Zip Dee Awning not rolling up properly

[s1000pre]

When we picked up our Airstream, other than the rear arm not extending while opening. Our awning seemed to work just as it should. We had to assist the rear arm as the awning opened. Recently, we have noticed that the awning is not winding up properly. The rear end of the awning... as it winds back up, there is roughly 2” of material visible at the end when fully retracted. It basically winds up slightly like a barber pole or candy cane. It’s not winding up and overlapping itself evenly. We have never left it out in the wind. It just randomly started doing this. This was another non-corrected item when we brought it in for service. Has anyone else experienced this? This is a Zip Dee power awning.

[djb75]

It sounds like your front arm is retracting faster than your rear arm. That, plus your initial issue of the rear arm not extending correctly makes me think this is either a controller, motor, or lubrication issue. The latter should be easy to eliminate.

Get some spray white lithium grease; it will have a thin spray tube on it. On each arm, about a third of the way up you will find a small hole (about 1/8" diameter). Give each arm a shot of grease (not a lot - maybe one or two second burst), then extend and retract the awning a couple of times to distribute the grease. Repeat this a procedure a couple of times if necessary and see if (1) the awning rolls up evenly and (2) the awning runs more quietly.

When we first got our trailer, the awning would not extend fully and would often stop about a foot short of the fully retracted position. It took about five minutes and a little grease to fix everything and it's been fine ever since. If lubricating doesn't fix the problem, I'd call ZipDee and see what they say.

[rperrym]

I think the description mirrors the problem I had when my trailer was new. One of the horizontal arms is not balanced with the other arm. These are the small arms that have gas pressure it them. If one has less gas pressure, the other one will push the awning in the direction of the weaker one and the awning rolls up unevenly. I think the Zipdee tech I talked with called it coning. The Airstream factory replaced mine and it fixed the problem. Or, you can send them to Zipdee and they will balance them and send them back.

[AirstreamInc]

Originally Posted by s1000pre

When we picked up our Airstream, other than the rear arm not extending while opening. Our awning seemed to work just as it should. We had to assist the rear arm as the awning opened. Recently, we have noticed that the awning is not winding up properly. The rear end of the awning... as it winds back up, there is roughly 2” of material visible at the end when fully retracted. It basically winds up slightly like a barber pole or candy cane. It’s not winding up and overlapping itself evenly. We have never left it out in the wind. It just randomly started doing this. This was another non-corrected item when we brought it in for service. Has anyone else experienced this? This is a Zip Dee power awning.

Hi s1000pre,*

We're very sorry to learn about the issue you are having. Please send us a direct message with your contact information, email and the last 6 digits of your VIN so we can learn more and share it with our Customer Service and Technical Support team. We look forward to helping you get this resolved.

You can also reach Airstream Customer Service and Technical Support at*customersupport@airstream.com

Thank you.*

[DeltaRon]

Originally Posted by rperrym

I think the description mirrors the problem I had when my trailer was new. One of the horizontal arms is not balanced with the other arm. These are the small arms that have gas pressure it them. If one has less gas pressure, the other one will push the awning in the direction of the weaker one and the awning rolls up unevenly. I think the Zipdee tech I talked with called it coning. The Airstream factory replaced mine and it fixed the problem. Or, you can send them to Zipdee and they will balance them and send them back.

My 2018 Classic 33 has the same problem. Zip Dee is sending new “gas strut tubes” to our dealer for repair. We’re fighting now with my extended warranty company for coverage. In our case, our awning would extend about 2’ then stop, requiring us to retract then extend. This would happen about every 15th or so time the awning was deployed.

[s1000pre]

With zero help from my dealer, I reached out directly to Zip Dee. I flip-flopped the two gas struts which corrected the issue. My struts must not be balanced correctly. I am headed to Jackson Center in May, I will have JC inspect the struts and do what is necessary to correct it.

When I was changing out my struts. I noticed a buildup of white Film/salt like corrosion/oxidation on the piston shaft portion of the struts which is very difficult to remove. When visiting an RV park, I noticed that my neighbor with a 2019 27' Globetrotter has the same film. I first noticed this film back in October which my AS was only 4 months old at the time. ZipDee was very set on not using anything abrasive to remove the film. No green scotch brite, polishing compounds etc. Needless to say, I couldn't remove and only wonder if that is the root of my imbalance issue. Ironically, there is a stamped part number on the shaft. Personally, I cant see polishing compound causing more of a seal issue than a stamped part number. I guess I will see what JC has to say about it.

[scotomaville]

Our 2020 '30 has 'coned' more with each opening, that being no more than 15 times since we purchased it new. I used metal polish on the pressurized struts, lubricated the arm extension screw without much of a change. You can see the 'coning' became severe (2 1/2")





The strut part number has 60#. That is about the pressure I felt on one of the struts after unbolting one end of it. The rear strut has only a third of that pressure.





Aha!


I swapped the front strut to the rear, and now have nearly equal roll-up which completes with minimal manual assistance pulling on the arms for the imbalance.


I will communicate with Zip-Dee to learn if both arms are supposed to be equally pressurized - since the part numbers are the same.

[scotomaville]

BTW - Zip Dee warranties the struts, so long as you work through a local Airstream Dealer (or factory). Each strut is $1075 otherwise.