Electric Awning Straps???

[imchud]

A quick question regarding electric awnings:
On my new Bighorn I have a electric awning and on my old 5er I had a manual style. The thing I liked about the manual style is when it was all lock in place it seemed to be more sturdy then the electric, I also had a center support on the manual. Don't get me wrong I love the fact that you just push a button and it comes out, however when it's out it seems to be much more sinsitive to wind then the manual version. When the wind catches under the awning it will billow up to the point that the whole awning will start to fold up, the side arms start to close. The small cylinders mounted on the side arms will retract and then open back up when the wind dies down a bit. It doesn't seem to take much wind to make this happen. On the manual awning I used side clamps and hold down straps and it was pretty sturdy even in some stronger winds. It got a bit windy this last weekend and I didn't feel like i wanted to move the awning in and out all day so for the 1st time I desided to put the hold down straps on the awning arms so they wouldn't blow closed and it worked pretty good. But i was nervous because this awning seems more delicate then the other one. I didn't want to put to much pressure on the side arms or the small cyclinders holding down the arms, and also the motor is mounted in the main tube and I didn't want to screw that up. Have any of you or do any of you use any type on awning straps on your electric awnings

Tommy

 

[jayc]

Like you did, I added the center support on my Bighorn 3055RL and frequently used the "deflappers". We have had our 3370RL for a few months now and pull the awning in when the wind is too high, or don't put it out in high winds. I agree that the electric awning doesn't seem as sturdy as the manual, but I like being able to just hit a button and take care of the awning.

 

[jmgratz]

Sometimes when the wind is up you can put out the automatic awning only partly and it works okay. With it partly out the awning fabric is tighter and doesn't flap so much in wind. Also if you have the wind sensor on it when the wind comes up it rolls up by itself. (I don't trust that feature that much but it has saved my awning several times)

 

[azbound]

If you have a sun shade attached on the awning bringing in the awning is a lot of work. Does anyone know the factories stand on this?

 

[Triber]

I have to agree that the elrctric awning is very convenient but it definitely seems more fragile than the manual ones. We spend our summers at Shuswap lake and the winds can get gusty here at times. Like jmgratz, we found that bringing the awning part ways in helps in a breeze. Last winter in Yuma, I purchased some sturdy anchor pins and tied our awning down with sash cord. I didn't want to tighten it too much but made the cords snug and it really helped in a breeze. We use a sun shade so it is inconvenient to roll up the awning if there is a slight wind. We only had to undo the cords and roll ours up a couple of times last winter.