Girard b-25 awning motor

[Carl Boger]

My 1998 Beaver Patriot Savannah has a Girard Awning that has worked up until today.  Today when we tried to extend it it moved very slowly and the motor was making a grinding sound.  After extending it for about 6 inches I thought better of it and retracted.  It still moved very slow and made a grinding sound, but did stop automatically when retracted.

After searching on line it seems that there was a replacement motor for this, but I don't know if my motor was ever replaced.   The Paperwork that was in my coach when I bought it indicates that I have a Girard B-25 Awning.

Checking their web-site they do not mention the B-25 awning that I can find.  I am not sure if they support it or not.  I had a friend who is a dealer for them call them this afternoon.  The person we talked with was unsure if they had a motor or not and was going to try to locate someone more knowledgeable about the older units.

So with that background, does anyone know if there is a replacement motor for this unit, or replacemant gears?  Any part numbers. 

I did not pull the end cap off to see if I could access the motor.  It looks like I will either have to take the through bolts out of the awning to give me a little room, or clearance the trim about 1/2 a screw head to get the screw out. I am not sure if that would give me enough room to get the motor out or not.

I would appreciate any help in both locating the needed parts, or in how to service the unit.  Right now the motor still turns but is slow and noisy.  I have also seen posted where the awning can self extend in some situations.  Not really wanting to go there ever. 

[Fred Brooks]

   Carl,
I think it is a Girard G-2000 lateral arm patio awning. If it is located partially recessed into an opening, It is an issue to replace the motor. If you can locate the eyelet the manual crank rod attaches to, that is where the motor is located. The awning (if recessed) needs to be partially un-bolted from the inside nuts enough to get the awning box out past the sidewall to remove the motor. Caution; the lateral arms are spring loaded and will throw you off the ladder. Get the owners repair manual and seek professional help please. Hope this helps & be careful, Fred

[Eric Maclean]

Carl
I believe your awning is surface mounted like mine as Fred stated the awning roller is spring loaded by the arms of you try to unbolt that motor without resting the arms the roller will spin freely and violently allowing the arms to extend .
On your coach the awning box is mounted to aluminium plates bolted through the wall.
 there should be a 1/2 gap between the back of the awning box and the wall the thickness of the plates.at the top of the box there should be a rubber seal from the box to the wall which is sometimes missing.
 if you fish ratchet straps up behind the box at each of the arm locations and use them to secure the head rail against the box so that the arms can't extend
Then using the manual crank turn the roller enough to release the tension on the roller/ awning fabric loose then and only then can you remove the motor mounting plate and motor
From the reseach I've done Hard used a couple of different motor manufacturers and Florida awning is a distributor for them
https://www.floridaautomatedshade.com/default.asp
Hope this helps and play it safe
Eric

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Carl,
The manual for the B25 awning is in Coach Assist. It includes troubleshooting and a parts list
Steve

[Carl Boger]

Thanks Steve,
I somehow missed it.

[Carl Boger]

Following up on what I have learned about Girard awnings so far.  Hopefully this can be a starting point for someone in the future.
 
I have what I believe is a Girard B25 awning.  The reason I believe this is that the operating manual I received with my coach.  There is not a lot of information or diagrams out  there for the B25's. 

Measuring my awning it has the same dimensions as the G2000 awnings and looks the same as far as I can tell right now.   19'8'" wide and extending to 9'9". There is more published out there for the G2000's.

Now the bad news is I have one of the awning motors with the black plastic gear case ( see attached). This may or may not have been recalled, but that is most likely water under the bridge now.  What makes it bad is that it can reportedly strip the gears out as you drive and the awning will then extend under spring  pressure as you are driving!  The newer motors are supposed to have metal gear boxes.

So since mine is suspect does anyone know of a way to hold the awning in the closed position?  It looks like the gear box is all that holds it in and that there is not much to strap it shut with. My awning is recessed into the side of the coach so I can't get a strap behind it.

I am still waiting for Girard and FAS to get back to me about which motors might fit my awning, maybe I will hear something tomorrow. 

I am confident that I will be able to get this fixed one way or another, but right now the lack of information is frustrating.  Even trying to identify exactly which awning I have is unclear.  Beaver who documented several other systems down to the serial numbers, left the awning off. 

My awning also does not have a way to manually extend or retract the awning like some others.  The G2000 manual mentions what to do for those awnings without the manual controls, by using the set screws to adjust the opening and closing points for the motor.  Didn't see that in the B25 manual that has much less information.

If anyone has any insight on this I am all ears,  Especially on how to keep the awning in.  I have a trip in April and would hate for it to go out while driving, I can live with not putting it out while there.  Not going to put it out anymore until I am prepared to fix it.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Carl,.
Page 1 of the B25 Manual in Coach Assist describes the procedure to extend and retract the awning manually. The manual was revised in June of 99.
Steve

[Fred Brooks]

  Carl, I think the manual crank is  on the B-25 is on the opposite end of the motor. If you don't have the rod you can make one from some 1/4" all thread or rod. Extend the awning 10 " enough to tie the arms together (each) closest to the leading edge and the box mount so they cannot extend. Then retract 1 or 2 inches to take the tension off the motor.

[Carl Boger]

Fred,

The cut out is on the right side, the left side is sealed up so no way to get a rod up there.  As in the picture there are also two set screws at the motor like described in the  G2000's to set the retraction stop points.  Still trying to figure all this out, but what a education.

[Carl Boger]

Steve,
My awning is not set up like that and really does not look exactly like Diagram 1 to me.  I have no proof yet! , but I am leaning toward the fact that I have a G2000 awning and Beaver included a B25 manual that is slightly different than the manual that is online.

Also the BMO motor shown in Diagram 2a doesn't look to me like the picture I posted.

When I read the G2000 manual it explains what to do when a manual crank was not included.  The B25 does not in either manual.  Like I said it is an education.

[Fred Brooks]

  Carl, Sorry for your frustration, I think you have the G 2000 also. Either fabricate a manual rod or purchase one off of ebay because you will need to manually crank it out or in. I made a typo on my last post. Once the arms are restrained so they cannot extend, then crank it OUT another 1/2 turn to take the tension off of the fabric and motor. Once you have the awning box unbolted on the motor end and propped outward past the recessed cavity, changing the motor and wiring lead is pretty easy. You may need to remove your refer to get to the side wall bolts. Hope this helps, Fred

[Carl Boger]

Thanks Fred,

Still trying to figure this out and it is raining for a few days so will not be working on it,  Unfortunately my gear box does not have any type of manual access.  There is an access hole, but the box is sealed and does not have any appendages to hook a handle onto.  The G2000 manual talks about how to deal with this, the B25 does not.  My through bolts are right over my door and easy to access.  The G2000 manual talks about loosening only the front bolts on Beavers and keeping them pried out with a screwdriver or something similar to get the needed clearance.  Sure sounds like it was written for my coach.

In the interim to keep the awning while driving I believe I can find a small overlapping area on each end and drill a small hole and put it a sheet metal screw to lock the halves together. 

I think my coach was probably made right when they were transitioning from the B25's to the G2000's so it may be kind of a experimental hybrid!

[Eric Maclean]

Carl
 I don't see it in your pictures but on my coach there is another hex shaped hole which an allen key fits into to manually crank it in or out maybe it's just out of sight or maybe your right there was no provision for manual operation it seems strange though as my unit is a year older than yours and it has a manual provision .
I'll have to take another look at mine maybe what we are looking at is another difference between the old motor ( Plastic gear case) and the updated one.
Eric

[Fred Brooks]

    Carl, Under coach assist under awnings is the Girard G-2000. Pages 19 thru 22 gives a detailed explanation including Beaver and Safari applications. Hope this helps, Fred

[Carl Boger]

Don't know why the picture didn't attach