The Not So Relaxing Zip Dee Power Awning

[Camr]

Our “Relax” awning has been so unreliable that we simply do not use it. It just rides around as dead weight on our 2016 Classic. I am almost certain that an employee or rep with ZipDee monitor this forum. Let’s see how long they ignore this thread. It will give all of us frustrated owners an indication of their worthiness and their dedication to customer satisfaction.

[lsbrodsky]

I thought i read somewhere that only the FC model has the manual awning now and AS does not offer a "delete" customization for other models. I guess it would mess up their production schedule. There must be many of these that work OK, but clearly this is one problem you do not want to have while out there camping. Just another reason to like my used, old trailer.
Larry

[BayouBiker]

It's like most things online, you hear about the poor experiences and not much about the good ones. I like the automatic opening and closing convenience, At $3600 it is a bit pricey. Hope I continue to not have trouble but who knows.

[PaulinVA]

Is it possible to remove the offending motors and perhaps turn the powered awning into a manual instead of replacing it?

[BayouBiker]

They have hex drives you can run with a drill driver but its a bit of a hassle.

[lsbrodsky]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

It's like most things online, you hear about the poor experiences and not much about the good ones. I like the automatic opening and closing convenience, At $3600 it is a bit pricey. Hope I continue to not have trouble but who knows.

Right. It is one thing to hear about loose screws, debris, or even a sink falling off. It is entirely different to hear about something that can prevent you from getting home. I wonder if there are problems with power awnings in the SOB world, because I see a lot of power awnings there. Still relatively new for Airstreams.

Larry

[turk123]

My horror story is similar, but mine was caused by the sink! My wife was doing the dishes when the entire sink dropped from under the countertop. The water went rushing backward and over the back of the sink. You guessed it! The water went into the Zip-Dee awing controller shorting it out.

So what is the fix? Well, Zip-dee refused to cover the controller so I called Airstream. Airstream said they would cover it under warranty as it was the sinks fault. The sink, by the way, has to be attached to the countertop by removing the countertop. My Airstream is at Jackson Center right now. The countertop was replaced with a new one and all is back together and working from what I hear.

My question is: "Why is the awning controller right below the sink drain?" And to top it off, the controller has a clear cover that Zip Dee cut holes in for the ethernet cable that comes out the top. What a bad design! I'm going to make a shield to cover the clear cover that Zip Dee uses!

Also, the inverter is located right next to the Zip Dee awning controller. It got splashed also and it stopped working!

[Hans627]

Originally Posted by andyherman

It would seem Airstream should provide the purchaser the option to choose either a manual or power awning, rather than forcing them to accept (and pay the price for and reliability issues of) what appears to be a problematic power awning.

I totally agree!

[guskmg]

If you own a Relax awning there are three rules you must follow:
1. Alway press "Close" before moving the awning, especially if the power has been off. That syncs the arm motors.
2. Make sure you have at least a mod three circuit board. Big improvement.
3. Always operate the awning every week even if it only has room for a couple of feet to open. This keeps the arm motor commutators clean.
After three boards and two arms, I Believe ZipDee has finally gotten their act together. I now have no more awning trouble. Mine is a retrofit and at first I though I had made a mistake upgrading. Airstream, ZipDee and insurance have contributed to my improvements. Otherwise ?
guskmg

[mikeinca]

Originally Posted by guskmg

If you own a Relax awning there are three rules you must follow:
1. Alway press "Close" before moving the awning, especially if the power has been off. That syncs the arm motors.
2. Make sure you have at least a mod three circuit board. Big improvement.
3. Always operate the awning every week even if it only has room for a couple of feet to open. This keeps the arm motor commutators clean.
After three boards and two arms, I Believe ZipDee has finally gotten their act together. I now have no more awning trouble. Mine is a retrofit and at first I though I had made a mistake upgrading. Airstream, ZipDee and insurance have contributed to my improvements. Otherwise ?
guskmg

Good tips. Thanks for posting them!

[Torpedo Family]

I have one of these awnings on my 2014 Classic that I have replaced the arms and board for a healthy $4,000.00 price tag. I agree Zip Dee should step up and make these awnings work well even if it means re-design and recalling any units that have or give up the in and out! Each time I extend mine I worry it will not retract. My previous 7 trailers with manual never gave me any trouble and were NOT hard to put up and down. Why do all the motorhomes with electric awnings seem to work very well!

[mkcurtiss]

get a lawyer....they gave you a price to fix it, right?

Their diagnosis and subsequent repair should have fixed it.....

If they cannot properly diagnose a problem, they should not be offering repair service, for a set price.

But they are offering repair service, which obligates them to know wtf they are doing.....If they don't they should not be doing service on awnings.....

After this fiasco is over, go directly to zip dee and throw a fit, and get a new manual awning......

EVERY PERSON I know that has a motorized awning has had non stop problems with their awning, and the newer they are, the more problems there are.....

Technology has no place whatsoever in the design of an awning. It produces only problems. I M O

[BayouBiker]

I guess you don't know me and the hundreds of thousands who don't have issues. Seriously, I have never owned a vehicle that has not had some non-wear and tear stuff fail. Awnings are no exception. Clearly the dealer lacks the skills to properly diagnose the problem with the Relax awning and on that we agree, but that does not erase those who don't have issues, and it does not make the awning a bad product.

Point me to this world where nothing should ever break, I want to live there.

[mpbiagi]

Hi there folks,


As natives to SoCal it would have been logical for us to purchase our trailer at the aforementioned dealer and to go there for service. They're just a few miles down the 405 freeway. However, the times we visited prior to purchasing and what we heard from others kept us away. This was validated when we DID end up taking our '15 25RB FC in to have the microwave replaced under warranty. Our refrigerator had a long scratch down the middle when we went to pick it up. The rig was brand new. We didn't even get a 'sorry' from anyone on the lot.



Since that time we've had friends go there (without asking us first) and their experiences have been similarly horrible...it's the batteries, no it's the inverter, etc., etc.


I don't know who else might be reliable in Southern California but I'll do a lot of my own research and take on the job myself if at all possible before taking my trailer to that dealership for repair again. I'm also not averse to driving hundreds of miles to get the job done right by someone who actually cares and knows what they're doing.



I'm sorry for all your troubles.


Mike and Marla

[Coast N]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

It's like most things online, you hear about the poor experiences and not much about the good ones. I like the automatic opening and closing convenience, At $3600 it is a bit pricey. Hope I continue to not have trouble but who knows.

I agree, I really like the automatic awning when it’s working. It’s so easy to extend without any assistance. I also like the simplicity of pushing a button to bring it in when the wind picks up. I think one of the main issues in this case is the dealers lack of knowledge in how to solve problems with the Zip Dee Relax awning. I think Airstream should do more to verify the expertise of their dealers service teams.

Prior to purchasing our Airstream I read about others who had issues with the power awnings and was hopeful that what I was reading was amplified by the few unsatisfied customers. My hope is that I can move forward with an awning that works without issue, so we can focus on relaxing with the Airstream.

[Coast N]

Originally Posted by guskmg

If you own a Relax awning there are three rules you must follow:
1. Alway press "Close" before moving the awning, especially if the power has been off. That syncs the arm motors.
2. Make sure you have at least a mod three circuit board. Big improvement.
3. Always operate the awning every week even if it only has room for a couple of feet to open. This keeps the arm motor commutators clean.
After three boards and two arms, I Believe ZipDee has finally gotten their act together. I now have no more awning trouble. Mine is a retrofit and at first I though I had made a mistake upgrading. Airstream, ZipDee and insurance have contributed to my improvements. Otherwise ?
guskmg

Thanks for the tips! This will be board 3 for me hopefully I won’t need to replace the other arm.

[Coast N]

Originally Posted by Camr

Our “Relax” awning has been so unreliable that we simply do not use it. It just rides around as dead weight on our 2016 Classic. I am almost certain that an employee or rep with ZipDee monitor this forum. Let’s see how long they ignore this thread. It will give all of us frustrated owners an indication of their worthiness and their dedication to customer satisfaction.

Sorry to hear about your awning.

One of the owners of Zip Dee sent me a PM today he is putting me in touch with one of the other owners who is supposed to assist with the technical problems on Monday. I appreciate that he reached out and I’m hoping they can push my dealer to fix the issue before we leave for our trip Wednesday June 24th.

[Coast N]

Originally Posted by turk123

My horror story is similar, but mine was caused by the sink! My wife was doing the dishes when the entire sink dropped from under the countertop. The water went rushing backward and over the back of the sink. You guessed it! The water went into the Zip-Dee awing controller shorting it out.



So what is the fix? Well, Zip-dee refused to cover the controller so I called Airstream. Airstream said they would cover it under warranty as it was the sinks fault. The sink, by the way, has to be attached to the countertop by removing the countertop. My Airstream is at Jackson Center right now. The countertop was replaced with a new one and all is back together and working from what I hear.



My question is: "Why is the awning controller right below the sink drain?" And to top it off, the controller has a clear cover that Zip Dee cut holes in for the ethernet cable that comes out the top. What a bad design! I'm going to make a shield to cover the clear cover that Zip Dee uses!



Also, the inverter is located right next to the Zip Dee awning controller. It got splashed also and it stopped working!

Yikes! I agree, poor design choice to place the Zip Dee controller under the sink.

I wish Jackson Center wasn’t so far from California. I would rather take my Airstream there, to technicians who are knowledgeable. I think one of the main contributing factors to my awning troubles is my dealers lack of technical knowledge with the power awnings. This will be the last time I visit Airstream Orange County for service. Each time I visit for service they disappoint.

[Coast N]

Originally Posted by Torpedo Family

I have one of these awnings on my 2014 Classic that I have replaced the arms and board for a healthy $4,000.00 price tag. I agree Zip Dee should step up and make these awnings work well even if it means re-design and recalling any units that have or give up the in and out! Each time I extend mine I worry it will not retract. My previous 7 trailers with manual never gave me any trouble and were NOT hard to put up and down. Why do all the motorhomes with electric awnings seem to work very well!

That’s awful! Sorry to hear about your troubles. My initial estimate to fix the awning when the dealer thought only the rear arm needed to be replaced was $2700. That was before they said the circuit board also needed to be replaced... they are telling me the board is a $800 part, so I’m afraid my repair bill might be close to $4000. I’d much rather spend that $4000 on lithium batteries. While off topic, last year I spent $1200 to have the leaking grey tank replaced. Very disappointing considering we own a 2016 Airstream.

[Coast N]

Originally Posted by mpbiagi

Hi there folks,


As natives to SoCal it would have been logical for us to purchase our trailer at the aforementioned dealer and to go there for service. They're just a few miles down the 405 freeway. However, the times we visited prior to purchasing and what we heard from others kept us away. This was validated when we DID end up taking our '15 25RB FC in to have the microwave replaced under warranty. Our refrigerator had a long scratch down the middle when we went to pick it up. The rig was brand new. We didn't even get a 'sorry' from anyone on the lot.



Since that time we've had friends go there (without asking us first) and their experiences have been similarly horrible...it's the batteries, no it's the inverter, etc., etc.


I don't know who else might be reliable in Southern California but I'll do a lot of my own research and take on the job myself if at all possible before taking my trailer to that dealership for repair again. I'm also not averse to driving hundreds of miles to get the job done right by someone who actually cares and knows what they're doing.



I'm sorry for all your troubles.


Mike and Marla

Ugh! I should have know better than to go to Airstream Orange County for service. I live in Orange County, when looking to purchase the Airstream in 2015 I was put off by the sales team at Airstream Orange County and ended up driving to Bay Area Airstream near San Francisco (great dealer) to purchase our 2016 Airstream. However, for service it seemed crazy to drive 437 miles one way - but I wish I had. I’ve gone to Airstream Orange County 3 times for service and each time they have kept the Airstream for at least a month and the quality of work isn’t what it should be for a premium price. Next time I have an issue I’ll drive the 437 mile to San Francisco for quality service. It’s so frustrating to have our very expensive trailer that we love at a dealer who does not seem to have a knowledgeable service crew.