Power Awning

[occloud]

Hi Everyone,

New to the forum and excited about all the info here on the site. We've had our 2014 Flying Cloud 25 for almost a year and LOVE IT!

Has anyone installed a power awning? i'm seriously considering it and would like thoughts and ideas from the 'forumites'

thanks,

[Shaggy1970]

Called zipdee two weeks ago about the power upgrade kit, 3300 without install. Only sold to dealers to install. No thanks. Will use the manual system.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, huge thick arms, three motors, and a huge complicated electronic control box; Not for me. We seldom use our awning anyway; And it is so easy to set up too.

[occloud]

WOW! shoulda added when i bought it and put it in the deal! i'll check our local dealers and see if they say the same thing.

thanks for the post.

[switz]

From my two weeks at the factory watching our Classic and other models being built this past January (2014):

The hole in the body for the power wires below the two end arms lacks an insulating grommet, so the raw metal edge of the skin has started cutting the tape wrapped wires and shorting out even on the new units. This seems to be the same poor installation technique on a Classic as with all the other models that offer this option. In some cases, the wires are shorting on the dealers lots due to the high use for show and tell...

Just another very expensive item to fail at an inopportune moment. There are three electric motors that all need to work to retract this system. Plus a fully charged battery to power these three motors at the same time....

There is a piece of wood installed in the Airstream trailer wall during production as a support for part of the power awning installation. After the fact may mean removal of the interior wall at that location to retrofit that support.... Probably not a DIY job.

[4RXLA]

Saw the awning in person at the dealer and the arms are too bulky for me plus the 3 motors equal more potential for problems. Wasn't a big fans of the tie rods up above either.

[BigAl]

I have seen white trailers with a Dometic power awning that I thought looked quite nice. I do prefer the look of the Zipdee though.
Al

[occloud]

thanks everyone for your comments. i did see one in operation and don't mind the noise. However, switz, your comments about installation do concern me. my thoughts for considering one was, as i get older (hate do admit it ), the manual operation may get more and more difficult.

[AtomicNo13]

I think this is like motorizing a BIC pen.

These are painfully slow to operate. Can't see myself retracting one as we all do just before a storm hits... simply too slow for the real world user IMO.

[Wingeezer]

I feel about power awnings pretty much as I do about slide outs.

Nice to have as a luxury when they work, but sure can be a headache when they don't and my track record with electrical things giving problems as a trailer ages is not good!

Granted, it is often just a matter of corroded connecters and such, but still a pain to find and fix, and as has been said they usual act up at the most inconvenient times.

On balance I prefer plain and simple for this reason - as well as higher initial cost and cost to have them repaired if I cannot fix them myself.

At the very least, if I wound up contemplating buying an RV having some of these devices, I would like to know that I could operate them manually if (or more likely when) I had to!

As my old dad used to say in the early days of power windows and power seats in cars, "Just something else to go wrong!"

Brian

[RickDavis]

I tend to look at these items from the standpoint of time and effort saved versus cost.

It is not difficult or particularly time consuming to operate a manual awning. So the question is how many minutes a year do you spend deploying your awning? divide that into the cost and it is scarey. Then there is the question of reliability.
I don't see a worthwhile return for power awnings or for that matter power tongue jacks.
At age 73 I have no problems with the manual items

[Antique Pedaler]

Give it another 10 years and perhaps I'll need a little assistance in lifting the awning to the open position. Hopefully the engineering will improve and the cost will decrease.

[AtomicNo13]

I'd like to see if the power awning works in 10 years! You most likely will...

[AtomicNo13]

Tongue jacks; that's a must for sure!

[lewster]

I work on lots if awnings and the great majority are power awnings........BUT NO ZIPDEES unless they are their $6000 plus lateral arm models on high end coaches the ones they are offering for Airstreams are a potential nightmare!

They used to make one that looked similar but was air powered and found on Prevost motor homes and you guessed it......a maintenance fiasco.

Stick with the manual ones.

[AtomicNo13]

Like I posted before, like motorizing a bic pen.... It just works!

[polarlyse]

Nothing is perfect but the tongue jacks have proven themselves to be functional and reliable over many years. We'll see how the awnings do in time. But they are not for me. I'll stick with the manual. It just is not that difficult.

[occloud]

stopped by the dealer today with a few more questions (thanks to all of you) and there is no 'manual operation'. So if it dies you're SOL. that's enough for me, and the price, to not do it. thanks everyone for your comments.