twofacelady
Florida
New Member
Joined: 05/12/2008
View Profile
|
We put up a new 15" Carefree awning on our 2006 Jayco. HOWEVER, we are unable to get it to roll up. We followed the advice from the awning manufacturer and made slots into the end cap so we could slide on the valance and awning without taking off the endcaps or working with the tension. Now that it is in place on our RV (it looks great) but can not get it to roll up. Is there a way to load the tension without taking the awning all the way back down? If so, what do we have to do to put some tension back in the springs. We tried to save a little money and we have now spent 4 hours on this.
One side note--we did take off one bracket on the end to make it easier to use a hacksaw to make the slot and when we took it off there was some unwinding in the end.
Please forgive my ignorance.
|
downtheroad
Pacific Northwest
Senior Member
Joined: 02/18/2003
View Profile
|
Disclaimer: I have never tried this but have kept it on file just in case. If it does work, let me know and I hope it helps...
The easy way to tighten the tension up is.
open the awning up- have someone support the roller
at one end- remove the support arm from from the rv-
shorten the support arm as much as you can with out
letting it turn-turn the support arm around around
the roller- turn it in the direction so that the
spring is tighten- try 3 turns on both ends of the
roller and then try rolling it up. if it rolls up
good leave it. if not do both ends one turn each
and try winding it up again. it should be good then
if not one turn at each end again till it winds up
properly. this way is the best way to tighten the
springs with out getting hurt. good luck
Or
Extend the awning to it’s full out position. Remove the support arm from the bottom, like you would do if you wanted to use the support arm as a post rather than leaving it supported to the RV.
Remove the smaller tension arm and then just wind the entire arm one revolution in a counterclockwise direction when standing in the front looking to the back.
Reassemble and check to see if it now rolls up better. If not enough, do it again. One roll at a time.
This way there is nothing to fly off and around like it would if you tried to remove the roll from the
arms.
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane"
GMC Duramax/Allison (LBZ)
Komfort .... Our Rig Picture
Reese Dual Cam HP
Lots of other stuff nobody cares about.
|
Dr Quick
M'boro, Tn
Senior Member
Joined: 08/25/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
If you took the front/catch end off and you heard it unwind, you probably unwound the front spring. Most awnings have two springs.
Try this put "catch" in the position for opening your awning. Get a vice grips and take awning rod off from main support. Awning should not unwind as catch will keep it in place. Wind end of rod with vice grips, I think counter clockwise, about 10 turns. Reconnect awning rod to main support and release catch and awning should wind up. If if seems to not want to wind up all the way, add a 2 more turns.
Dr Quick
|
SidKaye
Mt Dora Florida, Montreal QC for the Summer
Senior Member
Joined: 09/03/2003
View Profile
 Offline
|
My advice to you, is to CAREFULLY read and re-read the instructions to tension the springs in YOUR model. The information can be found on Carefree's web site. Each awning model has a specific number of turns to correctly tension. I have replaced springs twice on mine.
Sidney
2003 Dodge Ram 3500 SLT,48RE, 4:10,Cummins HO Diesel,Quad Cab,LWB,SRW,PacBrake,Prodigy, X-Monitor Gauges,Line-X,Bedsaver
2002 Excel,Ltd,30RGW,Hughes Autoformer,Honda Eu1000i, ClearSpot 4G+,
http://www.kayepics.com
|
Al B
Cowtown
Senior Member
Joined: 10/22/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
DITTO
SidKaye wrote:My advice to you, is to CAREFULLY read and re-read the instructions to tension the springs in YOUR model. The information can be found on Carefree's web site. Each awning model has a specific number of turns to correctly tension.
Sidney
Cummins Powered
|
|
|
twofacelady
Florida
New Member
Joined: 05/12/2008
View Profile
|
OMG! THANK YOU ! We did it. It took a lot of turns. We did each side about ten turns. Tried it and it went up 1/2 way slowly. Redid the process of taking off the arm while hubby held the end with vicegrip. Turned 4 more times (counterclockwise), put arm back on then did other side. It works great.
You saved the day for us. I had already called a mobile RV service to see if they could come out on Tuesday to fix our mess. Now that we know how to replace the awning, we would do it again in a second. It may have not been worth $150 spending the day doing it ourselves but it will save us every other $150 we would have to spend in our camping life every time we need a new awning.
|
garry1p
Oklahoma
Senior Member
Joined: 08/12/2004
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
Glad it worked out OK mine took 16 turns.
However, be very careful if it gets away from you when winding it can do some serious injury.
Garry1p
1990 Holiday Rambler Aluma Lite XL
454 on P-30 Chassis
1999 Jeep Cherokee sport
|
mm047
Green Valley, AZ
Full Member
Joined: 10/10/2000
View Profile
Offline
|
Most cities have people who will come out to your site/home to do RV repairs. I'd recommend finding someone like that in your area and give them a call.
Mile M.
2008 Winnebago View 24J
2010 Mercury Mariner
Ready Brute Elite and Blue Ox
|
