Zip Dee awning and wind--how much is too much?

[Bcousins]

We have a 2015 FC 30 bunk w/20’+ manual awning. We left it out while at a campground near Nashville on a calm day with light winds and zero rain in forecast…of course a pop up storm came through. The awning was fine. Management and neighboring campers were amazed how much wind the awning could handle.

We were lucky. Before our next trip I bought a Camco RV Awning Tie Down Kit, part # 42514 after talking to our salesman at Woodland Airstream. It is basically a long piece of seatbelt strap that runs the entire length of the awning and attaches to heavy duty tent stakes in the ground at each end. The strap has D rings at each end and a spring is used between the strap and stake. I run the strap about 1’ back from the roller. It can be lengthened or tightened at each end near the D ring, so tipping one end is easy to do and still use the strap. If I leave for a long day, I drop both ends and tie down. I have used this for 5 years, sometimes up to a week at a time. It’s been used on Drummond Island, MI where I was told “we make the wind here”.

This may not be something all are comfortable with, just offering an example of what has worked for me. I usually have an ice maker, bikes and who knows what other things under the awning that are better kept dry.

Bill

[Portage to Caravan]

I attended the Zip-Dee presentation at the International Rally in Escanaba, Mi. and their rep. (Greg Blue) informed us that if you're not using it, put it away. The expense of replacing the awning is one thing, but, if you need to make repairs [and you will] to the skin of your trailer, it will make for a very large repair bill indeed. The awning is only pop riveted to the skin of your trailer. There is no special magic to it, it is simply placed on the surface and riveted there. Also never teather it down to keep it from billowing up in the wind. That will only increas the pressure on those rivets. Think about those beautiful sail boats with the large open air filled sails in front when they are in a downwing tack (ne. Spinaker) that's a lot of pull on 1/8" aluminum rivets.

Jim

[JDHinMaine]

We often know that storms are coming and even 20 mile an hour winds are not a problem if we lower it completely down and we tie two water jugs filled with water to each end. We have bungee cords about 2 feet long. That’s 16 pounds approximately on each side. Seems to handle most storms

[Spot]

Don’t go hiking and leave the big awning deployed. I normally feel OK with the smaller awnings staying in place.

[Bigventure]

Originally Posted by La3rdworld

We always secure awning with screw-in ground anchors just like the old timers suggest. Only close awning in extreme gusts/ winds.

What will happen is the trailer side will tear off. If you value the trailer put it in.

[SD Grammy]

We also have manual zip Dee awnings.
At night, if it’s windy, just roll them up so you can sleep without worry
If we think it may be windy during the day, we use our awning anchors (The Claw -available online). They work great.
Rain is not a problem if it’s not windy-just tip one end down a notch when you deploy your awning so that the rain can drain well. Zip Dee recommends this.
-if you will be gone for the day and wind is forecast, just roll them up -again so you don’t need to worry while away.
Enjoy!

[ekbruster]

Speaking from experience, I take mine in every night before I go to bed, made the mistake of leaving it out one night, got a really light rain, no big deal right? wrong...

Woke up the next morning to a completely curved extension arm because the awning wasn't tilted enough for run off, the weight of the water caused the arm to bend. Now the fun part, well the awning doesn't exactly go back up correctly with that bent arm, so I had slowly with help from others get it rolled back up, once up I had to tear apart the arm and remove it before I could travel home.

So wind or rain, I put it up, light rain I'll leave it out if I'm outside monitoring it, but other than that, it's just not worth the risk, the damn is one thing, but the last thing you want to is have to try and repair it at the campground or get it in a state to can get it home safely.

[Phil&Sher]

Originally Posted by La3rdworld

We always secure the awning with screw-in ground anchors just like the old timers suggest. We only retract the awning if there's an extreme weather forecast in extreme gusts/ winds.

Same thing we've done for the past ten years. We bought a "kit" online somewhere - some nylon cord, a couple of S hooks and tensioning devices, and a pair of earth augers. We always drop the forward corner by one notch to shed rain; two notches if ot's going to be heavy rain. We keep an eye on the forecast and only retract the awning if extreme weather is forecast - especially if it's at night. We camp continuously for several months in the mountains during the summers and haven't had a problem in the past eight years. Knock on aluminum.

[Phil&Sher]

I just re-read my own post and realized that I left out something very important. Since we have the same site every summer (in a valley), I know which way the winds blow - mainly from the West/North West. The trailer faces North, so the awing is on the East side. That means that we rarely have wind directly impacting the curb side.

Whenever we're in a different location, or the winds are forecast to be from the other direction (late Fall), I pull the awning each night and whenever we're away from the trailer during the day. I haven't totally lost my mind - yet!

[Astasiewsk]

Originally Posted by Jim H

We have manual Zip Dee Awnings. Instructions from the dealer and owners manual say to take down the awning in any amount of wind and rain?

Hoping to hear from others on this. Do I need to be this conservative? Do you keep your awning up in any amount of wind? Do you have a rule of thumb when it is getting dicey?

Thanks!

Great question! We’re on an extended trip and just last week at a state campground in Pennsylvania we watched as a gust of wind tore the awning half off a pop up and blew their tethered canopy into the woods! It was all over in less than a minute. No injuries and we were able to roll the damaged awning back up into its sleeve. Recovered the canopy later. It just goes to show how quick things can go awry! Caution and awareness is the name of the game.

[trailerKat]

We always put ours away at night, if it's raining and when leaving camp. At a small WBCCI rally we attended earlier this year, a heavy rain occurred one night and damaged the awnings on two of the other Airstreamer's trailers who were attending. Bummer.

[madpiper]

We always retract our awnings when the trees start waving because the jolts will loosen the support arm brackets and leaks will develop there.

[LilPeanut]

This reminds me of the question ‘how tight should I torque this bolt?’ The answer is ‘tighten it until it strips, then back it off a quarter turn’. I have done that many times and usually regret it. The answer to the amount of wind an awning can take is ‘let the wind blow until the awning is damaged, it is 2mph less than that. Results will vary with your configuration’

Not making light of damage, I just remember the torquing of bolt wisdom every time I turn a wrench as a warning. I also put in my awning when it gets windy, rains or when I leave. Also I have the relax electronic awning. If the button fails, woe is me putting it in manually in adverse conditions.

[trikdacy]

After one disaster, we now treat our awning as if it were delicate butterfly wings. We take it in every night, or when away from our Airstream. More than a light drizzle or light wind it comes in.

[Bgarhammer]

If you want a forecast for your area, take a look at the Windyty application. It can give you accurate wind forecast velocity and bearing.

www.windyty.com

[Hockdaddy27]

Originally Posted by Jim H

We have manual Zip Dee Awnings. Instructions from the dealer and owners manual say to take down the awning in any amount of wind and rain?

Hoping to hear from others on this. Do I need to be this conservative? Do you keep your awning up in any amount of wind? Do you have a rule of thumb when it is getting dicey?

Thanks!

I had a Dee Zee Awning out on what I thought was a nice day by a lake. One gust of wind came across the lake and threw my awning up over some power lines hooking the legs over the top. When it was retrieved back, the manual crank and spring had been damaged beyond repair. Now it's unusable. Point is; beware the wind. Doesn't take much to turn them into a parachute. Good Luck.

[AnnaBelle33]

Originally Posted by Bgarhammer

If you want a forecast for your area, take a look at the Windyty application. It can give you accurate wind forecast velocity and bearing.



www.windyty.com

Cool site and app! Have you lived in Miami long? I lived in Kendall and went to Arvida Jr High & Killian back in late 70s and early 80s.

I sail and always use this while camping.


https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClic...Type=graphical

[DAVSCH]

I try to take my lessons from others. Friend of mine owns a SOB. He left his awning out for a 40 minute trip into town. A pop-up storm went through the campground. The awning’s base mounts proved tougher than the SOB. It ripped the whole area it was mounted to right off the camper. He drove back from Texas to Missouri with a 28’ rectangle ripped out of his camper. Lesson learned here……. Roll it in when leaving the site, roll it in when going to bed and roll it in if it looks remotely dicey. Better to roll it in than have it ripped off.

[nryn]

I was at a campground in either Homer or Seward, Alaska, when the wind started picking up. The trailer next to me (2 spaces over, thankfully) had left its awning out and sure enough, in no time it ripped the struts off their lower anchor points and the whole thing started flapping violently in the wind, struts still attached, really beating up the trailer. I was worried it would start breaking windows or even worse, fly off and hurt someone.

Some other guy and I managed to take the whole awning down and rolled it up, put it under the trailer, and left a note on the door. I never did meet the trailer’s owner—they were gone the next morning. But I do remember seeing firsthand what happens to an awning in the wind and if I was conservative about my awning before, I’m twice as conservative now.

[VacuumKing]

Originally Posted by Ephraim

Because of the cost of a ZipDee, If I am not actively using it and there is wind over about 5mph, I take it down. The smaller awnings we leave up unless the wind is strong and gusty. We always take them down at night or when away.

That being said, if you are sitting under the awning, you can pretty much tell if it is struggling in the wind. The problem is that wind is gusty. I have been sitting under it with a very light breeze and then suddenly we are hit with strong gusts. If you are paying attention to the trees around you, you generally have enough time to deal with it though.

I did have an instance where the ZipDee deployed fine, but then the controller died and I was not familiar enough with the manual rewind controls so I thought that they were not working (turns out, you need a power drill on high for several minutes to retract the arms sufficiently. I saw it turning and couldn't see any noticeable movement and thought it was also broke.) The Awning easily survived 50 mph gusts, but I was nervous the whole time.

10 mph and they get a little loud. In the right direction.
Always take it down at night.
Leaves and needles fell over night on it and then they were rained on. I had maybe 20-30 gallons of water sinking in the middle badly.
Had to push water off before I could release pressure.
10 MPH and no night