Awning won’t retract

[PamK53]

We had some electrical issues with the site we arrived at today. We thought it was sorted out. Awning extended properly. Now the green light is flashing and the awning won’t retract. Circuit breakers are fine. Instructions state to “run a close cycle”... can’t do that if I closing it is the problem.

[wulfraat]

Not sure what your power issues are but the awning is 12v powered from your batteries.

Are you able to tilt or is it completely unresponsive?

Are you plugged into shore power? What voltage is your sea level monitor showing when you press the “batt” button?

If less than 12.5v you need to charge your batteries - make sure they are connected using the store/use switch and make sure you are on shore power. If you are on shore power and your converter is working you should have 13.2-13.6 volts. You can power the awning if you are on shore power and getting good voltage from the converter.

Finally - if you are getting good voltage next step is to cycle the on/off switch on the awning panel. That will reset the sensors. Then run a close cycle...

[PamK53]

Originally Posted by wulfraat

Not sure what your power issues are but the awning is 12v powered from your batteries.

Are you able to tilt or is it completely unresponsive?

Are you plugged into shore power? What voltage is your sea level monitor showing when you press the “batt” button?

If less than 12.5v you need to charge your batteries - make sure they are connected using the store/use switch and make sure you are on shore power. If you are on shore power and your converter is working you should have 13.2-13.6 volts. You can power the awning if you are on shore power and getting good voltage from the converter.

Finally - if you are getting good voltage next step is to cycle the on/off switch on the awning panel. That will reset the sensors. Then run a close cycle...

Ah! The shore power was an issue when we arrived. Seems to be sorted out, but the park is sending their electrician out tomorrow to check it. We did drain the batteries inadvertently, down to about 9 volts. We realized it when the lights flickered. They are charging up now, at about 10.5.
Thanks!!!

[GMFL]

If your batteries got down to 9 volts they are shot..... even charging them back up will not fix there problem. I’m assuming you has factory Interstate lead acid batteries. If so they are going to need to be replaced.

[PamK53]

Originally Posted by GMFL

If your batteries got down to 9 volts they are shot..... even charging them back up will not fix there problem. I’m assuming you has factory Interstate lead acid batteries. If so they are going to need to be replaced.

I think you could be right. They’re not charging high enough to retract the awning. Where would you purchase new ones? There is a Camping World in striking distance from where we are,

[AirMiles]

I would suggest Walmart. They have a Group Size 24DC with dual posts the same post configuration as your current Interstate batteries. This is important so that you don't need to change the battery cable connections. https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...24DC/180350522 . I installed a set of these for a fellow Airstreamer in an emergency while on the road. But any size 24DC Deep Cycle Marine 12V battery with dual posts would work. You can try Camping World.

[PamK53]

Originally Posted by GMFL

If your batteries got down to 9 volts they are shot..... even charging them back up will not fix there problem. I’m assuming you has factory Interstate lead acid batteries. If so they are going to need to be replaced.

Where would the converter be located? We have an electrician here helping us sort the problem out. We have a GT 27 FB

[AirMiles]

Your converter is under the refrigerator below the 120V circuit breakers and 12V fuses.

[PamK53]

Originally Posted by PamK53

We had some electrical issues with the site we arrived at today. We thought it was sorted out. Awning extended properly. Now the green light is flashing and the awning won’t retract. Circuit breakers are fine. Instructions state to “run a close cycle”... can’t do that if I closing it is the problem.

Arrgghhh!!!. So, we might have a bad converter. No problem, right? Just take it to the nearest dealer they said... except we have get the awning in manually. The directions in the Zip Dee instruction book, and the tools provided, could not be more confusing... any helpful tips? Or point me to a video?

Thanks!

[jeffmc306]

I’ll toss this out there - you need 12+ volts to retract the awning. Do you have access to any jumper cables?

You could pull the tow vehicle in nose-first and connect the TV to the trailer batteries (with the engine off). Give it a few minutes then press the “close” button on the trailer. It’s easier than retracting the awning manually.

GMFL or AirMiles or anyone else have another thought?

[AirMiles]

If you're in Florida, I'll give you one of my two converters that I removed from my 30A Airstreams. I've tried to figure out how to retract the awning manually, since mine tends to work erratically. I could not figure it out and it sounds like it could be a dangerous operation with the spring loading. I even asked the JC Factory Service Manager how to do it manually and didn't get a good answer.

I like the idea of using the truck battery with jumper cables. My awning doesn't like to operate unless I have full battery power. Sometimes while dry camping, I need to fire up the generator to make it operate to get the voltage up. I don't know if you will be able to get the voltage high enough with jumper cables unless you disconnect your fully discharged batteries. But I like the thought to use the truck battery to operate the awning. I think I'd figure out a way to make the truck battery work. I miss my manual awning that worked every time and hope I never have to manually retract it!

[wulfraat]

You are overthinking the solution.

(1) Pull your car up to the front of the trailer
(2) with the car running use jumper cables from your car to trailer battery provide enough 12v power
(3) Retract the awning
(4) Drive on down the road and buy some batteries and a new converter.

[LilPeanut]

Here is a youtube on using the wire to retract the relax awning. It is fairly straightforward to do it this way with a good 12v battery. Good luck. I have done the other way to know I could. It requires calm which may not be in abundance in the heat of a power crisis.

Short video, give it a go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl8-5idoiHI

[Karl Edgar]

If you have slideouts, awnings, etc. that require 12 volts LEARN how to crank them back manually before you leave home! Murphy's Law says so.

On our Fiamma awning, two issues: the safety clutch slips sometimes when retracting, when the tension is too much. Help it along (careful not to get your fingers wound onto the shaft!) A more serious problem -- motor not starting, either direction. The cause: there's a microswitch near the gearbox that stops the motor when the awning is fully retracted. It was stuck in the "off" position, due to dirt or corrosion. Learn how to spot that little device, and give its lever arm a gentle nudge back and forth if it's stuck!

[spotted_dog]

We have 2019 AS Classic 33 and ran into the awning not retracting issue today on on Zip Dee. Our issue wasn't a battery one. I did try the 12v batter hookup to see if that would work but it did not. The awning wasn't moving at all. The issue started when I went to retract in the awning but instead the awning tilted out (even though I clearly pressed the retract button).

The manual wasn't much help. First is refers to everything with the assumption you are using the Relax control panel which the 2019 AS Classic does not have. The AS Classic has a custom AS control panel for managing the multiple aspects of the coach including the awning.

I did try to infer though from the very small troubleshooting section of that manual to figure out how to retract the awning manually The diagram and the instructions didn't really make any sense (at least not until I finally had a tech show me how to do it at a cost of $475 for a weekend/Mothers Day service call). See pict below.

The solution to getting it to retract at lease turned out to be very simple four our model so I wanted to document here of others since everything else i was finding didn't show this solution.

On the one awning control arm that has the power to it, at the end of the awning there is a hex hole where you can insert a hex bar (hex bar provided when we bought the trailer - see picture) that you can then rotate with either a power drill or a socket wrench to roll up the awning. This was not intuitive at all, especially since the symbol indicator for the hole was mostly covered up with wiring, hiding the symbol from sight.

Once you find this hole, insert the hex bar through it and then rotate the bar using either the drill (slowly) or a socket wrench, the awning rolls up quickly.

We will have to wait until we can get to an Airstream dealer to figure out what is actually going on but at least we have the awning up now so we can make the road trip.

[spotted_dog]

Follow-up. We did eventually get our 2019 Classic 33FB into the dealership. Initially, they said the issue was a software issue due to a software update that happened that same Mother's Day. We would need to wait for AS factory to send out the software update for this to be fixed. They had no idea when that would happen.

After the software update happened (2 months later), the awning still didn't work. Obviously our dealer service misdiagnosed the issue. It was obvious that the service department hadn't even tried to diagnose the issue. AS support suggested that it might be the control board so they are sending one to the service department (since the service department doesn't have one) and we'll see if that fixes it.

Very frustrating that this is taking so long and we still don't have a functioning awning during all of the summer months.

[Andonno]

Originally Posted by PamK53

We had some electrical issues with the site we arrived at today. We thought it was sorted out. Awning extended properly. Now the green light is flashing and the awning won’t retract. Circuit breakers are fine. Instructions state to “run a close cycle”... can’t do that if I closing it is the problem.

Same issue here. I’m in Natl Forest with storm possible soon. Awning won’t close. Battery is 13.7, it is a 2020 Intl. Serenity, bought it in Jan 2021. Green light flashing under sink near door. The only light on the awning switch by the door is the open light. No power. Open, close, tilt have no power. Should I try to connect the awning with the tools I found that look like the video on this thread? I’m really worried and not another AS around to ask for help.

[wulfraat]

I would:

1. Turn awning off using the on/off switch on your awning control panel

2. disconnect your 12 volt power in the trailer using the store / use switch.

3. Wait 10 seconds.

4. Turn trailer power back on.

5. Turning awning power back on

Awning software should reset. Press close.

See if that works.