Tying down the electric awning

[One Eyed Cat]

I have an electric awning on my 3600RL. Since I'm fairly new with this unit and the awning..I'm wondering about tying it down and putting one of those sun shades on it..when we're parked at the camp in Florida for a month. Can anyone give me advice on this?

 

[jbeletti]

I have a friend who does this. His sun shade is a fabric screen material that slips into the spline on the awning tube. I think it has straps or grommets on the bottom seam. He ties those down to the ground to keep the shade from blowing around.

My opinion is that electric awnings are not as wind-tolerant as manual awnings. As such, they are not meant to be tied down as they need to be taken back in with winds that are anything but light.

I too may pickup one of those shades for use this year. Enjoy and be careful.

Jim

 

[One Eyed Cat]

Thanks Jim. Maybe we'll wait to see what other people are doing in the park when we arrive.

 

[jmgratz]

I have never tied ours down but there is a switch on the control box to turn off the automatic wind sensor which retracts the awning automatically. It is a silver toggle switch on the left side of ours. IF I was going to tie mind down I would certainly turn off the wind sensor.

 

[One Eyed Cat]

I didn't know there was a wind sensor! Are you sure there is one on the Bighorn? Anyway, good advice!
Thanks

 

[jbeletti]

I "believe" starting with the 2008 Model Year, that we no longer offered automatic feature.

Jim

 

[One Eyed Cat]

Thanks, that will save me going nuts looking for it. I have not seen any switch that would indicate such..or that I don't know what it does.

 

[BobSue]

Sue made us one of those shades to add to the awning.
Went to Home Depot and bought a box of outdoor awning material.
Bought a length of screen spline material.
Sue sewed the spline in to a hem on the awning material.
Now it slides into the groove very easily. A quick tie holds it in place.
Now it shades the door side when the sun is low. Makes a noticeable difference in heat when sitting outside.

 

[J-W&E]

We have an Dometic Electric awning. We put a sunscrean on it and tie it down, but we always put it up when we go away or it gets windy. When we put the awning up, we unhook the sunscreen from the ground and let the sunscreen roll up with the awning, BUT WE NEVER ROLL IT UP TIGHT AGAINST THE TRAILER. We leave it out about 8 inches from the wall. I think it would damage the motor if you rolled it up tight against the wall. When we move the trailer we take the sun shade down and store behind the couch. This has worked great for us for about 2 years now. The awning will hold fine in a good wind when rolled up about 8 inches from the trailer wall.

 

[jmgratz]

Ours is an A&E awning. In the basement there is a black rectangular box. On the left side of the box is a silver toggle switch which turns off the auto feature. Our does have a wind sensor on it. Some of the automatic awning do not have a wind sensor. What the wind sensor is supposed to do is automatically roll up the awning when it starts bouncing around in the wind too much. It doesn't work that great so we do not trust it. Oh yeah, one other thing the awning has is a remote control.

 

[One Eyed Cat]

All great info..but Jim, yours looks really promising. We will certainly try your idea of rolling up the shade with the awning.
Many thanks,
Dwight