OTD Canopy Identification Needed

[Neal E Weinmann]

Can anyone identify the OTD Canopy pictured? It's on our 05 Beaver Monterey Bayview IV, and doesn't seem to be the Carefree 4654 noted on the Data Card. It's stuck closed and I'm looking for a manual or procedure to manually or jumper it open in order to the access the motor. When the key at the switch is turned to on and the adjacent canopy open/close switch is toggled, there IS power being applied, but no activity at the unit. Thanks.

[David T. Richelderfer]

Your OTD awning in the picture looks very similar to ours and works the same too, I might add... NOT!  Our OTD awning stopped working several years back and a month or two ago I removed it from the coach for repair.

I was told ours is a Carefree Marquee OTD Awning.  I was told by the repair firm here in Yuma that Carefree does not support it any longer... and worse, Carefree has no replacement motors.  The repair shop where I took ours has had it for over a month and is looking for a replacement motor or one very close in design that will work.  I had removed the motor from the awning and it will not turn with 12V power applied to it.  The motor had to be removed to release the awning to push out its leading edge to its extended position.  The trick is to figure out how to get the awning to open enough to remove a third screw that holds the clamshell-like cover over and around the awning motor.

There was one screw on top of the clamshell nearest the coach sidewall pointing straight down that is easy to remove.  There is another screw on the aft end of the clamshell pointing forward that goes through both halves of the clamshell and screws into the motor.  That third screw was a PITA to get out.  Just above your porch light and on the leading edge of the awning you will see a rectangular piece on that leading edge... maybe 2 inches wide and 4 inches high. That 2 x 4 inch rectangular piece is held on by a horizontal screw pointing straight forward.  You have to forcibly wedge that rectangular piece out just enough to see and remove that screw.  With that screw removed, the rectangular piece is easily removed.  Now you will see another horizontal screw pointing at the coach that was hidden under the rectangular piece.  With that screw removed, the clamshell can be removed from around the motor.

If I remember accurately, there are three screws and three bolts holding the motor in place.  Before pulling the motor away from the awning roll, be sure to put a cord/rope around the fore end of the awning.  If you don't, then when the motor is pulled off the end of the awning roll, the awning will snap out and knock you off your ladder.

Removing the whole OTD awning unit from the coach is now pretty easy but may not be necessary if you find a replacement motor or are able to repair your motor.  You could put the new motor or repaired motor in by leaving the awning up over the door.

[Neal E Weinmann]

Thanks, David - I am reliving your trials while trying to outsmart yet another mechanical challenge.  I chatted with Carefree, they sent me documentation that I thought might apply, but it wasn't anything more than the inapplicable pages I already downloaded and printed. In return, I've sent the tech rep two pictures of my unit that has the differences that seem to never have been  documented in their supporting literature.  I'm hoping there's still someone around at Carefree who might have the black magic secrets to taking it apart or off with some amount of rationality and decorum.
 
P.S. - I called BCS Parts Department for some context, and did find out that they have two motors in stock!....for a mere $529.00. Each...

I plan to call BCS Service tomorrow to see if one of their "senior" staff of techs or managers has unlocked any black magic when dealing with this seemingly absurd design.

[Gene Obie]

Does this match your awning.
https://www.e-carefree.com/ecarefree30/ExplodedPartsViewController?productId=30

Florida automated shades may be able to find you are placement motor.
https://www.floridaautomatedshade.com/

[Joel Ashley]

Somewhere in the last 5 years of the Forum are previous discussions of this.  I had a similar issue after my stepson power washed the coach.  I think he got water inside the awning motor.  At any rate, I took everything I could apart related to it, including the control over the door inside, and determined the motor must be bad, as it was getting power.  Of course the thing was stuck closed so as David notes you can’t get at the mounting equipment then.  Yeah, heck of a design, huh? 

Ultimately I coaxed it enough to get at much of the end cap innards, but the motor is cylindrical on ours. If you can’t get the entire unit off because the mounts are not exposed, you’re relegated to pulling the motor out the end.  Oh, but guess what;  the big awning’s frontmost arm hangs in the way.  No way can one slide the motor out without removing the big awning. It’s conceivable that the arm could be detached in such a way as to swing it up out of the way perhaps, but having spent hours defining methodologies that failed up to that point, I gave up on messing with the darned thing anymore.  BCS likely has been there, dun that, and can either replace the motor or the awning far easier than I.

You are presumably lucky, at least in the sense your motor is pre-cylindrical era, and can be accessed without fooling with perfectly good and unrelated adjacent awning equipment.

Joel

[Neal E Weinmann]

Thanks for the ongoing replies.

Found my answer in yet another Carefree publication in the "Discontinued" section titled "Freedom Motor Replacement".

As seen in the attached picture, the end cap that HAS a "front" hole in it is to access a mounting screw that was, if an original cover was still installed, only accessible by drilling a hole in the cover. The lower screw in the picture was discovered deep under and in behind the bottom of the cover, and the upper screw was not apparent, ostensibly because when the original end cap was replaced with the current cap, the top area was slathered with sealant that completely covered that screw.

Armed with this clarifying info, I'm ready to tackle this issue. Will report back in hopes it helps others.

[Neal E Weinmann]

The canopy is now out and operational, but of course the path was not linear. After downloading the motor removal guide, I set out to separate the motor and its housing from the awning housing. But first, I squeezed and duct taped the leading edge of the canopy back to the housing so it wouldn't "eject" if I was successful in separating the assembly. Semi-succeeding at the removal of the attachment screws (two came out but the third appeared to be MIA and replaced by a ribbon of silicone between the bus wall and the motor housing. I cut that away). I tried tapping the housing away from the canopy tube using a rubber mallet but was reluctant to hit it harder. As I was working and making noise, my neighbor, a retired electrician, came over and casually mentioned that tapping on a "stuck" DC motor sometimes is enough to jog it into operation.

For the heck of it, I tried the switch, and the motor budged until the tape resisted. I removed the tape, tried the switch again and with a distinct "POP", the canopy extended. I ran it partially back in and back out, and all appeared normal, and a complete mystery as to why it stopped in the first place.  Back up the ladder, I dry-lubed all the articulation joints on both canopy arms. As I got to the last joint, the outer joint of the forward arm, I was surprised to find its pivot pin popped up about 3/4" and pushing hard on the underside of the canopy fabric and totally out of the bottom pivot hole of the arm. It clearly was high enough to contact the housing when trying to extend the canopy. My rationalization was that was enough to inhibit any movement until my taping of the leading edge and hammering gave enough leeway to allow movement. (Grainy picture shows the pin partially pressed back down.  Sorry for the quality - I was working into the sun on a bright day, so the joint was in the shade of the canopy edge and all the bits were covered in grime)

After pressing the pin back down into joint so that the flat head of the pivot pin was nested in the cast relief in the top of the arm end, I noticed that the outer pins on both arms have retainer grooves machined into them and that neither pin had a retainer clip installed! A trip to Ace Hardware and their vast array of actual hardware and I was back installing a 95-cent E-clip into each slot. A few test extensions and retractions, and I called it repaired.

The silicone was replaced, as were the two screws, but not without further "adventures".  I'll leave that story for another time.

[Joel Ashley]

Wow, Neal, I'm glad someone is experiencing a sunny day;  though native and used to it, so it's not depressing, the incessant Northwest rain for weeks here does get tiresome.

But you certainly open new possibilities for mine and perhaps others' over-the-door awnings.  A big Thank You for your effort and report here, and also to your neighbor.  Whenever the rain stops (it's so heavy at times that its now appeared inside our coach -windshield brow seal or cap clearance lens) I'll have to revisit your commentary here in detail and with our unit in front of me.  Hopefully cylindrical motors respond as well as end mounts.  Perhaps one of my farm size screwdrivers adroitly placed through a carefully pried opening, together with one of my mallets will allow ours to open to where I can check things out more thoroughly, sans removing the unit from the coach.  Who'd have suspected missing clips and pins rubbing enough to freeze movement.  As I remember, I didn't hear my motor even buzz in response to the switch, but it may just need malleted encouragement.

Appreciating the new options,
Joel