Community Forums

jacwjames · 05-31-2016, 07:41 AM

I am continually having a problem with my Colorado One Touch Awning switch not working. I have narrowed it down to the the connector that is mounted on the outside of the RV near the top right hand arm.

The connector is a male/female bayonet twist/lock type 2 wire. I can disconnect and connect and usually this clears up the problem but it is getting progressively worse.

The final straw was this weekend. I had left the awning extended about 2 feet to provide some cover for our lawn chairs. It started to storm ~midnight and the awning started to bellow and would not retract. I had to crawl up on the roof to work the connector to make a good connection and the awning finally retracted only after I got soaking wet.

Has anyone replaced this connector, if so what did you use?

mel s · 05-31-2016, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacwjames

I am continually having a problem with my Colorado One Touch Awning switch not working. I have narrowed it down to the the connector that is mounted on the outside of the RV near the top right hand arm.
The connector is a male/female bayonet twist/lock type 2 wire. I can disconnect and connect and usually this clears up the problem but it is getting progressively worse.
Has anyone replaced this connector, if so what did you use?

jacwjames
A dab of dielectric grease in the connector might cure the problem.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ZQD163E7WCJ8SP
Mel
'96 Safari

jacwjames · 05-31-2016, 01:03 PM

Mel,
I did this last year, it helped for a little while but the problem came back. I'll try it again.

I looked on the Care Free of Colorado website and they do not provide a connector with any of the new awnings but there must be an alternative that the manufacturers are doing.

Only other option would be to take it out completely and hard wire and then just seal up the hole with caulk but I'd like to think there is a better solution.

RCG604 · 06-01-2016, 07:07 AM

Jim, you might try here Allied Electronics I have dealt with them before and they ship fast. Most prices aren't bad. I had to change a solenoid and found they had a good price on it, so I ordered it from them.

I am having issues with my one touch as well. It has been raining so I haven't been able to trouble shoot it yet.

Richard

jacwjames · 06-01-2016, 08:56 AM

Everytime I've had an issue with the One-Touch extend or retract it's been the connector on the side of the coach.

Only other issue I have with it is that it cannot withstand any wind (zero, zip, nada, none). We had the coach less then 5 months on our first longer trip when we had a problem. We were parked at the Perry Ga fair ground. I was in the coach and there was no wind, then a sudden gust came up and the whole awning lifted up and the rear arm slide assembly bent. Had to go buy some heavy C-clamps and a heavy piece of metal and bent the arm back to at point we could retract the awning. Once home I spent another day trying to fine tune it, even had to do a little grinding on it to get it to slide freely.

Since then we are very cautious when using and don't leave it out if we are gone. Last weekend I left it out ~2 feet just to provide cover for lawn chairs. One gust of wind and the whole thing billowed in the middle of the night.

I've checked on installing a wind sensor auto retract but it is a discontinued product and I didn't have any luck finding. I've checked on replacing the arms but done' want to invest the money at this point in time.

We had an A&E awning on our Class C and it was bullet proof, we could leave it out in any weather and not have a problem. I think I'd consider doing this rather then going with electric one. It is a convenience but with the amount of trouble I'm having we seldom use it.

jacwjames · 06-01-2016, 12:25 PM

RCG604
I looked on the website, they have a huge selection but I couldn't find anything that I thought would work. Thanks for the site though, I save it in my favorites.

I did do some searches and found a Marine type connector that my work,
Waterproof Two 2 Pin Wire Terminal Solar Dash Connector Marine 12V Plug Socket | eBay

It is rated for 15 amps so this will carry the load for the awning.

I also sent an email to Care Free of Colorado to ask for a PN to replace my existing one. Don't know what they do with current installations but none of the newer awnings have a connector included.

I'll wait for a couple of days to order something in case someone comes up with a better alternative.

jacwjames · 06-01-2016, 05:15 PM

Got a reply back from Care Free of Colorado, the connector is obsolete. I asked whether they use a connector on newer awnings, they do not, they are hard wired. One option for may be to just hard wire the awning.

RCG604 · 06-02-2016, 05:25 AM

Jim, thanks for the link. It does look like that connector would work. It figures that Carefree would just hard wire it and call the part obsolete. Is there any numbers or company name on your old one. Hopefully I can get a look at mine today. I have run into this before with Carefree with my Omega slide toppers/awnings when the anti billow device stuck and I bent an arm trying to move the slide in. The arms are obsolete and no longer made.

Richard

jacwjames · 06-02-2016, 06:11 AM

Whatever option I use I'll have to make sure I get a good seal on the opening as it is located almost directly below the end of the awning. At home the motorhome is parked on a slope to the rear so there is no significant water drainage across the plug. It the motorhome was parked facing downhill tilted to the passenger side the plug would see significant water running across it.

RCG604 · 06-03-2016, 06:07 AM

Jim, I got a chance to look at my awning yesterday. It wouldn't extend so I got on the ladder and wiggled the connector. Guess what bingo now it works.

I saw some writing on the connector but couldn't read it. I am going to take it off to get some measurements for the hole which I think is about 15/16th's, then maybe we can find a better solution.

Thanks for pointing me in this direction!!

Will let you know what I find.

Richard

jacwjames · 06-03-2016, 06:54 PM

Richard
After searching and not finding many options I took the existing connector out, drilled out the center of both the male and female ends large enough to slide the wire through with butt connectors attached. I used the round type connectors. I used the compression nut that was on the end of the connector and used enough rubber tape to make a very tight grommet, when I tightened the compression nut it compressed the rubber tape, I don't think there will be any way it will leak. Used a sealant to put the female portion of the connector back on the wall and sealant on the end of the connector where the wire went in.

I was surprised that the old connector worked at all, it relied on a fairly small contact surface and the inside connectors were really corroded. By wiggling the connector we make a temporary connection only to have it fail again.

One thing I did different was turn the bayonet connect 180 degrees from how it was mounted, putting the spring clip on the bottom. Leaving it on top left an avenue for water to penetrate, having on the bottom reduce the potential.

I tested it before, during and after I made the change. It looked like the awning was moving much faster and more responsive. My guess is that there was significant voltage loss across the original connector,

Hopefully I'll never have to crawl up on the roof int the middle of the night during a thunder storm again.

RCG604 · 06-05-2016, 07:01 AM

Jim, that seems like a viable fix. When I looked at it as well the connector wasn't the best for this situation. I still want to pull it apart and take measurements to see if I can find a replacement. I am think that perhaps some day I may convert it to the Eclipse awning arms but if or when I would like to have some sort of connector that is usable.

I know that if the voltage drops which seems like the original connector would lend to this happening that the motor won't function correctly.

I am going to keep your fix in mind as I see if I can get a replacement if not sounds like yours will work just fine.

Thanks for your help!

Richard

jacwjames · 06-05-2016, 07:11 AM

Richard,
The way I've modified the plug it can be used in the future as is as I can still unplug it and pull the connectors through the plug to install a new wire.

If you convert to the Eclipse arms I hope you post about it. I took a serious look at this but have held off.

It's a shame that I have a large awning that has the amount of problems that I've had and that it won't withstand the any small winds. We seldom use ours and if we do we are always present at the coach and will never leave it out unattended.

jacwjames · 06-05-2016, 10:52 AM

The round connectors I used can be plugged/unplugged so you don't have to take off the portion of the connector that attaches to the side of the coach and small enough so they can be pulled out through the connector.

On last thing that I did to try and make the connector as waterproof as possible is add an O-ring to the outer male portion of the connector so that when the connector is pushed in and rotated/locked the O-ring compresses. I had an assortment of O-rings and found one the right overall diameter and the O-ring itself is a small diameter so it could be compressed. Took some pressure to push/turn/lock which should provide another layer of protection to prevent water inflow.