We met Tom and Nancy at Charlotte Motor Speedway last weekend to attend the AutoRama show. One of the largest car show swap meets in the nation every year. Over 1000 cars for sale circled the track and the infield was wall to wall with vendors and used parts.

When we were packing up to leave the patio awning rolled up to about one foot from the coach and stopped. It froze in that position and would not unlock to roll back out or the rest of the way closed. After messing with it for a few minutes and knowing it would have to be taken apart to see what was jamming the lock, I decided to wire tie it closed and see if I could travel safely with it. It's 200 miles from Charlotte to Home.

After getting it home, I took the spring end apart and found several of the teeth broken and the locking pawl severely bent. See pictures.







You can also see where the two parts had been wearing and digging into each other.

I ordered a new spring and locking end for the awning from Zip Dee. Cost about $100.00 and was here in a couple of days. Super nice people if you need parts or information about your Zip Dee awnings.



Only took a few minutes to install the new assembly. The pre-load on the spring is one turn for each foot of length of the awning plus 7 turns. Use the inner part of the support arm to wind the spring.



Awning now works perfectly. BTW, You should never Lock the awning locks with the awning in the Open or Extended Position. The locks are design to only keep the awning in the closed position against the side of the coach.

Nick

Nice job Nick. I had the exact same thing happen with mine, but I had broken bits inside when I opened it up. Folks at Zip Dee are great to work with. One caution, if you're new to awnings. When you roll it back up, angle the tether so it rolls around the length of the tube. Not bunched up in one place, like my rookie mistake.
Cheers - Ric

quote:

Originally posted by Ric "Turtle":
I had broken bits inside when I opened it up.
Cheers - Ric

Same here. Probably the broken bits that were jamming the lock.

Nick

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cagle:
BTW, You should never Lock the awning locks with the awning in the Open or Extended Position. The locks are design to only keep the awning in the closed position against the side of the coach.

Nick

Does that apply to A&E, as well?

Bill, I don't know about the A&E awnings. The comments about the Zip Dee awnings comes directly from the owners manual and was also repeated to me by the Zip Dee customer service rep when I ordered the new parts.

Nick

No Bill, A&E's must be locked to stay out. We had owned our Barth for a few years before I learned from Zip Dee that you do not lock them in the extended position. Also learned that the awning "should not" start rolling itself up by itself, you need to give it a little shove.... That roller tube is a bit on the heavy side eh Nick !!

Two weeks ago I put my awning down to clean it and the roof of the Barth. I let the awning down overnight to dry out and when I tried to get it to go up the next afternoon it was locked down.

I called the local RV shop near my home for some help and they advise to bring it in. I folded the arms up and rope tied the awning so it would not flap too bad and kept my speed at about 15 mph.

They had it for over a week and said the gear and the spring is probably the cause.

They said they can replaced the whole awning for about $1800 or repair it for about $1200.
I was completely shock at that statement and asked again the cost to replace and fix the spring and gear and she again said about $1200 and it may be a little more with the shipping cost on the spring.

I told them to hold off for now and I will talk with the service advisor tomorrow afternoon.

I told her I may just forget it and she said they would tie the awning back up, however there will be a $115 service charge for finding out that it needs a new spring and gear. This is crazy as that is what I told them when I brought it in.

Sure wish Nick or someone else was close by to help me as I would have never taken this in to them.

Jim

If you can't repair it yourself i would either hire someone else,(like a kid) to do it or go to a wrecking yard that has rvs and see if they have one. I bought one for $150 at a yard....the fabric was shot but all of the hardware and the tube were good.

I'm not sure what brand awning I have, however when I lower mine it locks automatically. You have to move the little lever free when you want to raise it.
The lever locked so hard that I had to pry it free, after many attempts to free it by trying to rock the tube back and forth, however it was still somehow locked.
I think I will just bring the Barth back home and see if I can find someone to help me.
I replaced the awning fabric two years ago so buying a whole new unit is out of the question and I certainly don't think a repair bill should be $1200+.
Anyone have an idea where to look for the type of awning I have.
Thanks, Jim

Jim, if it is a Zip Dee the end caps on the roller tube will have Zip Dee written on them. Usually painted red. And as a side note it takes less than 30 minutes to complete a spring and lock change on a Zip Dee awning. Drive that rascal up here and I'll change it for you.

Nick

Thanks Nick.
I probably will be driving over to the RV shop Wed. or Thurs. to check it out.
I have another question, are most of the other awning brands (similiar to the Zip Dee) easy to work on? Did you have to drill out any rivets and what caution is needed about the spring?

I have been told by so many people that the spring is dangerous and should only be attempted by someone knowing what the are doing. With that said- I know nothing about repairing them other then I don't think it should cost $1200+. Like I said it worked fine before it decided to lock up.
I have a feeling the problem is similair to yours in the fact that the lever lock up, almost like something broke off and is jamming that part.

Thanks again,
Jim

Jim, the only problem with replacing the spring with a broken lock is the in ability to take all the tension off the spring. I took as much tension as possible off by separating the lower awning arm and trying to unwind the arm. Yes you have to drill out 4 rivets that hold the locking mechanism and spring in the roller tube. Make sure all arms are completely removed before you do the drilling. When you drill the last rivet the spring is going to be SUDDENLY released and unwind. I really don't see any great danger because the spring is captured inside the roller tube. THERE WOULD BE DANGER if you didn't remove the support arms as they would spin as the spring unwinds.

Nick

Jim

Nicks right, the springs are dangerous. I looked at your awnings at the GTG and I don't think they are Zip Dee. The fabric attaches differently. On the Zip Dee you slide the fabric over the tube and on other brands it slides into a slot on the tube.
There are some mobile RV repair folks out there and that may be a less expensive route rather than RV repair facility.

Are you coming to the GTG this year?

ED.

quote:

going to be SUDDENLY released and unwind.

I can attest to that. I had a Zip Dee let loose inside while driving on I-75 a month ago. blasted rusty brown water out both ends of the tube like a cannon. really made a mess down side of coach. Not only that, the safety hook was not secured, allowing the bedroom curbside awning to deploy out into the next lane.

quote:

allowing the bedroom curbside awning to deploy out into the next lane

Now, I imagine that was exciting