But from now on I will be watching closely for rain, so I don’t leave them extended.

Ditto ... you only need to see it once. I can only imagine the weight of the water that was leveraged 8 ft. out from the roof. NEVER doin' that again !!


Conversely, we had a conventional Carefree on our older Endeavor and never saw a problem (as long as it was pitched correctly).

[Steve Ownby]

Originally Posted by Buly

I left mine extended in the rain, and was horrified to see a huge belly hanging full of water. Was afraid any moment the awning will collapse. Pushed from underneath with the long brush and dumped some of the water. But from now on I will be watching closely for rain, so I don’t leave them extended.

X2

It only takes once. Rain can become a downpour quickly.

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by Steve Ownby

X2

It only takes once. Rain can become a downpour quickly.

... and no matter how fast you react, it's a painful experience watching the slooooow retract .... and hoping the "elbows" don't punch thru the fabric ...

[Blondiega1]

We've left ours out in a light rain. Sometimes it's nice to sit outside under the awning in a light rain. We bring them in if it's a moderate to heavy rain or windy.

[Indyspecrace]

I recently broke one of the three arms because of pooling. Installed the replacement last weekend. Lesson learned

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by Blondiega1

We've left ours out in a light rain. Sometimes it's nice to sit outside under the awning in a light rain. We bring them in if it's a moderate to heavy rain or windy.

We routinely sat under the conventional Carefree in a light rain .... we really miss it.

[peggwn]

Perhaps we are not as informed as the other posters here. I assume the Girrard is powered. I also surmise that the arms extend and contract in unison thus maintaining the extended end (where the roller is) level to the ground. This is why the water pools. We have a mechanical awning and have been thinking about the convenience of a motorized awning. We are now reconsidering that. With a mechanical awning, we slightly lower one side so the water will run off and thus minimizing the chances of accumulation. Is there such a thing as a motorized awning that allows lowering one side or the other to prevent accumulation?

[bruceisla]

Originally Posted by peggwn

Perhaps we are not as informed as the other posters here. I assume the Girrard is powered. I also surmise that the arms extend and contract in unison thus maintaining the extended end (where the roller is) level to the ground. This is why the water pools. We have a mechanical awning and have been thinking about the convenience of a motorized awning. We are now reconsidering that. With a mechanical awning, we slightly lower one side so the water will run off and thus minimizing the chances of accumulation. Is there such a thing as a motorized awning that allows lowering one side or the other to prevent accumulation?

Doesn't have anything to do with whether it is electrical.

The Girard style is horizontal arms .... they extend in the same plane as the ground or roof line. They have no support in a vertical plane. Although slightly adjustable, it's fixed and very limited.


https://www.girardrv.com/products/g-...nt=14309327750

[jdb20]

I agree with bruceisla, these awnings aren't really made for rain or wind just calm sunny days, for the price they should engineer a way for these things to be usable in rain -its an awning!!
Good news is the sensors will usually retract it before you get in bad trouble with wind, wouldn't totally depend on it but so far it has always detracted for me on those unexpected storms...

[Golferdave78]

I’ve left my Gerard awnings out several times during light to moderate rain.
I also have them slightly tilted from the front to the back, both awnings
Every time the water that accumulates simply drains off the back
No problem

[Stuart W]

Originally Posted by bruceisla

We routinely sat under the conventional Carefree in a light rain .... we really miss it.

The advantages of the conventional Carefree is you can adjust the side to side slope, Girard is a different animal