The Awning is out - OMG - I am still driving down the Road

[CJ7ole]

And don't think it only happens while driving. I was in a campground, gone for the evening with the (manual) awning rolled up, but without the butterfly clips engaged. A strong straight line wind came through the park (according to a neighbor) and unfurled it, breaking the arms. Did I mention it was our first test outing at a local campground? Insurance covered it. Now whenever it is rolled up, the butterfly clips are engaged, and when driving I wrap a bungee around the two arms in the front of the RV.

[bldrbob]

After my awning started to unfurl on a bridge I started taking the rod to pull the awning open(mechanical awning)and put the bent end into the fabric slide opening and fasten the loop to the upright.That prevents the roller from turning.

[ginaandharol]

It happened to me on our Newmar Ventana while going over Tehachapi Pass out of Bakersfield, known windy area. I now go up on the roof and tie a rope cord around the metal awning cover, right on the end, that way I can use my awning hook to undo it when I want to unroll it. It is the same idea as 4x4van's, but a little cruder. I have used those arm straps and had my awning unfurl when trying to out run a tornado on I-10 out of Amarillo, TX. The rope has worked well. I see that the new awnings have an end cap on them, I guess that is to prevent the awning from doing this.

[BigHomey]

I have a Carefree Travel'r Adjustable Pitch power awning. This statement is on Carefree's site - "The Travel'r also uses a wormgear motor, like the Eclipse, for effortless operation and the peace-of-mind that the awning won't billow." After reading the horror stories, I decided to put a travel lock on mine. Here is what I used.

I bought a gate latch from Lowe's:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/National-Ha...Latch/50414140

Mounted it to the side of the motor cover with three 1.5" SS carriage bolts and lock nuts with 1" spacers between the base of the latch and the housing. Drilled a hole in the awning roller and was all set. I installed mine on the front awning arm. This allows me to lock/unlock the latch while standing in the doorway and don't have to use a ladder or awning pole to do it. I secure that latch handle with a tractor PTO lock pin (already had one) similar to this:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...c?cm_vc=IOPDP1

Total cost less than $8.00.

When I had the cover off of motor head, I was pleased to see that the motor that is used is the same motor used on the Lippert awning on our previous TT. It had gone bad and I ordered a new one with the Mfg. Part no. - $175. Later I found out that a vehicle power window motor is used for the awning motor. I found this one ($33) and ordered it for a spare. It is now a spare for the MH.
https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-742-14.../dp/B001KQ43SS

Some pictures.
Latch from side:


Latch showing spacers:


Latched with lock pin:


Awning motor replacement:


AL

[DryCreek]

Now, this issue is predominantly one that occurs on the power awnings, right? Those of us with the mechanical (manual) ones are good with the little toggle latch on the top?

[4x4van]

Originally Posted by DryCreek

Now, this issue is predominantly one that occurs on the power awnings, right? Those of us with the mechanical (manual) ones are good with the little toggle latch on the top?

No. Manual awnings can and do have this problem.

[Papa_Jim]

We experienced this awning unfurl event several years ago. I bought Camco 42556 awning clamps, about $30.00 each. Simply use your awning rod to unlatch and latch them from the ground. I bought white ones. They looked and worked great!

[LarryH1481]

I'm with PapaJim!

[ernest917]

My issue was the wind caught the awning cloth, jerked it out which caused the roller to spin. Once all the awning material unrolled, it filled with wind and forced the arms open....

Would have made ZERO difference if I'd had the arms locked down.... When the roller spun free, it all "hit the fan"

Only 100% way to avoid it happening is to lock the ROLLER.... When it can't move the awning won't unfurl....

[DryCreek]

Originally Posted by 4x4van

No. Manual awnings can and do have this problem.

Well, thanks. I guess that I will have to look into a positive way to lock the roller when high winds are expected. My wife's goal is for us to eventually (next year) make our way to Wyoming and Montana - two states she has always wanted to visit. From what I remember on my trek from Orlando to Idaho Falls as a young sailor (1981), it can get pretty windy.

[Sober Rider]

Picture this: Memorial Day traffic southbound on I 75 from the northern Michigan vacation areas and strong cross winds out of the west. 37 foot National Tradewinds diesel pusher at 70MPH and the cross winds are at 30-40 MPH. Yup you guessed it. The A&E awning started to unfurl. My wife (125 lbs soaking wet) and I are on the side of the freeway attempting to open the awning to reset it in the winds. She is holding onto the arm when a strong gust lifts her off the ground as the awning is acting as a sail. The Good Lord looked down on us with mercy and we got it rolled back up after a couple of scary moments. I got off the freeway, and did the arm tie down with some rope.
I will be purchasing a lock for mine today and installing prior to next weekend for my next weekend trip. I like the roller lock that bolts to the arm as I hate putting holes in my roof or sides. This is always an avoidance for me.

[ernest917]

I love the lock I installed on mine..... Totally locks the ROLLER which is actually more important than locking the arms....

[balvert]

A poor design in my opinion. I have a Carefree Traveller electric awning with a Unigard metal cover. This awning rolls up by winding the fabric up by a motor turning the roller tube and deploys by gas pressure in two pnuemantic shocks built into the arms, forcing the roller tube away from the coach wall. Last spring in preparation for heading back north, I rolled up the awning against the side of the coach. A couple of minutes later, the awning suddenly snapped to its fully deployed position in about a half second due to the pnuematic shocks. Scared the heck out of me. The roller end cap is made of cast aluminum. Soft. The motor shaft is hardened steel and has a flat side that mates to a flat in the hole in the end cap. Through use, the hole in the end cap became round. When that happened, there was nothing to stop the awning end cap from spinning on the motor shaft and out she went. This could easily have happened on the road and it would have been disasterous. In fact a friend at the same park has the same awning and his self deployed while crossing a bridge on the way home the next week. Needless to say, it was not pretty. Since we were not leaving for a couple of days a had a new motor assembly over nighted (over 200 dollars) and installed it the next day. Of course you cannot order just a new roller tube end cap; you have to order the entire motor/end cap assembly. I have an Awning Lock on order to prevent this from happening again. As aside the new motor shaft/end cap now has two flats. I guess they saw a problem in the original design. Regardless, I am not taking any chances.

[ernest917]

Balvert.....

Now I'm gonna tell you something that will totally tic you off...

The end caps on the roller are interchangeable - you could have switched the two and saved the $200.00....

Aren't you pleased at the way Carefree mentioned that little fact to you when you called to order the totally new motor because the cap is part of it, which is total BS.... They could sell that cap if they wanted to...

How do I know all this ??? Had the same thing happen to me and ended up ordering the "new motor assembly" myself... (I now carry a perfectly good motor with me as I travel)