Retracting Awning

[Dan]

I have the older style awning and when you start to retract it it starts off slowly and at about half way it picts up to what I consider normal speed. I have oiled/siliconed the slide/rollers is there anything else I can lube?

[johnboytoo]

Good on you then !!!

Our two are slow the whole way, especially sowhen the wind picks up and you are hurrying to get the in

It probably is a bit faster for two possible reasons:
less 'tension' on the motors as the awning gets more vertical so the angle/droop "hanging" down gets less and less

and/or

the wraps on the roller make for a bigger circumference, which 'pulls' more fabric each turn ?

(same thing happens with our cord reel, gets faster the more cord is on the reel !)

[Rick and Mindy]

Mine does the same thing. I noticed it after I readjusted the slope so water would run off easier. My brother was helping me adjust it and he couldn't believe how slow the awning retracted. It did speed up the closer it got to the fifth wheel. He has a Montana Mountaineer and his doesn't slow down at all. Redwood cutting corners? Or is the voltage to the motor dropping or just an underpowered motor?

[Radio_Flyer]

Mine have always been slow. Replaced switches, re-crimped wires and nothing seemed to help. I keep mine lubed and hope for the best. Last season the second awning was hit or miss opening and closing, sometimes I had to hit the switch three or four times to bring it in or put it out.

[atom ant]

By design, Carefree does not operate as fast as Dometic A&E, which is what Montana uses.

However, I'm convinced these have a voltage drop issue. My slide awning is extremely slow, whereas the main one is normal. There have been times when I've had to jump on the picnic table and help the slide awning retract.

[hoosierguy]

Originally Posted by Radio_Flyer

Mine have always been slow. Replaced switches, re-crimped wires and nothing seemed to help. I keep mine lubed and hope for the best. Last season the second awning was hit or miss opening and closing, sometimes I had to hit the switch three or four times to bring it in or put it out.

Since you have been into the switches, wiring and terminals, what do think the wire gauge is?

My awning has always been slow, but, I don't have a good frame of reference on this issue since this is the only one that I have ever owned. My suspicion is that the Redwood engineers have used to small wiring and there may be significant voltage drop to the awning motor occurring. Maybe I should try to get up there and see if I can measure the voltage to confirm this suspicion.

[Radio_Flyer]

I don't remember what gauge wire it was, but it wasn't anything more than speaker wire. I had to sort through the wiring in the switch in the basement to try and figure out where it was split or connected together and why the switch in the basement wasn't working. Cheap crimps and connectors on all of it. The crimp connectors on the back of the switches were too small for the wiring.

[mhs4771]

Agree, pretty sure it's a low voltage issue. Sometimes my switches in the basement won't bring them in, while the inside switches will. So thought is, it has to do with the length of probably undersized wiring.

[Dave&Ginny]

Wiring doesn't seem to be very good in any of the RVs

[piper guy]

Like I said before ~ electricity is NOT an Amish skill ....................

[r time soon]

Vaughn, I was at the RW plant in Syracuse a few weeks ago. Over 80 to 100 cars and trucks. Didn't see any buggies with horses on the lot. Amish don't drive usually. My guess is that most of the Amish workforce is in Goshen, Topeka, Shipshewana, Middlebury, Nappanee and a few other cities near us. But I think most are correct that under sized wire gauge is part of the reason for voltage drop and slow awnings. Especially when the wire runs the longer distance from the switch panel to the slide out, through the slide out and then to the awning, A lot of wire is used on that type of run to power the second awning.

Chris

[mhs4771]

True the Amish don't drive, but their second cousins the Menninites do, and they provide transportation for many of the Amish.

[Neal]

I had the same carefree awning on a sob travel trailer. Had the same issues where it starts out slow then speeds up when it gets closer to the trailer. I had to help it get started several times. The wife and I said when we upgraded to the fifth wheel we would definitely have a different brand awning. However, we liked the Redwood enough we decided the awning wouldn't be a deal breaker.

[Radio_Flyer]

Anyone try this yet? Carefree SR0093 Awning Motion Detection Retractor For Travel'r Awnings Install doesn't look too bad.

[atom ant]

Looks pretty cool, but it's all hardwire - that could get to be a chore, especially on the 2nd awning.

[0nTheRoad]

The hardest part would be replacing the wiring from the motor housing on the awning to the switch in the inside cabinet, and you also have to change the switch inside the cabinet.