2020 awning on battery issue

[goransons]

I'm wondering where to start. I'm not used to all the bells and whistles.

I had the GT out of the garage today to give it a spring wash and get ready to wax it. I wanted to clean the awning as well. I turned on the switch, ran the closed sequence and then open. It would open all the way out but wasn't running the screws up to raise/lengthen the arms. After 2-3 cycles it would open about 2-3 feet then stop.

I decided to try powering up the trailer. I plugged it into shore power and it went perfectly the first time and 3 more times after that.

We have the factory solar. The trailer is garaged year-round, and was plugged in throughout the winter because we occasionally were using it as a guest room for company and a place to just go play cards etc with the kids as a treat. The readout was showing 12.6 volts after trying all those times to open it.

Any thoughts on what might be the issue?

I'd rather not take it to the dealer. The dealer we have out here has been difficult to work with, including a nearly 100% staff turnover, including all managers since we picked it up in August. If I can at least isolate the issue I can try to get this taken care of with one across the state dealer visit.

[BayouBiker]

sometimes the motor positioners get confused and it just stops like you describe. I have gotten mine confused several times. Close it and then turn off the 12V power and disconnect the shore pwer for good measure as you can't always be sure how the converter is hooked up. Cycling power will reboot the firmware. Try again. If that doesn't work the zip dee folks are very helpful, and they can give you some better tricks.

Edit: Yeah, the Kent dealer is a nightmare. We grew up in Seattle and visit from time to time.

[goransons]

I was just worried about a potential battery issue or something. I did cycle the awning control unit off an on. I was under the impression that switch cut the power to the control board but maybe it doesn't entirely. Do you think it was a coincidence that it worked once plugged in?

[BayouBiker]

We keep ours in the carport out back and my wife uses it as her getaway so I am constantly playing with the awning. the firmware is set up to open it fully and close it fully, but when you start setting it part way deployed it is easy to get it confused.

So with all that, I'm going to say that it was not a coincidence I think the program is simple minded and just resets itself all the time and when it resets it assumes the thing is closed. having played with mine a bunch, the combination of errors I have seen are endless.

[AirMiles]

I dry camp or boondock almost continuously and have the same problem you describe with my awning. I believe there is significant voltage drop to the awning motors when operating on battery power. If my batteries are not completely charged, the awning will work as you described. Many times I need to fire up the generator to have enough voltage to operate the awning. I think its a design flaw and not something the dealer can fix. I have an appointment at JC later this summer and will have mine diagnosed. I miss the manual awning on my Flying Cloud.

[BayouBiker]

Sounds like you're having motor torque issues, the higher charging voltage drops the current draw enough to get below the shutoff set points in the firmware. Give Zip Dee a call about how to best reduce the pole motor torques so they deploy at lower voltages.

[GettinAway]

So glad I found this thread. Hopefully I’ll be able to remember it when my awning acts up. We dry camp a lot, and don’t have solar (yet). I imagine I’ll have less than a full charge often when breaking camp. Hopefully just hooking up to the TV will provide enough power to operate the awning. I guess I could break out the generator if needed. I love our GT, but I never had any issues with manual awnings and stabilizers on our 23FC..
Thank you folks for sharing knowledge and experience.

[BayouBiker]

As mentioned, it's an excessive current draw issue. When voltage is lower, in this case the increase in current is enough to cause the controller to stop deploying the arms. the ultimate solution is to reduce friction on the system so it behaves as designed.

[Suza]

Does anyone know if it's possible to downgrade from a power to manual awning?

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by Suza

Does anyone know if it's possible to downgrade from a power to manual awning?

Not really practical but I suppose you could for about $3k perhaps. Not a cheap downgrade. Your less expensive route is to replace the crappy lead acid batteries in your trailer with lithium batteries.

These awnings do not like low voltage. Your lead acid batteries must be fully fully charged and in good health to operate the awning without issue.

Mine has been in service for 3 years and zero problems. I have lithium batteries and they deliver higher voltage (>13v) and no voltage sag under load. Works like a charm and I like the automatic feature.

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker;

As mentioned, it's an excessive current draw issue. When voltage is lower, in this case the increase in current is enough to cause the controller to stop deploying the arms. the ultimate solution is to reduce friction on the system so it behaves as designed.

Yup. Or replace your batteries with lithium which don’t have voltage sag

[goransons]

We had a beautiful weekend in Wallowa County Oregon camping this weekend. We loved our first real trip in the trailer, but did discover while running the furnace that our WFCO converter isn't putting out a voltage that can keep up. The highest output we witnessed was between 12.7-12.9 volts depending on where you looked for the reading. After running the furnace for a half hour (while on 30 amp service) our battery was at 70% and dropping below 12 volts.

Contacted the dealership by email and today was told that I could bring the trailer over (3 hours each way) and leave it as it would take several days to diagnose then a week or longer potentially while they wait on parts. With the civil unrest over that way in major cities I didn't feel comfortable with that, plus we have other plans very soon and need the trailer. After a nearly 30 minute conversation with the service manager trying to understand why at least diagnostics couldn't be completed on the same day I was hung up on. I fortunately have another independent dealership (Airstream of Spokane) roughly the same distance from me. I called them and I have an early morning appointment next week for a quick diagnostic to confirm what we've found and a new converter to be installed (which they stock). It was a great weekend camping, it just took a little planning to hook up my truck and charge things up a bit to keep voltages up. Only question next is did this kill the batteries. Hopefully we'll know next week.

[GettinAway]

Goransons, are you saying you were hooked up to 30 amp shore power, and your batteries were still discharging? That’s a new one for me. Hopefully you get it worked out. Did you have the awning out? Did it work?
Thx
Jeff

[goransons]

yes awning worked fine all trip, and we had it open and closed quite a few times with wind and rain periodically over the trip. Yes on 30 amp the converter fan would be on but the voltage was still reading below 13 volts, sometimes below 12. I've read up a bit and been informed from a few people, evidentially these WFCO units fail often enough that Progressive Dynamics actually makes a retrofit converter to fit in their housing. That says something about the quality of units in my opinion.

[GettinAway]

It sure does. I had to replace the one in our 2011 23FB, I guess I should just go ahead and get this one done also, on the 2020 GT 25FB

[goransons]

Just a quick update. We can’t speak highly enough of Airstream Of Spokane, WA. They set up an appointment and took care of the Demco inspection and replaced the converter with a good one (not wfco). We were in and out in less than 2 hours. Round trip 10 hour day.

[Glamp4M]

My electric awning is partially stuck out and I am dry camping. No generator! Would it be worth a try to hook up to my car and see if it will retract? Anyone try this?