Power awnings

[Wingeezer]

I'm afraid I am of the keep it simple philosophy! My track record with modern automated stuff has not been good!

Great when they work, but not so great when they don't, and in my case, they usual seem to fail and leave me with problems at the worst times. Then also there is the rather high cost.

I have owned three travel trailers and none of them have been new. I do try to look after them, but it seems that inevitably - especially as they age, electrical gremlins creep in and give problems with electrical equipment - usually bad ground connections and corrosion in connectors. Easily fixed .......... once you find the problem! I have had such problems with power jacks, fridges, water heaters, furnaces, AC, you name it, and I would prefer not to add more potential devices to fail!

I don't know much about the power awnings so often used on newer RV's, but it seems to me I have heard that some use several motors and also of course sensors for high winds, switches that can fail, etc.

I have also heard that some makes cannot be retracted easily by manual means if the electrical system should fail - not sure about Zip Dee.

I surely do understand and appreciate the convenience of pushing a button rather than having to go out on a stormy night and put the manual awning down, but in reality it only takes me a couple of minutes.

I suppose if it came fitted with a power awning that would not stop me from buying a trailer, but I would not thing of replacing an existing manual one with a powered version.

I'm sure other folk would disagree and perhaps I do worry too much about these things!

Brian.

[Racheli]

Oh awesome!! Thought I was the only one on here with a Sterling! Thanks for the advice. Took it out for the 4th and didn't have any problems. Love it! Keep in touch!


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[mefly2]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

I need a step stool too but may buy those handles - others love em - but for 40 bucks I for some reason can't stomach the purchase

The handles are relatively cheap compared to a visit to the emergency room for stitches - as some have reported when the web between their thumb and fingers is sucked into the tubing on a rapid take down ...

[LiLNomad]

Will the power awning work on battery power alone? Was at an event where this question came up..seemed trailer needed to be plugged in or you have to be fully charged to operate awning.
Thanks
LilNomad

[PharmGeek]

Originally Posted by mefly2

The handles are relatively cheap compared to a visit to the emergency room for stitches - as some have reported when the web between their thumb and fingers is sucked into the tubing on a rapid take down ...

Well that would never happen to me!!

[Wishing]

Originally Posted by LiLNomad

Will the power awning work on battery power alone? Was at an event where this question came up..seemed trailer needed to be plugged in or you have to be fully charged to operate awning.
Thanks
LilNomad

I can't remember if I deployed it when we weren't plugged in...I'll be taking it out in the beginning of Aug (it's in storage right now) so I'll let you know then!


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[Msmoto]

Just a note on the Power Patio Awning on my new Serenity.... A sudden rain and wind storm hit here in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and a touch of the "CLOSE" button was all it took. Is this worth the $3600? .... a relative question. I would have been soaked to the bone by the time I could have retracted a manual awning, so for me the answer was "Yes" I made a good decision in ordering this from the start.
And it is still raining 12 hours later.... Oh well....


Ms Tommie Lauer
Greensboro, NC
2015 Serenity 30 RB

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by LiLNomad

Will the power awning work on battery power alone? Was at an event where this question came up..seemed trailer needed to be plugged in or you have to be fully charged to operate awning.
Thanks
LilNomad

Yes, the power awning works on 12 volts.

[mefly2]

Originally Posted by PharmGeek

Well that would never happen to me!!

Said by many ... why, then, even bother to click the seat belt ?

[warrenl55]

Originally Posted by warrenl55

Just pushed the open button on my 2014 Zip Dee Relax auto awning. Stepped back to watch the unit pull rivets out of the roof before I could step back in and shut off the process.

Follow up to my Zip Dee Awning issue. Zip Dee is great. Full replcement and roof repair under warranty. A torque sensing motor failed.

[switz]

A manual unit would not have that issue. Might be interesting to find out the repair cost for when it happens outside of warranty.

[Racheli]

Glad you got it fixed!!



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[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Racheli

Ha ha!! That would be nice. I'm just worried I'd be by myself and wouldn't be able to close the awning during a wind storm. It's on a 30 ft serenity.

Racheli,

We met in Gillette--Richard and I have the '86 34' Ltd that you-all toured. I put up and put down the big awning alone, although I prefer to have my husband do it because he is taller. It is really easy, just follow the video instructions and practice a time or two. I did it often during our 10 mos in TX because R was gone all day. We do carry a small step stool that makes it easier for me if I need to do it myself. You will rarely be camped in the middle of nowhere with no one else within reach anyway, so you can always holler for help--I have done that too!

I would rather not have the electric awning because as sure as you need to roll it up in a sudden windstorm, that's when something jams up. We have enough complicated stuff in the trailers anyway--why add more??

Waiting to hear if you bought the trailer you were watching at the rally....

Vivian

[Racheli]

Originally Posted by Landshark

Racheli,



We met in Gillette--Richard and I have the '86 34' Ltd that you-all toured. I put up and put down the big awning alone, although I prefer to have my husband do it because he is taller. It is really easy, just follow the video instructions and practice a time or two. I did it often during our 10 mos in TX because R was gone all day. We do carry a small step stool that makes it easier for me if I need to do it myself. You will rarely be camped in the middle of nowhere with no one else within reach anyway, so you can always holler for help--I have done that too!



I would rather not have the electric awning because as sure as you need to roll it up in a sudden windstorm, that's when something jams up. We have enough complicated stuff in the trailers anyway--why add more??



Waiting to hear if you bought the trailer you were watching at the rally....



Vivian

Hi Vivian!
Glad to hear from you ! We did end up buying the airstream Sterling at the rally in Gillette. So far we love it. It has the manual awning and we haven't had any problems setting it up. I still don't know if I could do it alone, but I'm sure I can after I practice more. Hope you're doing well!
Thanks for posting! Here's a pic of the outside a least.
Rachel


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[PharmGeek]

You can do it alone for sure!!

I'm going to buy those aluminum handles that I've been too cheap to buy so far

You roll up the awning rope thing and stuff it in the roll initially to stop it from retracting till you get the first arm locked in .

[Racheli]

Thanks! What's the aluminum handle for and where do you get?



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[dkottum]

Is the awning handle something of a gadget. Once you pull the extension arms out and hook hook them to the roller, just pull and hold the height adjustment pin with one hand and lift the roller to the height you want with the other hand.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by Racheli

Hi Vivian!
Glad to hear from you ! We did end up buying the airstream Sterling at the rally in Gillette. So far we love it. It has the manual awning and we haven't had any problems setting it up. I still don't know if I could do it alone, but I'm sure I can after I practice more. Hope you're doing well!
Thanks for posting! Here's a pic of the outside a least. Attachment 218472
Rachel


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Hi Rachel! Welcome to Airstream ownership! Have you been out in it yet? You must have--who could wait with such a cool rig. It looks great, hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed ours!

Vivian

[Wishing]

Just got back from a two week trip in CO (my first time doing it solo!), and I admit that the day before I left the campsite, my automatic awning malfunctioned! It was working smoothly for 12 days-I would feel immense satisfaction at seeing it gloriously unfurl on its own every morning, then quickly roll closed at the slightest hint of rain. Then, on the 13th day, I tried to close it and instead, it chose to tilt all the way down. After about five tries, (and only after pressing the very uppermost top of the "close" button, as I suspected the control panel might be faulty-the "tilt down" button is located right below the "close" button), it finally closed. Needless to say, I was very relieved as I was panicking about how to get on the road the next day with an awning that refused to close. I will definitely not be opening it again until I get it to a dealer for repair, but it's kind of tempting for me as I'm curious if it was just a fluke...I'm still glad we have the automatic awning, but definitely want to find out if there's some kind of fail-safe feature that would allow manually closing it if something like this happened again.



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[cptfish]

We have a 27' 2014 International with automatic awnings that worked great for the first six months...then we had a big problem! The awning would not retract and it was 3 pm on July 3rd at a fairly remote Oregon beach. Coachnet went to work for us, but since it was a holiday we had to wait until the 5th for a technician. He arrived and, among other things, duck-taped it shut so we could drive to a dealer three hours away. The dealer replaced our burned out motor under warranty. The awning seemed to work in the dealers lot when the repair was done.
That repair lasted only until the next time we used it on another fairly remote trip last week. The awning again would only open two feet and then not retract. The motor was burnt out again and this time the dealer is also replacing the circuit board under our sink. Our dealer has been very prompt in taking care of us, but this has made me second guess the automatic awning. Great when it works, but you are stuck right in place when it fails. The last repair tech used a very large channel lock wrench to roll it back up followed by taping and securing the arms to our door handle for transport to our dealer for repair. We are hoping the new, revised, circuit board will solve our problem.
Of course, this week we purchased a similar channel lock tool. I understand that ZipDee has made some changes in the circuit board to address this problem as others have had similar experiences.
We certainly hope it will work well when we pick it up next week. We leave for a long road trip fishing in Utah and Colorado and ending up in Albuquerque for the balloon rally. We really love the convenience of this awning and hope that ZipDee will fix these early glitches! It is not fun to worry about whether or not you can open your awning when you need it. You can travel with a broken oven, refrigerator or toilet but when the awning breaks you are stuck wherever you are camped. Will keep you posted!


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