Rv awning not retracting

[ethan1]

So this is a first.. I went to extend the awning and it rolled out really hard.

Now whenever I press the retract button it will not retract. I can hear the motor spinning but it's not doing anything.

I removed the covers to the motor. Motor appears to be working fine. I can see the gears spinning when I press the retract button. Whatever rod connects to the awning isn't engaging to retract the awning.

Im at a local park in Texas and have no clue how to retract this. Trying to remove the other cover on the opposite side to see if there's something to fix.

Does anyone know what could have happened?

[bucks2]

We don't know what brand of awning you have, but if the motor won't pull it in then you'll probably have to get a ladder or maybe two and roll it back in by hand. If you have a Careless of Colorado awning with a metal cover on it, that will hold it in. If you have some other style you'll have to devise a way to keep it rolled until you can get it fixed.

[ethan1]

Yeah, it's a careless of Colorado.

Awning has so much slack in it and it's getting hit with some strong wind right now..

[Bob_C]

Spring in other end....the shaft in the motor may be just spinning in the extrusion that couples the motor to the roller....

[dcardo021]

Your problem will be in the opposite end of your motor. A little nut or bolt comes loose. Had this happen on my T.T. about 3 years ago. Get it tightened up and you should be good to go!

[ethan1]

I was able to fix it this morning. Took no time to fix. Watched a video on YouTube for the similar style awning.

I was able to remove both caps at the end which were held together by two screws. The center of the cap has a groove that helps rotate the awning. On motor side the hole was worn out completely. So it kept spinning and not gripping to rotate. I was able to swap the caps and now it works perfectly fine. I still notice the awning retracts slower than extending. But it gets the job done.

I also used rope to support each end in order to remove the awning completely by myself.

Glad this wasn't a worse repair bc every where I called wanted to charge a heavy price to fix it. Such as replacing bigger parts when it was a simple fix.

I am about due for a new awning cover bc it is delaminating. Most of this awning came apart while driving so hopefully I can find a new one before it completely falls off.

[Bob_C]

Good deal....Some replacement materials come with a roller end cap that makes it a one made job also....guides the material....just use a lot of silicone spray in the slot.......as a handle for the material, I used 2 Camco deflappers.....

[tuffr2]

That is smart thinking. Good job with your analysis and subsequent fix. Agree, RV labor rates are crazy high. I have seen $110/hr. which seems high for semi unskilled labor.