ploiselle wrote: I use a Velcro strap around each arm to make sure it stays closed.
Paul
Paul unfortunately Velcro, rivets, welding, etc the arms will do nothing to prevent your awning from unfurling while going down the road. It is caused by the unlatch mechanism failing at the tube.
It is easy to prove; Velcro your arms, release the latch at the roller tube and pull on the awning. You will see that it will unroll just fine. It only takes a slight unfurling at highway speed and your awning is toast. The only way to prevent it is to lock the tube in place. many devices are sold and have been homebuilt to lock the tube.
I just got a chance to try this. I understand that some, if not all, (probably including mine) can unroll if the mechanism in the roller fails. When I released the latch on the roller tube as suggested above, it would not unroll unless I took the Velcro straps off. I have a 2000 A&E with the cover.
I am more concerned that the latch on each arm that hold the arms in will be left unlatched or someone will unlatch them while stopped then I am about a mechanical failure. I understand that mechanical failure can happen, but if this was a very serious issue, the manufacturers would build in a safety mechanism.
A friend had the pins pulled on his tow bar while they went into a restaurant to eat, so it is feasible that someone could very easily unlatch the latches holding our awning arms in while walking by.
I am not being rude. I am going to be on the road for the next 4 or 5 days, so I will not be able to respond to any questions or comments until I get home.
I just installed the one that HuckFinn410 shows on his post. It took me and hour or so. I did have to add a couple of pop-rivets because where the hole was going to be there was a rivet. After adding the new rivets, I drilled out the one in the way which made a nice place to start the hole. They say to drill a 3/8" hole, which I did. When I closed the awning it was in exactly the right spot. All I had to do was make sure the arm lock was engaged and it popped right in. Keith Williams even answered my question via e-mail about enlarging the old rivet hole. Have to see how it works down the road, but so far, so good.
Jack & Kay
2007 Tiffin Allegro 28DA
Ford Chassis V-10
Blue Ox Tow Bar to a 94 Honda Accord
FMCA #F341229
Whatever you do, put some sort of lock on. We lost an awning b/4 we got wise. It is not a pleasant thing to have it come loose on the hiway at 70 MPH, and in a 40 MPH wind
downtheroad wrote: Strapping the arms is a myth.
I installed one of these (there are others on the market as well).
The install was straight forward and it is easy to use...
I also installed this one last week. The tell you to drill a 3/8" hole in the tube so the pin will line up. Mine did. You might have to drill and add a couple of pop rivets, (which they send you) depending where it lines up with the pin. It took several ups and downs to make sure I did it right, but it does work and it wasn't that hard. The A&E awning end caps, (grey in color) are Aluminum and easily drilled.
theoakman wrote: I guess we've been lucky.....my 1995 Alpenlite fiver has an A&E 8500 awning. We've been out in some pretty fierce winds here in SE Arizona and during our 250,000+ miles of travel. We've never had this problem, although a couple of my friends have lost their awnings.
I replaced the cam mechanism several years ago, but unfurling was not the problem for the replacement.
We're having new awning material installed next week and I'll probably put on some kind of locking device.....probably using the awning rod as this is quite a bit less expensive than a commercial lock.
I ended up putting one together as Clay L did. Could not find the screen door stop spring by itself so had to buy the entire door stop kit. Also had to buy a pkg of four of the picture hangers, so now I have some spare parts. I bought 7' of chain instead of 6' (after measuring how much I'd need) and had to cut off a few links to have it fit correctly. I probably should have bought the next size smaller chain, the one I have would just slide into the plastic tubing and it took two good men to milk the tubing over the chain. When finished everything fit just like it was supposed to. Cost was a bit more than $10, probably closer to $20. We'll be testing it on the road in a few days.
Cya l8r,
the oakman
funny, I don't remember being absent minded
funny, I don't remember being absent minded
I have a manual awning and want to convert it to electric, but I had a couple of dealers tell me they wound not mount it for me because if it didn't come with an electric awning there isn't any support to hold the awning out when it is deployed. all you would be bolted to is fibergass siding and a thin piece of plywood. does anyone have any input to this problem? is it different if i use my old manual awning and convert it to electric?
Offline
