Dometic 9100 Powered Awning Non-Standard Fabric Replacement

[howson]

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Note—due to the length of these posts please tag me (don’t use quote) if you want to respond and get my attention. To tag enter howson at the start of your response.

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I can't stress enough how dangerous it is working on an RV awning. Easily the most dangerous (and painful) component I've messed with on my camper. Read and heed the lessons learned in this thread (and in the awning owner's manual). Don't for a second feel bad if this is a task you decide to pay a professional to accomplish (replace the fabric). "Learning by doing" has it's consequences. OK--read on!

This thread is the culmination and conclusion (hopefully!) to a string of threads on the subject of the awnings on my 315RLTS. This is unfortunately going to be a series of three long posts but hopefully the lessons learned and context will help someone else. The information is also for me so I have a reference in the future if/when I need to do this again.

Long-time regular forum members may remember the hard way I learned that the gutter on the long awning (over the door) on a 315RLTS holds the awning fabric to the camper. Removing the gutter without securing the awning arms nearly sent me to the hospital. I was also very fortunate that the awning wasn’t destroyed.

• If you don’t recall that near-disaster, the thread is here (go to post 9 if you just want to read about my mistake): Roof Gutter Inspection Results (It's Ugly) https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...8532#post78532

Another result of that first mega-goof was a non-OEM awning reinstallation. In short, I added a new awning rail under the OEM gutter instead of using the original gutter awning rail. The new rail is shown in a picture below.

• The thread that documents the non-OEM awning reinstallation is here: Reinstalling an Awning https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...ling-an-awning

What I didn’t anticipate with the new rail is that it is impossible to slide the awning material out of the rail (either left or right) due to the awning arms. You can see for yourself the issue in the picture below.



To get the material out of the awning rail I had to remove the rail from the camper. This is a good place to reinforce another (painful) lesson learned:

WARNING: PIN the spring end of the awning tube (FRTA) when working with the awning!

• Another thread documenting a painful and expensive lesson: Messing with the Awning? PIN IT!!! https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...-awning-pin-it

WARNING: Always ensure BOTH of the awning arms are secured before removing the FRTA from either of the arms, removing the awning material from the awning railing, or removing the awning gutter rail.

As you may note in the pictures above, in the past I’ve used zip ties to hold back the awning arms. An alternative that was easier is using straps as shown in the picture below.



Since the awning rail had to come off the camper that meant cleaning off all the butyl tape on the back of the rail and camper wall. Then I had to figure out how to get everything reinstalled without doing it per the manual, since (again) sliding the material back onto the awning rail with it installed on the camper wasn’t an option.

Oh—and the inability to remove the awning material (slide it left or right out of the rail) was also encountered on the shorter awning (over the dinette) due to the slide topper I’d installed. So I got to do the non-standard installation twice.

• Full story on the slide topper installation here: Solera Slide Topper Install - '19 315RLTS https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...all-19-315rlts

To be continued...

[howson]

Dometic 9100 Powered Awning Non-Standard Fabric Replacement (continued)

The Non-Standard Fabric Installation

1. Insert the awning fabric material’s retention “rope” (for lack of a better term) through the awning rail.
   • Note at this point the awning material is not on the tube (Dometic calls the tube the “FRTA”).
   • The plastic LED light holder is also not installed as it would have interfered with the installation of the rail screws.
2. Apply new butyl tape to the back of the awning rail.
3. With the DW’s help, climb up ladders and toss the unsecured awning material (what should be attached to the FRTA) onto the roof of the RV.
   • The bottom of the material is facing up (and out) when the rail is positioned on the side of the camper in the next step.
4. Line up as carefully as possible the rail with the previous installation position and tack up the rail (skipping multiple screws initially just to get the rail in place). Once tacked in place secure the rail with all the screws (do not overtighten).
5. With the rail reattached to the camper, carefully pull the awning material off the roof and let it drape down the side of the camper.
6. Slide the FRTA onto the outer end of the awning fabric’s material (it’s hanging quite low at this point so this is easy).

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7. Rivet on the spring end assembly to the FRTA.
   • I used aluminum 3/16” rivets with a 3/8” - 1/2” grip range.
   • The spring assembly did not have any tension on it at this point. Releasing the tension will be discussed at the end of this post
8. Climb up the ladders again and reinstall both ends of the FRTA into the awning arms. The awning arms were about 12” out from the camper (tied off with straps as shown previously).
   • WARNING – the Top Casting fits into slots on the awning arm to ensure it holds securely. Understand how it installs and double-check it is right before putting tension on the spring. The pictures at the end of this post were taken from the Dometic manual.
9. Reattach the power connector to the motor.
10. Turn the FRTA about two turns using the RETRACT button (so we used the motor).
11. Release the spring tension introduced by turning the FRTA the two turns in the previous step by removing the left side Top Casting from the awning arm and unwind it manually. There should only be a small amount of tension from the spring since it had none at the start.
    • WARNING – verify there’s only a small amount of spring tension. It should be very easy to wiggle the FRTA with your hand while it is still installed in the awning arm. If you can’t easily move the tube with your hand there’s “Danger Will Robinson” tension on the spring.
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 until the fabric is rewound onto the FRTA (since the arms are about a foot from the camper, the FRTA will also still be about a foot out from the camper).
    • There still should be little to no tension on the spring at this point.

Almost done! The last step is pre-tensioning the spring, which will be discussed in the next post.





To be Continued...

[howson]

Dometic 9100 Powered Awning Non-Standard Fabric Replacement (continued)

Pre-Tensioning the Spring

What must be understood is the spring tightens as the awning deploys.

• • The tightening spring fights the gas strut-powered extension arms (so they don’t sling the awning material away from the camper) and the spring also helps the motor overcome the gas struts upon retraction.
  • Look carefully at how the spring is installed and it should be obvious that when the FRTA turns clockwise (extending the awning fabric) the spring tightens. So when pre-tensioning using the Top Casting that part must be wound counter-clockwise.
    • “Clockwise” and “Counter-clockwise” is the direction when standing under the awning and looking toward’s the rear of the camper.

Remember the awning arms are about a foot from the camper, so there should still be some tension on the spring (but not a lot). After much experimentation I found that four CCW turns on the Top Casting was “just right”.

• Four turns is still dangerous to handle (if you lose control of the top casting) but it’s doable.
• How could I tell the tension was right? I could stop the awning deployment at any point during extension (the arms were obviously unstrapped at this point) and the awning did not continue to open by itself.

Removing Spring Tension

As previously mentioned, how does one remove the tension in the spring end of the FRTA?

• Consider that to remove (or install) new fabric on the FRTA either the spring end must come out or the motor end must come out of the FRTA.

If you’re fortunate, it will be obvious there’s not much tension on the tube prior to removing the FRTA from the camper or removing the old material.

• How? Because even with the tube pinned it will be easy to wiggle the tube back and forth. If it’s rock solid and won’t move the spring is super-tight and very dangerous.

So how, if there’s a super-tight spring in the tube, can tension be released without endangering yourself or others? I haven’t done this (I’ve managed to try and kill myself both times by doing it “wrong”) but now that I understand the mechanism in theory the following should work.

• Reinstalled the pinned FRTA without any fabric on it onto the strapped awning arms.
• Bolt both Top Castings in place in the arms.
• Reconnect the power lead to the motor.
• Unpin the spring.
  • What I had to do (both to find the hole to insert the pin and remove the pin) was “bump” the RETRACT or EXTEND button to move the FRTA until the pin came out easily (or I found where to insert the pin).
• Using the RETRACT button, use the motor to turn the FRTA about two turns counter-clockwise.
  • As you now know, that unwinds the spring.
• Check to see how much tension is on the spring by trying to wiggle the FRTA (which is still secured in the awning arms).
  • If it’s easy to wiggle, the left Top Casting should be safe to remove from it’s awning arm and then unwind the Top Casting the rest of the way manually.
  • If the spring is still too tight, turn the FRTA one more time and repeat until the spring is loose.
    • Be slow and cautious—you don’t want to turn the spring in the wrong direction by overshooting the neutral or unsprung position.

**Update** It works! I couldn’t stand not trying this, so during the dinette awning install I tested the theory. See the video at https://youtu.be/LEN0DZfuGQo

LED Lights
A reader paying attention may have noticed that up to this point I haven’t mentioned how the LED lights were reinstalled. Again, due to how the railing is installed, they could not be installed as intended by the OEM. Instead, what I did was remove the back of the plastic rail (with a Dremel) and then, using VHB tape, secured the light holder to the camper just under the awning rail.



Still A Mystery

What I have not figured out yet is how to add tension to an FRTA that needs another turn or two after the fabric is installed. The dinette awning has four turns of pre-tension (like the main awning) but I can tell by how the awning deploys and retracts that’s it’s not quite right. It could probably take another two turns--but that’s too much for me to control. (The dinette awning’s Top Casting is the one that nearly took off my left hand as documented in the Pin It! Thread.) I really don’t want to pin the left Top Casting, remove it from the awning arm, and then try to turn the Top Casting using a pair of Vice Grips (or something that provides more leverage), re-pin it and reinstall in the arm. That’s a recipe for another possible trip to the Emergency Room (something I’ve so far miraculously avoided).

Questions? Comments? Fire away. Remember--please don't use the quote feature (tag me instead).

Howard

[Beachcamper]

howson that was an amazing amount of info thank you for posting this. You have totally convinced me that this is not a project I would tackle. But my awning fabric is getting small tears and will probably need replacement in the near future.

[Jlawles2]

Howard, let me ask the dumb question about pre tension. Is it possible to extend the awing slightly (5-6 turns), then PIN the spring end, remove the spring end, roll awning back in with motor, then reassemble and unpin the spring end? The number of turns extended and retracted may need to vary based on how much additional pre tension you need to add to the fabric.

[howson]

Howard, let me ask the dumb question about pre tension. Is it possible to extend the awing slightly (5-6 turns), then PIN the spring end, remove the spring end, roll awning back in with motor, then reassemble and unpin the spring end? The number of turns extended and retracted may need to vary based on how much additional pre tension you need to add to the fabric.

Unfortunately the spring end is held in with rivets (and so is the motor end). So if an individual is willing to drill out the rivets, then do as you suggest, and rivet the end back on (all while suspended up on a ladder) your suggestion could work.

It's an exceptionally poorly engineered system IMHO. (What a shock that's it an RV part, right?)

[Jlawles2]

Howard, I guess I was under the assumption that you could un bolt the end of the arm and lift the awning up slightly. With the spring pinned to the end the Motor end would hold it in place.

Not having taken one apart, I was spit balling a conceptual idea.

[Beachcamper]

I am in the process of decidíng to DIY this installation or pay someone to do it. Have same issue in my 2018 303rls awning that is on slide out. The channel is installed in between the arms. Is there any flex at all to get the fabric into the rail without disconnecting the channel or arms? Where did you get your fabric?

Found a good video to add to your post:

https://youtu.be/SmlVH4RNWrY

[TucsonJim]

Many years ago, I tried to replace the awning material on S.O.B that had the old manual awning. It went well until the spring pin fell out. I got banged up and nearly broke my arm. I decided I'd never try that again. It's very dangerous if you don't know exactly what you're doing.

Jim

[howson]

Beachcamper -- I agree with Jim. The task involves a lot of risk.

Not sure I mentioned it in this thread, but when I used zip ties (and had one of my oopsie moments) the zip ties failed. I note this due to the content in the video. Use a strap!

[COReflection]

I've done a couple of these on my last campers and they were super easy IMHO. There are some very detailed videos available. I think it was less than 30 mins tops including pinning the spring and drilling out the motor side rivets. You can do it.

[Beachcamper]

howson, I am leaning towards hiring a mobile tech but the trip charges are well over 300 one way to our location. Where did you order fabric from?

COReflection My vertigo on a ladder is main problem and of course Howards and TucsonJim warnings about the spring letting loose. Also looking at maybe taking it to a dealer. If anyone has any recommendations in Florida or Elkhart, Indiana, please chime in.

[howson]

Beachcamper

I ordered Solera replacements from etrailer. I believe they go well with the color scheme of my '19 Reflection. I chose them based on the extra weatherstrip that is always exposed to the sun.



During the installation (obviously)



Dinette Awning Installed



I can't recommend anyone specifically for the install (sorry). If you're coming up I-75 there is a Campers Inn dealer in Ocala. Perhaps if you have the material and arrange in advance (and you bring the camper to them) they can be installed at a specific date and time?

Howard

[Beachcamper]

That’s very nice and the black strip makes sense won’t show dirt as much either. Thank you!

[Jbandtbone]

howson, I found this last week while searching for awning repairs on the internet. Which got me to thinking I'm needing to replace the awning fabric on both of the awnings. Luckly the main 13'- 0" awning is on its own awning rail, but unlucky on the 10'-6" awning attached to the slide the rail is in between the arms. I've had some other issues that I have discussed in earlier posts with my awning arms after finding Yoda, post from10/16/209. Right now, waiting on some responses from Campers Inn RV and other mobile technicians to help with the fabric replacement. But any information on your actual lowering of the arms on your rig might come in handy when and if I get a call back. Also let me thank you and the fellow contributors on this site. Because otherwise I would have been lost in this whole adventure of RVing. lol