Patio awning tore off last night..

[IBEW Sparky]

@lorend

I mostly use a 12" landscape spike through a steel 90° unistrut fitting with a short Bungie attached to it. Then a strap up to an eye bolt on each awning end. The Bungie allows the awning to flex just a little bit in the wind. If it's really sandy soil then I will use the spiral screw in type like the sell for a dog tie outs.

[huntr70]

Here's some pictures. Can anyone tell me if the black piece still up on the RV is the track?

Attachment 37903
Attachment 37904
Attachment 37905

I see that it is the Carefree box awning you are talking about.

The rail you have pictured is the mounting rail, but not for the fabric. That should be holding the whole box assembly. The 2 screws that tore out are really just anchors for the box.

How old is your rig? Could the dealer have installed the awning? GD was shipping units without the box awnings for a couple months, and then sending the awnings when they could get them.

There is no way that should have fallen off without tearing off the whole mounting bracket.

See picture of a properly installed Carefree box awning....

[Overtaxed]

@huntr70, Yes, that's the awning I have, and the mounting you show is the way mine goes up. I still cannot fathom how it came out of the rail.

I was able to get it up there again last night. Man, that is a job. For anyone in this situation, allow me to save you some head scratching. The only way to get it back on the rail is to start it into the rail and then slide it all the way across the RV. Given that it's 10ft off the ground, it's.. Well, not easy. Needed to setup a scaffold on the patio deck and another one off to the side of the RV. Had my wife "start it" and get it lined up, and then slid it in from the side. Once we figured that out, it wasn't that bad, but you're not doing this without at least 2 people and some good ladders. 3 people would be better, should be very easy to do with 3.

It's back up, and working fine. Looking at the mount, I simply cannot see how it could have possible ripped out without tearing down the rail. The only thing I can think, perhaps the hold down screws ripped out and the entire thing flipped up over the roof of the RV? That looks like it <might> let it come free of the rail without destroying the rail entirely. Honestly, I really don't know, could have been a bad install I guess (missed the rail?!). But the way it goes together, it would be like a pinned mortise and tendon joint breaking without breaking the pin or the tendon. Just doesn't seem like it should be possible to have it come out like this if it was put together correctly.

Anyway, gotta go out today and finish screwing it down and then replace all the clearance lights (they were all broken when it fell). Good opp to move to move to LED lights, the ones from GD, almost all of them were showing cracks in the lenses already, so this was a job I was going to have to do anyway.

I'm half tempted to put a little construction adhesive on the awning to hold it down. Don't think I'm going to, but man, if that thing flies off at highway speed, it could no exaggeration kill someone. Must weigh 50+ lbs. Really wish the mount was a bit more substantial to support that much weight and force (bouncing down the road on the far end of the rig).

[Riverbug]

Interesting thread. This is the first RV I've owned with electric awning and no side arms that angle down to the bottom of the RV. I like the convenience of the push button, but never thought the old style was a hassle to set up or take down. The best thing about the new type is I don't have the arms sticking out in my way or to bump my head. But I hate that I give up some stability. We have always used our awnings all the time (unless strong wind). We love sitting under it for shade, in the rain when it isn't blowing underneath, etc.

This thread made me wonder, can a wind sensor be added to an awning that doesn't have it built in? That would make me feel a little better about putting it out if I know it will retract when it gets too windy. I wonder if they work well?

[huntr70]

@huntr70, Yes, that's the awning I have, and the mounting you show is the way mine goes up. I still cannot fathom how it came out of the rail.

I was able to get it up there again last night. Man, that is a job. For anyone in this situation, allow me to save you some head scratching. The only way to get it back on the rail is to start it into the rail and then slide it all the way across the RV. Given that it's 10ft off the ground, it's.. Well, not easy. Needed to setup a scaffold on the patio deck and another one off to the side of the RV. Had my wife "start it" and get it lined up, and then slid it in from the side. Once we figured that out, it wasn't that bad, but you're not doing this without at least 2 people and some good ladders. 3 people would be better, should be very easy to do with 3.

It's back up, and working fine. Looking at the mount, I simply cannot see how it could have possible ripped out without tearing down the rail. The only thing I can think, perhaps the hold down screws ripped out and the entire thing flipped up over the roof of the RV? That looks like it <might> let it come free of the rail without destroying the rail entirely. Honestly, I really don't know, could have been a bad install I guess (missed the rail?!). But the way it goes together, it would be like a pinned mortise and tendon joint breaking without breaking the pin or the tendon. Just doesn't seem like it should be possible to have it come out like this if it was put together correctly.

Anyway, gotta go out today and finish screwing it down and then replace all the clearance lights (they were all broken when it fell). Good opp to move to move to LED lights, the ones from GD, almost all of them were showing cracks in the lenses already, so this was a job I was going to have to do anyway.

I'm half tempted to put a little construction adhesive on the awning to hold it down. Don't think I'm going to, but man, if that thing flies off at highway speed, it could no exaggeration kill someone. Must weigh 50+ lbs. Really wish the mount was a bit more substantial to support that much weight and force (bouncing down the road on the far end of the rig).

The only way that it came off was if a gust of wind lifted it up over the roof.

That would disengage the slip in mount (think like the emergency exit windows).

It would also explain how the clearance lights got damaged. If it would have simply fallen down, it wouldn't have touched the clearance lights, since the awning is mounted below them.

[IBEW Sparky]

Interesting thread. This is the first RV I've owned with electric awning and no side arms that angle down to the bottom of the RV. I like the convenience of the push button, but never thought the old style was a hassle to set up or take down. The best thing about the new type is I don't have the arms sticking out in my way or to bump my head. But I hate that I give up some stability. We have always used our awnings all the time (unless strong wind). We love sitting under it for shade, in the rain when it isn't blowing underneath, etc.

This thread made me wonder, can a wind sensor be added to an awning that doesn't have it built in? That would make me feel a little better about putting it out if I know it will retract when it gets too windy. I wonder if they work well?

The old type did have it's advantages. Here's a picture of my previous TT with the awning out and staked down. I would always pop the one support arm off of its cradle, extended it to the ground and stake it through the hole in the footpad. I would still add the strap style tie down on each support arm. Doing it this way made for a nice clean entrance area to and from the RV.

[Overtaxed]

The only way that it came off was if a gust of wind lifted it up over the roof.

That would disengage the slip in mount (think like the emergency exit windows).

It would also explain how the clearance lights got damaged. If it would have simply fallen down, it wouldn't have touched the clearance lights, since the awning is mounted below them.

That's my theory as well huntr. I just can't see any other way it could get out of there, not tear down the rail, break all those lights and wind up intact on the patio deck. Amazing thing is, if you saw it right now, you'd have to look real hard to see that it had been to war, looks fine, works fine. I dropped about 10 screws across the mount this time (vs the 3 that were in there from the factory) to prevent this from happening again. I'll be more careful, that's for sure.

Must have been a he** of a gust! And man, that must have been something to see, that awning going up/over the RV roof!?

[Riverbug]

The old type did have it's advantages. Here's a picture of my previous TT with the awning out and staked down. I would always pop the one support arm off of its cradle, extended it to the ground and stake it through the hole in the footpad. I would still add the strap style tie down on each support arm. Doing it this way made for a nice clean entrance area to and from the RV.

That's a good idea. I never took them off the lower connection but that would've been a great way to do it. I wonder if the new ones have the rigidity to hold if they were strapped to the ground at the corners like that? Would it be about as strong as our old style awnings?

[IBEW Sparky]

That's a good idea. I never took them off the lower connection but that would've been a great way to do it. I wonder if the new ones have the rigidity to hold if they were strapped to the ground at the corners like that? Would it be about as strong as our old style awnings?

I don't believe it's possible with any type of electric awning because the supports can not be removed from the side of the RV. I'd be curious to know if any of the new entry level TT's use the old style awnings... and if they are able to be set up freestanding.

[Riverbug]

I don't believe it's possible with any type of electric awning because the supports can not be removed from the side of the RV. I'd be curious to know if any of the new entry level TT's use the old style awnings... and if they are able to be set up freestanding.

Actually, what I meant was to strap from each of the corners of the extended awning down to an earth anchor or something just to put some tension so the awning couldn't swing up and down so much in wind. I haven't tested putting any tension on the awning when it's out so not sure if it would just pull downward or if there's enough resistance to stay put. Maybe that just wouldn't help much anyway.