Solera Awning stopped

[MP_CS]

So the awning on my Sundance has always been very slow to retract but always did. Saturday I was at home and decided to put out the awning to let it "air out" while i puttered around the hous. Opened cabinet, hit switch and nothing. Climbed up on ladder and pulled wires off motor and had voltage there so i figured motor bad. Pulled motor and took in garage and put on my power supply and motor works, WTH. So i climbed back up ladder and re-installed motor and awning moved out but then Stopped and now wont do anything again. Before i replace the motor does anyone have anything else i could check. I figured it could've been some corrosion at the terminals but they looked fine. Hate to spend $150 bucks on a motor if I'm not sure thats the problem. I just dont see how it doesnt work on rig when ive got adequate power and ground but works on my bench. Thanks

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Try checking the switch...you can jump around the switch and see if that's the problem. Wouldn't be the first switch to be found bad here on the forum

 

[danemayer]

Power at the switch is #1.
A good switch is #2.
A good motor is #3.
A good ground is #4. Don't assume this.

Awning switches are usually bi-directional press and hold. The wires to the back of the switch usually look like the picture below. If you're measuring voltage at the motor, depending on which way the switch is pressed, 12V will change from one wire to the other.

Before taking any wires off the switch, take a picture with your phone so you can get it back together correctly.

 

[MP_CS]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check them out when i get a chance. 👍

 

[RAHanock]

I have found if the batteries are not at a high charge, the awning won't move well or at all. You might try plugging into house current so you have full converter voltage available at the motor.

 

[MP_CS]

I have found if the batteries are not at a high charge, the awning won't move well or at all. You might try plugging into house current so you have full converter voltage available at the motor.

It's plugged into a 30a outlet at my house so i was on shore power. Thanks for the reply though

 

[LBR]

It's plugged into a 30a outlet at my house so i was on shore power. Thanks for the reply though

Did you measure batteries and get ~13.3 volts? Could be the manual 12V breaker has kicked out and batteries are not getting charged even tho your on shore power.

 

[MP_CS]

Did you measure batteries and get ~14.3 volts? Could be the manual 12V breaker has kicked out and batteries are not getting charged even tho your on shore power.

Does the awning pull directly from battery's? I just assumed it pulls from the Converter. All other 12vdc accy work fine.

 

[LBR]

Does the awning pull directly from battery's? I just assumed it pulls from the Converter. All other 12vdc accy work fine.

If the awning motor pulled from your converter, motor couldn't work when you're not plugged into shore power...so yes, it draws from the batteries. Is your converter charging your batteries was my suggestion...

 

[danemayer]

Does the awning pull directly from battery's? I just assumed it pulls from the Converter. All other 12vdc accy work fine.

The converter and batteries are connected, so when everything is working correctly, the awning can be powered from either the battery without shore power, or from shore power without battery.

If the converter is not working, or is unplugged, or if its circuit breaker is tripped or its onboard fuses blown, the awning would be dependent on the battery. But if the converter isn't working, the battery wouldn't be getting recharged and could be low.

 

[MP_CS]

Ahh ok. I'll check all those things. Now when i did check voltage at the motor it was only around 12.5v. Is that low?

 

[danemayer]

Ahh ok. I'll check all those things. Now when i did check voltage at the motor it was only around 12.5v. Is that low?

12.5V is a battery only reading. Slightly low. If you were plugged into shore power, you should have seen 13.2 - 13.6V coming off the converter.

Near your battery, there's a row of 12V DC mini-circuit breakers (see picture below). They're usually covered by a red rubber boot. One of them is a manual reset and has a teeny tiny reset button. Locate that button and push it and things may come back to life.

The appearance and layout of your breakers may not look quite like these pictures, but they should help you find the breakers.

 

[MP_CS]

12.5V is a battery only reading. Slightly low. If you were plugged into shore power, you should have seen 13.2 - 13.6V coming off the converter.

Near your battery, there's a row of 12V DC mini-circuit breakers (see picture below). They're usually covered by a red rubber boot. One of them is a manual reset and has a teeny tiny reset button. Locate that button and push it and things may come back to life.

The appearance and layout of your breakers may not look quite like these pictures, but they should help you find the breakers.

It was plugged in at the time, i know were those breakers are and I'll look at them when i can. Thanks

 

[PondSkum]

I don't have any advise to add to the discussion, but this topic did have me wondering. What if you don't have time to try to diagnose electrical problems, and you need the awning retracted? Is there a manual retraction method to use (like on the slide out motors) to draw the awning in and just do all of the troubleshooting later on in the comfort of your own driveway? I've seen something about running jumpers from a battery to the motor to bypass the switches, but what if the motor is no good?

 

[danemayer]

Your blue bag of manuals has instructions and a tool.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[MP_CS]

Yes, you pop off a cap and theres a 7/16" nut that will SLOWLY retract or extend the awning. Biggest issue i had was on my fiver its high enough it can only be reaced with a step ladder.

 

[justafordguy]

Your blue bag of manuals has instructions and a tool.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Your "blue bag of manuals" must be much better than mine. Mine has nothing useful at all.

 

[MP_CS]

Your "blue bag of manuals" must be much better than mine. Mine has nothing useful at all.

Mine doesnt even have a manual for the awning.

 

[MP_CS]

So i finally got a chance to look further into the problem with my awning. I have taken multiple voltage readings at the motor, switch, even directly from the circuit breaker that feeds the awning switch and while extendibg the awning i have 13.2v but when i try to retract i only have around 12 or so. The switch is grounded directly to the buss bar behing the converter. I took the motor off the awning and put back on bench and found that with no resistance its drawing around 2.5v but with resistance its drawing upwards of 14v and sometimes tripping out completely I understand it will draw more on retract but should it be that much? I found that the motor is nothing more than a power window motor with the manual overide so i crossed it to a dorman part that i ordered on amazon for $30. It wont have a manual overide but I figured for that price I'll try it and see if it works.

 

[Gsxr130]

can you post the amazon link?