electric awning out of wack

[J&B]

We have an '09 3055RL BH 5th. The electric awning was great, at first; however, we now have trouble with it going in properly. It is out of wack. We contacted Heartland, twice, and were told to leave a message, we did, no response. We contacted Dometic and were never able to get a user manual. We contacted our dealer and found that Dometic doesn't have a user manual for that particular electric awning. Seems that they built the electric awning for a number of RV companies. Does anyone have any ideas/or had similar problems with their electric awning? We're concerned about traveling with the awning not in place. We looked and can't use a bungie until we can get someone to look at it. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[gdog]

I too have an 09 3055 with the electric awning. The only issue I have had at this time is that it will not go out or in unless I push the switch in the opposite direction a few times and then it seems to throw a switch or contact to allow it to travel in the direction I want it to go. However, when it does go it does extend the way it is suppose to. I also received nothing in regards to a manual for the operation of the awning. It would sure be appreciated if a manual would have been included.
gdog

 

[J&B]

gdog, We haven't had trouble with the switch or extension, it is the retracting. The awning arm doesn't go into the brace attached to the trailer. According to our dealer, who called Dometic for us, there is no user manual for our model awning. Basically, we're on our own.

 

[cjbearden]

We did not receive a manual for our Augusta's electric awning either. Couple of days ago, after some steady rains, started to extend the awning and arm beside the entry door didn't want to extend without a little 'hands on' assistance. Sprayed arms with WD-40, no more problems.

 

[Fulltime Lady]

We wish there was a wind sensor on our awning like a lot of the Class A's have that would retract the awning automatically when the winds pick up. We have seen many awnings ripped apart because someone has left theirs out at night and a storm picked up. Or a retrofit item so that we could now install one ourselves.

 

[Larryheadhunter]

After this long trip this summer, I was thinking the exact same thing, a wind or rain sensor would be awesome, but I remembered every time we left the campground, or at night we would retract it just in case.

 

[Tom of Ypsi]

We have the wind sensor on our Classic and it does not work worth a d**n. This has been worked on a whole bunch of times but different people and I am told that they do not really work or are very problematic and this is one reason Heartland has dropped the wind sensor. My awning had a mind of its own, started to rain it would roll up. no wind, up it goes, windy and it just sits there bouncing. Just roll your awning up when you leave for the day or if the weather gets bad.

 

[gdog]

Is the mounting bracket on the trailer mounted straight? Looking at mine I can see that if it was not mounted straight up and down that this would cause some binding.
gdog

 

[mountainlovers76]

gdog, We haven't had trouble with the switch or extension, it is the retracting. The awning arm doesn't go into the brace attached to the trailer. According to our dealer, who called Dometic for us, there is no user manual for our model awning. Basically, we're on our own.

After reading your orginal post I looked at mine and found the exact same condition. I had never noticed it before. The brace mounted on the side of the coach it straight, however when you bring the awning in the extension arms do not fit onto the braces correctly. They are about a half inch off at the top. I can get up on a ladder and push on it as someone else retracts it and it will fit into place properly then, but I have to do this each time. The extension arms have a slight bend toward the top of them instead of being straight. Since I never leave the awning out in any kind of wind, I know it was that way when I took delivery. We also did not have a manual for it in our paperwork either. Looks like a warranty issue and since my dealer went out of business since I bought mine in January, guess I will be calling Heartland.

 

[N9MB]

Try extending the awning all the way and making sure it is centered on the roller, if not the arms will not align when closed. Just give the fabric a tug, easier if someone is holding the roller up, and center it back up.

 

[J&B]

Thanks for all the feedback. We'll check to see if the brace is straight and/or the awning centered on the roller. (The only way we noticed the problem was when the awning was retracted it sounded like it slammed into the brace.) Since we have never noticed this mentioned in the forum before we thought maybe our problem was unique. We also have heard that the automatic awnings don't work well in the wind. Whenever we leave we also pull in our awning--not worth a major problem. Thank you again everyone for the feedback.