Awning will not roll all the way up.

[Robin Stone]

I have a 78 Excella 500 , the roadside awning never was attached when I brought it home. I finally got fabric and got a flex key for it ( a metal one ) .
After I installed everything it rolled up but the roller is stopped against the trailer now and won't roll any further.
I did notice on the curbside that the main awning had five slats but the roadside only has four slats , I don'tknow if this is creating my problem or not.
It seems like if the support arms were moved straight up a couple holes it would roll the rest of the way up but then my strap my be to short.
I don't want to change anything until I get some advice.

This is a zipdee awning , I will try and post pictures

Thanks Robin

[azflycaster]

I installed a street side awning on mine and he clearances are tight between the windows and the stove vent. Yours looks like it should work.

The first thing I would try is to increase the tension on the awning roller. You should carefully disconnect the front arm from the trailer and give the arm an extra wind or two. The arm has tension on it and can do serious damage to your trailer and you if you are not careful.

[Melody Ranch]

Call Zip Dee Folks. They are great and very helpful....and they are not in India.

[JimGolden]

I second what Richard said. Sounds like you need to tighten up the awning spring.

ZipDee's website has full directions. BE CAREFUL!

[dwightdi]

Tightening the spring should be done carefully via what Zip Dee tells you. The spring is strong and can be dangerous. Make sure there is not a frictional problem which is causing the not to roll up.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Robin Stone

I have a 78 Excella 500 , the roadside awning never was attached when I brought it home. I finally got fabric and got a flex key for it ( a metal one ) .
After I installed everything it rolled up but the roller is stopped against the trailer now and won't roll any further.
I did notice on the curbside that the main awning had five slats but the roadside only has four slats , I don'tknow if this is creating my problem or not.
It seems like if the support arms were moved straight up a couple holes it would roll the rest of the way up but then my strap my be to short.
I don't want to change anything until I get some advice.

This is a zipdee awning , I will try and post pictures

Thanks Robin

Call Zip Dee at 800-3382378.

Ask for Linda.

Andy

[ednormandy]

Was there a resolution to this problem? My awning is doing almost the same thing. - Ed Normandy

[Robin Stone]

Hi,

Sorry it took so long to respond , I forgot my password.

First I'd like to thank everyone for responding.

The answer to your question is that I have not found a resolution.
I put the awning back on after I had the trailer , the metal piece that holds it to the body was gone , I acquired a couple pieces to hang it back on , not only will it not roll all the way up but it won't roll all the way flat either due to the metal piece.

I don't know if Airstream made a couple different pieces for this or not but apparently I have the wrong one.

I am going to take mine off and plug the holes and store the awning just in case I ever find one.

If your awning is doing the same and you never had it off it could be the tension or it could be that the spring is broken and you need one of them.

Let me know if I can answer anything else.

Good Luck ,
Robin

[Splitrock]

Looks like you're missing the locking key. # 204 on page 11.

http://www.airstream.com/files/libra...2438c6fdcb.pdf

`

[Skatiero]

It looks like a tension issue to me. You never mentioned loading the return spring. The rule of thumb on loading the spring is the length of awning tube plus 7 turns so if its 20' long you would turn it 27 times to load it. What was missing originally, the rail that it slides into? If so, did you put it back at the same height when you remounted it?
Rob

[Robin Stone]

I didn't load the spring the only piece I added was the metal strip that goes between the rail and awning and holds the awning on to the side of the trailer.

I don't know if the strip is different than the curbside or not , but it will only mount one way.


I can't roll the awning all the way flat because it is holding the slats up like a big c.

Thanks,
Robin

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Skatiero

It looks like a tension issue to me. You never mentioned loading the return spring. The rule of thumb on loading the spring is the length of awning tube plus 7 turns so if its 20' long you would turn it 27 times to load it. What was missing originally, the rail that it slides into? If so, did you put it back at the same height when you remounted it?
Rob

Window awnings do not operate the same as the patio awnings.

His awning rail was not missing, as the only awning rail Airstream has ever installed is for the patio, or curb side.

Andy

[ednormandy]

I mentioned that my awning is doing almost the same thing. I thought mine was not rolling up all the way because fabric would stick out the bottom of the metal surround and it looks prettty bad with blue fabric hanging out of the nice aluminum housing. I played with it all day and came to the conclusion that my fabric has streched during the last 35 years but it has not streched evenly. The center of the awning rolls nice and tight but the two ends roll very loose. When the center hits "home" there is still a couple of inches on the outer ends that do not get wound up. This two inches hangs out of the metal enclosure. I'll make this my wintertime project. First by taking it to a boat cover fabricator and see if they can trim it to roll evenly. If that does not work, I'll buy new fabric from Zip Dee.

It's a 15 foot awning and I tried setting the spring tension at 22, 23, 24, and 25. On the 25 setting the center is so tight that the strap does not stick out at all but the ends still sag.

Yes, I see-saw the strap when rolling up the awning.