Electric Awning

[jomarmilway-08]

My husband and I picked up our new Bighorn, 3670 a few days ago. It came with an electric awning, my question is... what happens when you get a lot of rain. With our old 5th wheel, we could lower one side of the awning to allow rain to runoff, doesn't seem possible with the electric awning.

 

[SmokeyBare]

Push a button & send it rolling back up...

 

[bill40]

Hello,

We have the electric awing on our BC 3500RL. We are in OCM (Ocean City Maryland) right now and it has rained every day and hard . There has not been a problem the water it runs off each front corner. It does not build up on the top. We do take it in when we leave only in case the wind would build up. We were told not to tie it down, don't know if that is correct, just got in the habit.

 

[rjr6150]

Depending on your model year it should have a tilt adjustment on the arm toward the front of the 5th. If not contact your dealer for the upgrade. Dometic supplies it free and the dealer has the option of charging an install charge.

 

[jayc]

We have an '09 Bighorn 3370RL with the electric awning. WE have had our's out several times in the rain and have not had a problem with water buildup. The angle of the awning makes it unlikely to accumulate water IMHO.

 

[Chuck Richard]

I was told when we bought ours last year that the awning could move and if needed one side will dip down to drain. I believe the guy at the dealer showed us this by pulling down on one end. Have never tested it yet in heavy rain but no problems with the rain we have been through.

 

[kakampers]

My understanding is that electric awnings, which have pistons on both ends, will "kneel" when water collects and dump it off either side. Someone who has one will probably chime in soon...hope that helps.

 

[JohnDar]

I was wondering the same thing last time up, so I went out and tugged on one side of the awning material. The support arm flexed like an elbow joint.

 

[chasdvorak]

I have some experience in this situation with a SOB 5'ver that I traded in for my Big Horn. The dealer told me the same thing.....the weight of the water would cause the awning piston to retract and the water would run off the sides. That was NOT the case during a heavy rain. The water collected in the middle of the awning and I was not able to retract the awning due to the increased weight. I was fortunate to be present for this test run so I was able to manually move one side to get the water flowing. I'm convinced if I was not there I would have experienced some damage to the awning or RV. It may have dumped the water on its own if I waited, but I did not want to chance it. Add a little wind to the scenario and I think you're in for a problem.

I contacted Dometic/AE and they sent a kit to the dealer for installation. While the kit was free, the dealer socked me with $109 for installation, The installation required the simple removal of 2 pivot pins to relaceme the original arm with an adjustable arm.

Fortunately the BH 3580 that I bought was manufactured in October 2009 and the awning had adjustable arms on both sides. I would suggest installing at least one arm to prevent any potential damage. The install is very simple, but I don't know if Dometic/Heartland will supply it w/o having installation by a dealer.

 

[Bobby A]

Don't mean to change or take over your post, but I was wondering, I have noticed when I bring my electric awning it, it seems to go slower and sounds like the motor is laboring a bit. Does anyone experiance this issue. Thanks

 

[mountainlovers76]

Don't mean to change or take over your post, but I was wondering, I have noticed when I bring my electric awning it, it seems to go slower and sounds like the motor is laboring a bit. Does anyone experiance this issue. Thanks

Yes, mine has been doing that the last few times I have used it. Getting slower and slower and the motor does sound like it is in a strain.

 

[grizzlygiant]

I share the experience of Chasdevorak...while at the Goshen rally mine collected a BIG POOL OF WATER and would not retract until I drained the awning by lifting the center with a broom.

And yes, retracting is slow to the point of wondering if it will make it all the way. I wonder how many failures have occurred so far???

 

[dbylinski]

I contacted Dometic and there are 2 types of power awnings put on the coaches. The 9100 has the adjustable and lockable awning positions. This is the awning that can be retrofitted with the locking device. The Power Pro is the one that is "self dumping" and cannot be retrofitted with the locking mechanism. We did collect some water before learning one important rule. "When deploying the awning - never deploy it all the way" If you do you will notice that the awning rail tube is above the awning material. This creates a dam the entire length and allows rain water to collect. If you retract the awning just a bit so that the awning material is rolled slightly over the rail. The water will run off the entire length of the awning and none will be collected. It works! Now, if we could just control the slapping up and down in a slight breeze?????

 

[itsbeertime]

I was lucky enough I guess to get the kind where you can dip one side. It has a piston and a locking wheel on each end just like on some old manual awnings where you can dip one side and lock it in that position. My dealer pointed this out to me and I'm glad he did because that was something I had never considered having never had an electric awning before.

When deploying the awning - never deploy it all the way" If you do you will notice that the awning rail tube is above the awning material. This creates a dam the entire length and allows rain water to collect. If you retract the awning just a bit so that the awning material is rolled slightly over the rail. The water will run off the entire length of the awning and none will be collected. It works!

That's great advice. Thanks!!

 

[Duramax1]

I thought that I had a 9100 awning and through a dealer had a retrofit kit delivered to me which I installed.... unsuccessfully!

Basically what happens is the piston causes the arm assembly to raise up when I bring the awning in which means that it will not close to the side of the trailer.

Is this because I have a Power Pro ( Do you mean WeatherPro?) awning and not a 9100? I am confused as the Weather Pro apparently closes automatically if the wind is too strong and mine does not have that feature.

 

[dbylinski]

You are right. The correct name is WeatherPro. Here is Dometics response.


This retrofit that you are referring to actually only goes onto our 9100 power awnings. These awning don't have the rain-dumping feature on them, so couldn't previously dump rain at all. However, if you have an automatic rain-dumping feature then this retrofit kit will not fit on your awning. It sounds like you have a WeatherPro power awning, which will dump rain automatically via the gas strut on the left hand side of the awning. Have a good day.

If we can be of any future service do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for choosing Dometic product lines.

Customer Support Center
Dometic LLC

 

[Duramax1]

Thankyou for your response. This has been very helpful.

 

[Duramax1]

I find that I am now also experiencing a real slowdown when retracting the awning. Does anyone know the reason why or what the fix is? I hold my breath that it will make it in each time that I retract the awning.

 

[jmgratz]

I have lubricated each end on mine and that has helped.

 

[tweber]

Jim, what did you use to lube awning and where did you put the lube?