Carefree Awning - Problems

[Msmoto]

I am hoping the Carefree on my new LTV will be easily overridden manually, and if not, I may have to have someone engineer this so as to make certain I do not get caught up in having it deployed and not being able to retract it.

Also, I tend to agree, a manual awning as were installed on several Airstreams in my past were essentially trouble free, IMO.

[JCAT]

A few photos of our awning before and after temporary repair.

First Photo - condition of awning upon destination arrival - never deployed except during orientation at the dealer. Several attempts to retract and stow at that time were successful so we thought all worked - not well but as expected.

Second Photo - problem discovered after 3 unsuccessful attempts to stow awning so went up to get a closer look.

Third Photo - clearly see the bent end cap on the awning.

Fourth Photo - gap on the forward end of the awning after getting it stowed.


Likely there was a gap forward when we left the dealer but I didn't recognize the potential problem it represented. With this much gap the locking design is only marginally effective. The gap at the aft end of the awning after repair and stowing is about "zero", despite attempts to push awning housing structure forward.

Expect that the awning may again become ajar at some point during travel so, will be checking frequently until we can return to the dealer for the correct repairs.

So, we used the awning once and will not plan on using it again until it is repaired. Not exactly a carefree awning... like the name would have you believe.
(3 photos rotated during upload apparently - but you get the idea)

[smt29camper]

Our 2016 Fleetwood Bounder had Carefree lat armed awning and it was worked on 3 times before it was replaced. 2 motors and chip replaced. Many reasons to leave the class A, it was one. So when we looked at Super C's one of the big reasons for going with 2018 Jayco Seneca was the horizontal armed awning.

[Renegade RV]

Very interesting thread. We had our awning jam when I retracted it during a rain storm. The jam occurred on the end above the passenger door, bent the you know what out of the end plate and scratched the corner of the coach
right below the end plate. I ordered a new end plate from Carefree and took all of 5 minutes to replace it. Other than that one instance it has worked fine.

[RonLC]

This is a very disappointing thread as we are closing on a new Verona LE next week.

How many times should we operate the awning during our walk through to make sure it is going to work? Are there any obvious signs of a problem we should look for before we drive off?

[Renegade RV]

My recommendation is to extend and retract it several times to make sure it fully extends and then retracts and locks into place.

[JCAT]

Originally Posted by RonLC

This is a very disappointing thread as we are closing on a new Verona LE next week.

How many times should we operate the awning during our walk through to make sure it is going to work? Are there any obvious signs of a problem we should look for before we drive off?

We are scheduled to have our awning repaired at North Trail in about a week. I plan to extend and retract for 10-12 times or until it fails over the course of an hour. If it fails I won't take our coach off the property. We have used it only once, other than the orientation and it failed miserably. Internet research shows there are a quite a number of dissatisfied customers with failed Carefree awnings.



The problem could be only with the APEX model on the LE; I don't know. I do know Renegade offers the 2-stage Mirage model on the Classics.

[rebelsbeach]

Originally Posted by JCAT

We are scheduled to have our awning repaired at North Trail in about a week..

Please keep us posted, either here or on the FB page as we'll be getting to Fort Myers on or pretty close to the 19th and the awning is on my list for North Trail.


Bob

[Msmoto]

On Monday I take delivery of a new LTV Unity with the Carefree awning. I will be doing a break in tour of about 150 - 200 miles for three or four days, during which I will be stopping several times, putting jacks down, starting generator, and running the awning out.

I suspect I will run the awning out about a dozen times during the three days.

My suspicions are that by runnnig the awning out and in several times in a row could severely damage the motors from heat. Like an opener on a garage door, the instructions suggest going up and down only so many times in a continuous manner.

For sure, if I have problems with my Carefree, I will post here. And if it works well, will report that also.

[RonLC]

Originally Posted by JCAT

We are scheduled to have our awning repaired at North Trail in about a week.

Since we are getting our coach from North Trail I am curious about how easy they are to work with.

Can you schedule repairs or adjustments and wait for them to complete the job or do you always have to leave the coach with them for several days? They are a big operation.

[rebelsbeach]

Originally Posted by RonLC

Since we are getting our coach from North Trail I am curious about how easy they are to work with.

Can you schedule repairs or adjustments and wait for them to complete the job or do you always have to leave the coach with them for several days? They are a big operation.

You are definitely encouraged to make a service appointment and I guess depending on what the issue is, this would determine whether you can wait on the coach or not.... Understanding that some issues might require parts to be ordered and so forth.

We're on our third RV purchased from North Trail and they've always treated us fairly.

[JCAT]

Originally Posted by Msmoto

On Monday I take delivery of a new LTV Unity with the Carefree awning. I will be doing a break in tour of about 150 - 200 miles for three or four days, during which I will be stopping several times, putting jacks down, starting generator, and running the awning out.

I suspect I will run the awning out about a dozen times during the three days.
My suspicions are that by runnnig the awning out and in several times in a row could severely damage the motors from heat. Like an opener on a garage door, the instructions suggest going up and down only so many times in a continuous manner.

For sure, if I have problems with my Carefree, I will post here. And if it works well, will report that also.

I agree with your concern for the heat potentially being a problem for the motor of the Carefree awning. I'll pay attention to that and additionally, do my tests before 9:00am, but heat is something to be concerned about during the Florida summer operation.

Your point about the repetitive operation could also be a factor I don't want to introduce. However, I feel confident the awning will not work more than a few times before developing a problem.

During our dealer orientation the awning failed the first attempt to extend, the retry was successful, but then the retract initially failed. But after (4) hours of orientation on a very hot day, I let my optimism take-over and we accepted the coach for pick-up the next day.

On the start of our 51-day "maiden voyage" that we will finish in a couple more days, the awning had autonomously detached from both front and rear housings. I was able to extend after a couple tries which seemed to align the awning, but it would not retract until I performed a repair. Hence, my skeptical nature.

After an email with photos to Carefree regarding the issue - I never got any response.

Had a Girard Nova on our last coach and it worked as designed, so I was expecting the same.

[JCAT]

Originally Posted by rebelsbeach

Please keep us posted, either here or on the FB page as we'll be getting to Fort Myers on or pretty close to the 19th and the awning is on my list for North Trail.


Bob

My appointment at North Trail is for the 22nd. Service requested a description and photos of all issues if I had any at the time I made the appointment a few weeks ago. I sent descriptions and photos.

I'll let you know the outcome, but I expect they will have the coach for a while since I had a number of warranty service items listed - one of them a recliner that might require more time. So, you may be there while our coach is still in Service.

[rebelsbeach]

Would sure be interested in hearing what Woody or anyone else from Renegade says about this issue, if anyone has had recent contact with them...

Seems I recall someone, either here or on FB having a convo scheduled with Renegade....