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This post is a spin-off from the Roof Gutter Inspection Results (It's Ugly) thread. After inadvertantly {clears throat} "removing" the main awning (a Dometic 9100 Powered Awning) during the inspection process (documented in post 9) I was favored with the task of reinstalling it. This thread's posts will attempt to document what I did, why I did it, what I learned in the process, and what I used to accomplish the task.
An acknowledgement to several members is due first for the parts of this task that went right as their insights and previous posts on similar issues was extremely helpful. So to Yoda , Cate&Rob , Guest , Country Campers and many others that I've probably left out (not intentional--sorry!): thank you. All the screw-ups are due to my negligence and can be traced to a single oversight: I didn't RTFM. (RTFM in polite company means Read the Freakin' Manual.)
First issue I dealt with was what hardware to use to reattach the arms to the camper. The left side railing was 3/4 yanked out of the camper and almost all of the #14 x-10 x 1 1/2" screws used to hold the arms to the camper showed evidence of water intrusion, thus the wall material where the holes were in the camper sidewall was considered compromised. (#14 is a 1/4" screw.)
After reading and researching the topic extensively, I decided to go up one screw size from #14 to 5/16", but not quite as long (1" stainless steel). For a washer I chose a thin plastic spacer that was no wider than the bolt's head. The 5/16" bolt had nearly the exact same head width dimension as the original since it had a larger head for the screw size. Bottom line: new bolts fit fine. The picture below shows the original screw and the new 5/16" bolts installed in the arms.
To be transparent, 2 of the 16 bolts (one of each leg) did not snug up as desired, but overall the awning is much more secure than it was previously. I used black butyl tape on the entire back of both arms (pic shows me I need to clean up the edges!). The bolt heads are going to get sealed with silicone.
AWNING MATERIAL RAIL
The next issue I wrestled with was how to get the awning material reinstalled in the gutter's awning rail. What the reader has to understand is the awning rail is incorporated right into the gutter rail--they are one piece. On the 315RLTS, the only way I could see to get the material on (or off) the gutter's awning rail was by removing the rear gutter from the camper. (The gutters are two 15' pieces that form one continuous gutter the length of the trailer and are capped with rain drip spouts) I didn't want to remove the newly installed rear gutter to do that.
Easy servicing of the awning in the future was also desirable.
I decided to add a awning rail below the gutter and was lucky to find a piece of awning rail with the perfect color at a local RV parts store. The rail is installed flush against the bottom of the gutter rail, so there is a slight loss of slope when the awning is deployed. (In other words water will not run off as quickly due to having less slope.)
Installation Process
The awning arms were going back in exact same place they were before--I didn't want any extra holes in the side of the camper and definitely did not want gaps between the top of the arm and the bottom of the gutter. (The arms were installed flush against the gutter by GD.)
The installation manual shows the correct procedure for installing the awning's arms and material in the rail.
I didn't want to do it the manual's way to ensure the awning arm bolts went into the original holes. Installing the arms separate from the roller was the solution. Not easy, but doable.
So left arm went up first, FRTA (with a neighbor's help) was then slid through the material. The left side of the FRTA was inserted into the arm and the right (motor) side was held up with a ladder. Then the right side arm was installed and the FRTA was secured to it. (Sure sounds easy typing it out...)
To keep the arm assembly from springing out to full length (something I'd already learned it will do!) all it took was a few zip ties. Slight deviation from the manual but since the entire back of the arm was covered with butyl their method didn't work. What I did below worked.
Other Musings
Conclusion
Something Dumb, DIfferent or Dangerous: an old boss used to say every accident can be traced back to one of them. I hit the trifecta with this project but was lucky enough to stay out of the ER. Learned more than I really wanted to know about awnings.
Hope this helps someone else avoid my mistakes.
Howard
An acknowledgement to several members is due first for the parts of this task that went right as their insights and previous posts on similar issues was extremely helpful. So to Yoda , Cate&Rob , Guest , Country Campers and many others that I've probably left out (not intentional--sorry!): thank you. All the screw-ups are due to my negligence and can be traced to a single oversight: I didn't RTFM. (RTFM in polite company means Read the Freakin' Manual.)
- Bear with me as I go through the issues--they aren't necessarily in chronological order and will sometimes show the end result before other issues have been mentioned.
First issue I dealt with was what hardware to use to reattach the arms to the camper. The left side railing was 3/4 yanked out of the camper and almost all of the #14 x-10 x 1 1/2" screws used to hold the arms to the camper showed evidence of water intrusion, thus the wall material where the holes were in the camper sidewall was considered compromised. (#14 is a 1/4" screw.)
After reading and researching the topic extensively, I decided to go up one screw size from #14 to 5/16", but not quite as long (1" stainless steel). For a washer I chose a thin plastic spacer that was no wider than the bolt's head. The 5/16" bolt had nearly the exact same head width dimension as the original since it had a larger head for the screw size. Bottom line: new bolts fit fine. The picture below shows the original screw and the new 5/16" bolts installed in the arms.
- During the research process I learned a lot about bolts sizes and why it so confusing when looking at sizes (other than metric which is easy). Absolutely the best resource I found is boltdepot.com. They have fantastic, downloadable PDFs and the website is exceptionally informative. Well worth your time to investigate.
To be transparent, 2 of the 16 bolts (one of each leg) did not snug up as desired, but overall the awning is much more secure than it was previously. I used black butyl tape on the entire back of both arms (pic shows me I need to clean up the edges!). The bolt heads are going to get sealed with silicone.
AWNING MATERIAL RAIL
The next issue I wrestled with was how to get the awning material reinstalled in the gutter's awning rail. What the reader has to understand is the awning rail is incorporated right into the gutter rail--they are one piece. On the 315RLTS, the only way I could see to get the material on (or off) the gutter's awning rail was by removing the rear gutter from the camper. (The gutters are two 15' pieces that form one continuous gutter the length of the trailer and are capped with rain drip spouts) I didn't want to remove the newly installed rear gutter to do that.
Easy servicing of the awning in the future was also desirable.
I decided to add a awning rail below the gutter and was lucky to find a piece of awning rail with the perfect color at a local RV parts store. The rail is installed flush against the bottom of the gutter rail, so there is a slight loss of slope when the awning is deployed. (In other words water will not run off as quickly due to having less slope.)
Installation Process
The awning arms were going back in exact same place they were before--I didn't want any extra holes in the side of the camper and definitely did not want gaps between the top of the arm and the bottom of the gutter. (The arms were installed flush against the gutter by GD.)
The installation manual shows the correct procedure for installing the awning's arms and material in the rail.
I didn't want to do it the manual's way to ensure the awning arm bolts went into the original holes. Installing the arms separate from the roller was the solution. Not easy, but doable.
So left arm went up first, FRTA (with a neighbor's help) was then slid through the material. The left side of the FRTA was inserted into the arm and the right (motor) side was held up with a ladder. Then the right side arm was installed and the FRTA was secured to it. (Sure sounds easy typing it out...)
To keep the arm assembly from springing out to full length (something I'd already learned it will do!) all it took was a few zip ties. Slight deviation from the manual but since the entire back of the arm was covered with butyl their method didn't work. What I did below worked.
Other Musings
- The warning in the manual about putting the awning on something to protect the fabric from damage? It's a really good warning. Leaving the awning on concrete overnight (and having it subjected to a thunderstorm) is not a good plan. Yes, the material is exceptionally and surprisingly fragile (especially after a few years of exposure to the summer sun). Black Gorilla Tape to the rescue until I get the fabric replaced (probably next year).
- The warning in the manual about the rapid casting spin off when the FRTA is removed from the arm? Uh...that's a good one to note. Oh, and not that I know this {clears throat again} but if you rewind the FRTA spring counter-clockwise that awning will deploy faster than you ever imagined. Getting it to retract, though (without blowing a fuse) is a bit difficult. Winding the left end of the FRTA assembly clockwise to restore the factory tension is the better plan. Awning works a whole lot better with the spring tension in the correct orientation.
- With the wiring apart quick-disconnects were added to the LED lighting and to the camper end of the awning's wiring. There's an OEM provided SAE connector at the motor head, and now there's another SAE connector on the camper's wiring where it exist the wall.
Conclusion
Something Dumb, DIfferent or Dangerous: an old boss used to say every accident can be traced back to one of them. I hit the trifecta with this project but was lucky enough to stay out of the ER. Learned more than I really wanted to know about awnings.
Hope this helps someone else avoid my mistakes.
Howard
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