BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Gregory J Dugre on July 13, 2021, 08:00:11 AM
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Over the door awning is inoperative. I was able to remove the motor cover on the left with great difficulty. I ran 12 vdc directly to the motor and nothing happened. I seems like I'll have to remove the awning from the coach to service it but I need to open the awning to access the mounting screws. I was told that there is someway to manually open or close the awning but I can't seem to find a way. Any suggestions.
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Greg,
As I recall, you will have to disengage the motor drive from the roller to allow it to extend. Once extended, it is easier if you have help in removing the assembly. You will also notice that the motor has 2 small openings at the top that allows water to get into the motor. (Engineering flaw in the design) Seal the replacement motor before installing. If you have a 12volt cordless drill, make a jumper wire with 2 alligator clips to test the awning before reinstall it. Hope this helps, Fred
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Gregg, suggest you go on line and download the Carefree manual for your awning type, not sure if yours is the Freedom or Marquee brand as they each have a different motor as I remember. The manual you want is " how to replace the motor ".
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I had the same issue after my stepson power washed the Coach and it’s roof in 2019. Early in 2020, after discovering the malady, I got into the project and by testing the electrics behind the over-door switch panel, I narrowed it down to the motor. I don’t remember about any holes in the top, but figured water must’ve been forced by some route into the motor area by the pressure washer, and shorted it or caused untenable corrosion.
But after determining which model I have, from Care(less)Free documents, and like you struggling to get at the unit’s mounting bolts, I finally determined that I’d have to slide the tubular motor out to the left, while it was on the coach, to service or replace it. That means removing the big awning because it’s arm is blocking the motor’s removal route! Getting the entire unit off the coach and on my workbench was no longer an option, given the mounts were blocked.
As to Fred’s comments, I could not see a way to disengage the tubular motor, and managed to extend the unit very little by “force” and certainly not enough to get at the mounting bolts. Just getting the left end cap off was a trip, without breaking it in the process, and I noticed a screw missing while in there… the missing part actually made removing the cap a tad easier.
At that point, after many hours of fruitless effort, I gave up, reassembled everything, and added the job to my next visit to Bend. It may behoove us to check into units with better design. Carefree is not known for super high quality or service, but perhaps their design engineering has improved. I notice from checking for documentation that there were multiple redesigns just in the era of our coaches. The older non-tubular motor might have been easier to get at than this one.
Joel