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Old 11-21-2013, 11:54 AM   #1
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Bellevue , Washington
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Zip Dee Electric Awning Retrofit

We read in a recent edition of Airstream Life that Zip Dee has a retrofit coversion to an electric awning from the manual that was originally installed. Doe anyone have any experience with this retrofit? Did you go through an Airstream dealer or an independent RV service shop? We got quote from our local RV service shop of $4,300 for parts and installation. Does that sound about right? There is a video on the Zip Dee website that was provided by Colonial Airstream in New Jersery demonstrating the operation of the retrofit electric awining. It look pretty slick.
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Old 11-21-2013, 02:51 PM   #2
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some discussion here:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f442...ng-104842.html
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Old 11-21-2013, 03:15 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jschellent View Post
We read in a recent edition of Airstream Life that Zip Dee has a retrofit coversion to an electric awning from the manual that was originally installed. Doe anyone have any experience with this retrofit? Did you go through an Airstream dealer or an independent RV service shop? We got quote from our local RV service shop of $4,300 for parts and installation. Does that sound about right? There is a video on the Zip Dee website that was provided by Colonial Airstream in New Jersery demonstrating the operation of the retrofit electric awining. It look pretty slick.
I should hope it would be slick for $4300!!

I guess these things are nice to have, but sometimes I feel that simplest is best - and less likely not to work when you want it to! At least that is often my experience!

Can the electric awning be opened and retracted manually if there are problems with it?

Looks like a lot of trailers - even ones costing much less that Airstreams are moving to power awnings though.

Maybe I worry too much about the reliability of electrical/electronic gadgets and should just get with the times!


Brian.
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Old 11-21-2013, 03:33 PM   #4
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The arms on the electric awning are quite bulky looking and to me take away from the appeal of the ZipDee. That being that you almost don't notice it when stowed.
And come on, how hard is it to set up anyway?
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Old 11-21-2013, 06:30 PM   #5
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For that amount of money , I'll do mine by hand , only takes a couple mins and as with most things , less is better and don't break as much
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Old 11-21-2013, 07:16 PM   #6
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Search youtube for zipdee awnings.

Once one finds the factory suggested method for deploying the awning, 4 grand will sound quite expensive.

It takes about 3 minutes and very little effort.

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Old 11-21-2013, 07:24 PM   #7
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I like our manual awning. Takes about a minute to undo the latches and a minute to put it up, or down. But the support arms and mounts of the new power awning look a lot sturdier. I like that a lot.
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Old 03-18-2014, 07:34 AM   #8
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Has anyone tried retro fit automatic awning on a pre 94 year model, meaning non wide body. The factory says there are door clearance issues and do not recommend on older models. I have door clearance issues now on my 87 34 excella depending on awning position. Im going to do some measuring but interested to see if anybody has any info. I'm ok with it's silly and expensive so no need to go there.
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