How many people put power awning in every night?

[el_jefe1]

With my old manual awning, I used to put stakes in the ground and use ratchet straps to tie it down. Never had an issue or thought about bringing it in in high winds. Now with the power awning I'm afraid of every little gust of wind and I've been bringing it in every night. DW thinks I'm being paranoid. I'm wondering how many others bring it in every night? Or do you leave it out if the weather forecast is decent?

[Scottiemom]

Our power awning has a wind sensor. It has never worked properly. Used to have it fixed all the time under warranty. When that ran out, we just never messed with it. We take it in every night or if we are leaving for a bit. In over 40 years of camping, the last 14 fulltiming, we've never lost an awning.

A few weeks ago we put it out so DH could grill out in the shade. No wind, clear day, etc. He stepped inside for a minute to get some supplies and WHOOF, a microburst of wind out of nowhere caught the awning. From the sound, we figured it was up over the roof. Nope. . . looked perfectly normal until we put it in. The wind had lifted it from the back and pushed it forward on the rail to the point where it wouldn't roll up all the way. Dang. Never saw that before. We try to be so careful and this happened anyway!

We were scheduled to leave the following week and needed it fixed. So we called our local repair magician and his guys fixed it one morning in about 20 minutes. It wasn't damaged, just moved!

We see a lot of awnings staked out and even ribs put into the awning. When they take them down to move on, they are often all stretched out and difficult to even retract. We don't stake ours and use it when we want, taking it up when we leave or go to sleep.

Dale

[pennysmom09]

mooky stinks wrote:
We have a power awning and still have it strapped down when needed. No reason to bring it in every night.

X2 We also added poles and even roof trusses to hold our sun screen hanging from the automatic awning. This is when we are sitting in FL for 4 months. Have only had to roll up once in 4 years.

[neschultz]

Carefree of Colorado is now offering 3 different kits to add remote control and motion sensing retraction to existing power awnings. I just ordered this One it looks promising.

[NCWriter]

I remember chatting with a ranger at Devil’s Garden CG in Arches National Park. He stopped by mid-day when we were putting the (then-manual) awning in, since winds had started increasing, and said he wished everybody would bring theirs in before leaving the campground for the day. Apparently it was a fairly frequent occurrence that people returned to find damage.

The push-button retraction we have now is so easy, there’s no reason not to put it in at night or when leaving the RV to go places. But we tend to stay just a few days maximum since we use the RV for touring and sightseeing rather than one-location vacations.

We all camp in our own ways, and I know many people set up in one place for a week or months, using the awning like an auxiliary living room roof - left open to protect all the stuff placed underneath.

[Ralph_Cramden]

el.jefe wrote:
With my old manual awning, I used to put stakes in the ground and use ratchet straps to tie it down. Never had an issue or thought about bringing it in in high winds. Now with the power awning I'm afraid of every little gust of wind and I've been bringing it in every night. DW thinks I'm being paranoid. I'm wondering how many others bring it in every night? Or do you leave it out if the weather forecast is decent?

Power awnings can be easily modded to have self storing poles to allow tying them down carport just like the manual awnings have. They can also be modded to have an additional self storing pole so deflapper clips can be used. I would not tie one down without at least the added carport type poles as downforce from winds is just as bad as uplift when it comes to twisting the arms into pretzels on a power awning. If modded properly with tie down poles, they're just about bulletproof.

I have modded ours with both types of poles and leave it extended for weeks at a time. It once survived some 70 mph wind gusts in a pop up T storm, and plenty of times with 30 mph or better winds such as in the fall. No sleep lost.

Do a search for power awning mods. There is no shortage of fearmongers on RV forums to tell you what can't be done when it comes to anything and everything. You have to search out the things that can be done.

[afidel]

rexlion wrote:
Why gamble that no strong gust will ever come along and wreck it, when a push of the button insures a safe awning? That is how I think of it. Not paranoia, just common sense. One does not need the awning out all night, so putting it away seems natural.

We put pool noodles on our arms to keep folks from banging their head, makes it a bit of a chore to bring in. I check the wind forecast for the next 12 hours in the evening, if any hour the winds are expected to be over 10mph I'll bring it in. Hasn't been a problem yet.

[Galvanizd]

My Carefree of Colorado awning is strictly a sunshade awning. We bring it in when the sun isn't shinning or when were not at the rv to enjoy the shade.

[MitchF150]

I have the good ol' manual awning where I can swing out the arms to make a nice "car port" style of setup.. I never strap it down.. I do have those clamp on 'flapper' clamps on the sides and that really makes a difference in the little gusts that come along..

My 'gauge' is if the awning starts to rattle the trailer, it's time to bring it in.. This has happened in the wee hours of the morning, but it's no big deal, I just "chose poorly" that evening... Sometimes I bring it in before going to bed because the wind is such that I know..

I will leave it out going away for the days excursion, but I also pay attention to the weather report and what the weather is doing at the time and judge accordingly.. Sometimes it gets rolled up, sometimes I just lower it to it's lowest setting still attached to the trailer or I just leave it out..

It's whatever keeps you sleeping well at night and not worrying about it when you are out and about..

It all boils down to whatever works best for you is the way to go..

I've seen plenty of flipped over awnings on rigs.. I've seen ones that were strapped down, but it was not the frame part that failed... It was the part attached to the side of the RV that ripped away.. Seen awnings laying on the side of the hwy too... So, there you go! 🙂

Good luck!

Mitch

[rbpru]

I have the same manual sensor. If the wind picks up and the awning flaps it is time to bring it in. This is called common sense and works both day and night.

If we are gone for the day and we expect wind, we pull it in. At night if it is raining and we want to keep things dry we leave it out. If it is the dog days of summer and we are begging for any type of breeze we leave it out. If we are unsure we pull it in.

At times when we are around but not at the campsite we will run tie downs, as needed.

If you are unsure, just push the button, it takes maybe half a minute.

Good luck

[dodge_guy]

el.jefe wrote:

wnjj wrote:
Does it have a wind sensor? Some have a sensor that when shaken enough will retract the awning.

I've never heard of such a thing. That sounds kind of awesome, but then of course I'd wworty about the system failing and wouldn't want to rely on it.

My buddy’s 17 class A has that feature. It is kind of nice. The first time it went in he thought someone retracted it. Then he found out it had a wind sensor. Some even have a rain sensor. Although that defeats the purpose of having and awning.

[azdryheat]

If I'm in San Diego with a constant breeze I leave it out. If I'm in the desert at a lake with unpredictable winds I bring it in. When in doubt bring it in.

[ktmrfs]

we very often are camped in areas with not much wind. That said, when we leave the campsite area we roll in the awning. At night, I take a gander at weather and decide. Being a light sleeper, if wind comes up to start to rattle the awning, in it comes.

[Old-Biscuit]

Manual Awning

First thing in AM......awn goes out

Last thing before turning in...awning comes in


I do NOT what to get an elbow in the rib cause the flapping woke her up
NOT worth it!

[Bob_Olallawa]

I would only leave the awning out if I didn't care if it was there in the morning or after I get back for the day. On the other hand, I have brought in neighbor's awning a few times when they were gone and the wind kicked up. Better than it ending up on the roof or in the road. Now with all the electric ones and needing to get inside to roll them up, another story for sure.

[Atlee]

I always retract my awning at night, also anytime I leave the trailer, I will bring it in.