Girard Awning

[Tom and Pam Brown]

I arrived at my new location only to find my annonometer had lost a cup.  It was all interstate and I have a cage around the annonometer since the last one I replaced.  I emailed the picture looking for a little help from Giriard and still had to spend over $100 to get a replacement.  NOT VERY HAPPY!

Whereas customer service from these people?  I have read the nitemares about carefree and did not expect this from the high end folks at Girard.

I explained that there was no way it hit anything due to the cage I installed.  I asked if there was anyone I could plead mY case to and was told NO!

Just so you guys know they are interested in profit more than reputation.

Sorry Gerald may be the wrong thread for my post.

[Joel Weiss]

The good news is that if you replace the sensor with the newer type that has a set of S-shaped vanes, Girard will let you buy just the vanes the next time this happens.   It still cost me ~$40 with shipping for a set of plastic vanes but it was cheaper and easier to fix than the original one.

[Tom and Pam Brown]

They told me that when I bought the last one....guess we will have to see..... Just so disappointed with these folks.  Guess profit comes no matter how bad the taste is for the consumer.  Gonna be hard to sell me on girard after this crap.  Not a full timer and parked under cover and it lasted less than 2 years.

[John Harris]

"The good news is that if you replace the sensor with the newer type that has a set of S-shaped vanes, Girard will let you buy just the vanes the next time this happens.   It still cost me ~$40 with shipping for a set of plastic vanes but it was cheaper and easier to fix than the original one."

Bit, what is the cost of the"new type" as a replacement.

[Joel Weiss]

If you do get the new vanes, be aware of the fact that the shaft "assembly" can be taken out of the "socket" that is attached to the roof of the coach.  I found it much easier to get the new vanes onto the shaft while working on it at ground level rather than on the roof.  I'm actually not sure why Girard sells the vanes loose rather than selling the entire shaft assembly so you could just plug in the new one.  Of course, if they did that they'd charge even more for it.

[Tom and Pam Brown]

$140

[Joel Weiss]

Does that at least get you the new style?

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Joel,

So  I am told Joel.

[Jeremy Parrett]

I have a vaneless wind sensor on my sailboat.  Just for fun I am going to see if the sensor works on the Girard awning. It may be that all I have to do is adjust the 'wind speed' setting

[Steve Jewell]

Hello, You can buy the wind cups from Davis Weather Instruments for $10.00. You want the small diameter wind cups made for anemometers made after 2003. I have replace mine several times. I even carry a spare one.

Steve Jewell

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Well, finally received the new anonometer and installed, well almost installed the paperwork with said to match wire colors and splice.  My old one had brown and blue the new one black and red the website is of no assistance.

So unless someone here know the color scheme I guess I will have to wait until Monday to finish the install.  What a pain they knew I had the old style and yet no cross reference to colors.

Girard is fast becoming my least favorite part of my coach!

[Edward Buker]

I believe that the anemometer is just a pulse generator using a magnet and a reed switch that is encased in glass. As the magnet goes by the reed switch, it closes contacts, and then they reopen when the magnet is at a distance. You can check that by taking an ohm meter on a low resistance scale and manually rotating the paddles. If you see low resistance then high as the sensor closes then that is what you have. If you then try a DC or AC Low Voltage scale and with rotation no voltage is being generated then it will also confirm that this sensor is just a switch pulse generator and not a voltage generator type.

I seem to recall that you may be able to look in the bottom of the assembly and see if it just a switch type also.

If you confirm it is just a switch type pulse generator then it will make no difference which specific color wires (red or black) are connected to the blue or brown wire, other than they are well connected, and insulated so as not to short to each other. Either red to brown and black to blue or the opposite should work fine.

Later Ed

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Thanks ED for the response, however the directions were very specific to connect like color wires.

So I guess I will wait until Monday to confer with the folks at Girard.  Do not want them to have a reason to deny a warranty claim if I have an issue.  Seems like they are doing that to others who have posted on this board.

[Joel Ashley]

Hmmm.  And I was going to look into replacing my Carefree with a Girard.  My Carefree's wind cups have never broken.

But a lot of other things on my slide out covers and awning have, including the aluminum sleeve that connects the drive motor to the roller tube.  The hole where the motor's shaved steel drive shaft passes through the sleeve wore down (who knew steel would rub and wear out soft aluminum?  Duh.  Apparently Carefree engineers didn't), allowing the sleeve and tube to free spin on the driveshaft.  

The failed sleeve allowed the awning to suddenly and chaotically fall away from the coach last month on TransCanada 1 in the mountains at 60 mph, ripping the material off the aluminum roller guard, and creating quite a problem to resolve along the high-speed highway, with the awning frame and tube dangling fully extended out over a down slope, material flapping from it in the breeze.  Fortunately we were in the outside lane when it happened, so no one was on our right.  The only injury was to Lee's composure, since the sudden calamity was on her side of the coach.  Of course I didn't stay composed too long either, after I got stopped and out to see the situation I was facing.  A few choice words once again went Carefree's way.

Reckon I'll check into Dometic/A&E for a possible replacement.  I never had a problem with the A&E on our old coach over the 21 years we had it.   You can bet I'll be looking closely at motor-to-tube construction on whatever I buy.

Joel

[Tom and Pam Brown]

Joel, I cannot say that Girard makes a bad product it is their customer support that I question.  I left a message for the general manager when I had to order the part and to date no return call.  If they would at the very least act like they were concerned I would feel a bit better.  They pay attention to rally attendees but not to others like me who are not retired yet and cannot make the long journey required to attend.

I hope someday someone at Girard will see mine and others who have posted and at the very least reach out and try to salvage their reputation. I for one would be glad to retract my opinion of their customer service because they do build a good product.