BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Will Hansen on May 30, 2018, 08:06:33 PM
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Yesterday, while driving west on I-90 near Ellensburg WA I noticed our main C of C awning was starting to deploy due to extreme side wind hitting the passenger side of the coach. I exited ASAP and turned the coach to put the wind on the drivers side and powered the awning out about a foot (very scary, but only thing I could think of short of gorilla tape) then retracted it which got it mostly back into its normal retracted position. So, do any of you know if there an adjustment I can make to make retraction tighter or is this tendency to get loose the result of some worn part in the mechanism?
All was ok after the freeway turned north and the wind hit us head-on, and normal driving is fine. I suppose “don’t do that” is a solution, but just wondering if there’s a possibility of a mechanical fix.
TIA
-Will
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Will, there was a recall on the awning motor from carefree on your awning that has expired. We had the same problem only our awning completely deployed. I suggest you drill a 1/4 inch hole on the u shaped channel attached to your coach at the very top front of coach only . Then use a zip tie to secure the extending arm of your awning to the u channel. Then pursue investigating your awning motor.
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Will,
If your awning motor shaft has a single flat, it needs replacement. New ones have a double flat. Carefree supplied me with one free of charge when I asked about them at the AZ FMCA rally a couple of years ago. Call them and they may do the same for you. Good Luck.
Steve
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After our disastrous experience in 2012 I researched and found the device I mention in the thread below.
I had not heard of the revised motor shaft Steve alluded to until this thread, even though Careless of Colorado was aware of our mountain freeway incident and could have notified us of any subsequent design modification. At the time I felt the unit should have been recalled due to its potential on-highway hazard.
I don’t think we’ve used the awning since BCS replaced the motor and repaired the torn-off fabric; the thought of a repeat is still too prominent in our minds.
http://beaveramb.org/forum/index.php/topic,4981.msg46138.html#msg46138
Joel
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Did this recall (which I have never heard of until now ) included the awning on the 2008 Contessa...anyone know?? Where can I check on this?
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Thanks all. You folks are great!
Carefree/less’s website seems to be missing their phone number. I’ll try email and post results here. Failing that, I’ll talk to a local dealer.
-Will
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Careless of Colorado phone #: (303) 469-3324
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I was able to find the model and serial number in my records so I filled out the online support request form on the C of C website. Got the response shown below so I'm going to purchase the replacement motor and attempt to install myself. Does anyone have experience in replacing the motor?
Dear Mr. Hansen,
Thank you for your email.
For clarification we do not and did not have a recall issued on the Eclipse awning at any time for any component or reason. We have however made improvements to the Eclipse over the years as we do all our products, and one of the revisions was we have a motor with a double flat shaft. Many years ago we partnered with the Monaco Owners Club to offer the current double flat shaft motor to Monaco Owners who reached out to us at a reduced cost of $75.00, that may be what some of the other owners may be referring to.
We are happy to honor that agreement today if you like. Just let us know and we will be glad to arrange. The offer is good anytime. Thank you again.
Kind Regards,
Traci Deyoung
Carefree of Colorado
Main: 303-469-3324 |
www.CarefreeOfColorado.com
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Will,
I replaced mine. It's not too bad a job. Instructions should come with the motor if I remember correctly. Best to have 2 people to do it. It can be done by 1 person if you have a way of supporting the other end of the extended awning. Motor is on front extended end of awning. My new motor drew a bit more amperage than the original and would stall. I fixed b changing ground source for motor to the same ground as the copilot chair as it was close to the controller.
Steve
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Trouble is it’s been 6 years since I worked on ours. Thankfully the campground owner in Custer, S.D., assisted me with temporary repairs (in order to get us out of a site reserved for others the coming evening) and we used his well-equipped shop to jury rig the drive. But I’ve forgotten too many details, other than him helping to hold the tube while I uninstalled and reinstalled the motor on the entry door end. Seems we had the thing extended, both were on ladders or stepladders, and there was a slight trick to finagling the two halves of the black end cover.
Sure wish I could remember and help more, but as Steve says the instructions should be adequate; that’s more than I had when I had to figure it out as I went. I also wish now that I’d looked at the new motor BCS put in a month or two later... I’m curious if an upgraded shaft was used. I remember being aggravated with Carefree that I couldn’t just buy a new little sleeve when there was absolutely nothing wrong with the old motor. Maybe a new shaft/sleeve design was why.
Ours had a single flat and it didn’t take much of some action interference, like a pine cone or something jamming in an arm, or a minor misalignment or other resistance to cause the aluminum sleeve the shaft engages to strip out against the hard steel shaft. Two flats would be an improvement I reckon, but it’s still hard steel vs. soft aluminum.
If an owner hears chattering out of his awning arms extending or retracting, he should cease its use and have it expertly checked before the sleeve let’s go on a freeway.
Joel
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I’m very happy to report that Carefree of Colorado has become anything but careless. My recent customer support experience with them has been as pleasant and productive as I’ve had with any company. Call backs and email exchanges were prompt and very friendly. Not only did Traci get the replacement motor for our main awning on its way to us, she emailed the 40 page service manual pdf. And... in the final call, I asked about possible solutions for my broken OTD awning. Traci said she didn’t know about those but that she’d have a support engineer call me. I got the call an hour later from Cory who knew all about the OTD models and described the cause of the problem I’m having. He then emailed the service manual pdf and the motor replacement manual pdf for me to study and offered to sell me the replacement part when I’m ready to tackle that job.
I couldn’t ask for a better experience and outcome!
Steve - I think these manuals should get posted to our library. Please advise as to how.
-Will
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Will,
Email them to me and I'll post them.
Thx, Steve
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Carefree Awning and Over the Door Manuals are published in Coach Assist courtesy of Will Hansen.
Thx, Steve