I'm trying to figure out if I have an issue or not here. I have awnings over both of my slides and the one over the larger slide always accumulates water during a rain storm. Is this normal or is there anything I should do about this? I don't seem to be getting water outside, but I want to make sure this isn't going to cause and problems.
We FT and so our slides are out all the time when not actually moving and have been for the 10+ yrs we've been FTing. Our slide topper over the large slide also accumulates water. Does not stretch the fabric in that there is still slack wrapped around the roller so the water just unrolls the roller an extra turn or so. The water evaporates in the sun or a slight breeze will cause it to dump and when that happens, the roller takes up the slack. If we're breaking camp and there is still water on the topper, I just take the slide in till about 6" from being fully retracted. Then I run the slide back out a foot or so and all the water dumps at which point I fully retract the slide.
This is how the topper is designed to operate. Many people have come up with all kinds of things to put between the topper and the slide roof to 'arch' the topper - beach balls, swim noodles etc. What a pain in the a.. to have to put that stuff in and get it back out! Some mfrs, noting that RVer will spend $ and time to 'arch' their topper have decided that the PT Barnum rule is in effect and come out with a product ($$$$) that will automatically put the arch in the topper. America's way to part the $ from the consumer's wallet, IMO.
Anyway, our toppers are still in fine shape, doing what they were designed to do, even after accumulated countless gallons of water over the years.
Fantastic avan, thanks for the input. Sounds like I'll just leave it be. Typically what I've done to get the water off is before breaking down I jack the front of the camper and it runs off.
We too have a Carefree of Colorado slide out topper and the user's manual states to bring in the slide out to dump any accumulated water. We've always done this and have never had a problem with the awning stretching. The only thing I don't like is the slight flapping noise in winds. It makes both DH and me nervous, so in higher than normal winds, we bring the slide out in and wait it out. That's just us though, a lot of folks don't do this and have never reported problems.
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