Awnings
You just got all your leveling gear down, shore power hooked up, cooled down from the drive in where someone slammed on their brakes in front of you trying to make their exit, you pop out your lawn chairs and hit the button for the awning. Nothing. Maybe you hear gear moving but no extension or maybe nothing happens at all. All you know is that it is sunny and you are trying to enjoy your first day in camp in the comfortable shade. This is the last thing you need.
Awnings have always been those funny things on the rig, right? They almost always sound like they are going to combust or just stop halfway and say I’m tired. It definitely isn’t how it is supposed to be but many times it is exactly like that. The worst part is any wrong move, and the awning might do something crazy and hit you in the head (I’ve already ran into the thing many times without it moving!).
A lot of things are working at the same time to make sure that the piece of fabric between you and all those UV rays does its job. In many Solera awnings there are heavy duty springs inside, think your garage door, that help the motor retract. The struts on the arms are there to help extend. All these systems have to work in unison otherwise excess wear happens on the awning. Timing can be thrown off by a bunch of factors on this and usually take a couple sets of hands to get fixed. Another little something that may have happened was getting a little too close to that tree next to your site. It’s happened to all of us, you wanted the shade over your rig, you thought you had the clearance but ends up the tree got the best of you. If your fabric got a tear in it, it is very tough to fix and likely needs a replacement. Don’t you go running out to Michael’s for some pretty awning fabric, get in touch with us here at Camper Alex so we can diagnose and get the specific dimensions, model, and style for your unit. Then we can get you back enjoying the great outdoors without running the risk of needing to grab the aloe!