Awning open or closed during a light shower ?

[bankr63]

I wonder how many could benefit from Reading The Fine Manual that comes with their awning. I know our current power awning is quite different from our previous manual one, and some of my former learnings were wrong. For the autodump to work on ours there should be no or very little tilt (side to side) to the awning. Adding tilt disables the autodump feature. We had some very heavy rains in the Adirondacks early season and the autodump was working great; as weight built up, one arm would drop slightly to funnel the water off, and then rise back into position. I have since added a bit more pitch to the awning overall (drop the front by two notches) and the autodump didn't even kick in during the last heavy rain as the water was shedding fine on its own. I don't worry about rain at all, but I can feel the TT shake during heavy winds and will retract for that.

[wags999]

Awning is only out when were out. If we leave we put it in, at bed we put it in. In South Dakota I saw several awnings, that, when an unexpected wind came up, blew the awning up and over the RV damaging not only the awning and arms, but damaging the A/C. No reason to leave it out when your not there, and not worth the chance on an unexpected gust to cause damage.

[DadRich]

I think that the enemy is wind, not rain. I have had my carefree power awning out in really really heavy rain, and the "auto dump" which really means one side gets heavy and compresses the gas shock then the water flows off worked really well.
But last month, I had the awning out in a light drizzle, and a sudden gust of wind came up and the whole thing flew up, and one side came out of the rails. It was really quite interesting and I have no idea how it came out of the rails. I have had it out in slight breezes, and as long as it doesn't whip it too violently I leave it out.
At night, I usually roll it in except for a couple feet to keep the dew off the items close to the trailer.

[Ottawasteve]

Read the manual and still would not rely on the auto rain dump feature. The auto dump feature relies on the weight balance with the spring mechanism. Road grime or debris will prevent the automatic function and result in a collapsed awning. Manually tilting the awning allows the rain water to run off 100% of the time without requiring sufficient weight build up on the awning to trigger the auto-dump feature.

[secal48]

We bring it in for heavy rain and/or wind. Last year we were out and our neighbor at the campground was on his first trip in a brand new unit. Well, he and family went to town and left the awning out. You guessed it, the wind kicked up and blew the awning right over the top of his toy. He had to tie it in place and drive back to his dealer for a new one. I'm not tempting that drive of shame.

[skidoorider]

Originally Posted by theoldwizard1

My daughter's family bought a 2016 287BHSW and have had some issues with it. Only only there second trip, the awning arm bent after a light overnight rain (no high winds). The dealer is now telling them that they should close their awning any time it LOOKS like rain !

What do you people do overnight or when you leave the campsite for a few hours ? Leave it up or roll it in ?

Close the awning when it looks like rain ????????????
What do we have awnings for ????????

[secal48]

To provide shade during the day so my balding head doesn't get burnt.

[Jagiven]

We have a power awning. The front is down one notch, back is down three notches. I have seen the auto dump work in that configuration, but it was an extreme down pour. In general it is out the entire time we are out camping. Once in a while in places we know there is extreme wimd, I'll bring it in. Sometimes only part way, so the door is still protected.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by skidoorider

Close the awning when it looks like rain ????????????
What do we have awnings for ????????

The short answer is because they come with the RV. It escapes me that the RV industry that has created all kinds of reliable and creative features for their units, can't design an awning system that is capable of standing up to moderate rain and wind. Truth is IMHO that rv awnings are basically worthless unless you are sitting in your site and are reactive to changes in the weather. When you have witnessed the aftermath of an awning left open during a light but gusty wind you can then draw your own conclusion.

[A2Z_Adventures]

We monitor ours closely and close it up when we go to bed. It has been through some decent rain and having a slight drop on one end makes it drain effectively.

Side question, perhaps for another thread... Do people tie down the power ones? I have seen some of these tied down and I was wondering if it helps the newer version.

[jloco]

I left my awning out and unattended for an hour last year. Never again. I thunderstorm rolled through and completely destroyed the awning.

[StormPOD]

My awning is described as a "Sun Shade" and not meant for rain.
We do not leave it our unless we can easily retract it withing mins and never at night.

[RAurand]

Witt the awning auto dump if you tighten the screws in the metal Slot? I like to keep my awning on a slant from the trailer to the roller edge of the awning.

[dewey02]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

The short answer is because they come with the RV. It escapes me that the RV industry that has created all kinds of reliable and creative features for their units, can't design an awning system that is capable of standing up to moderate rain and wind. Truth is IMHO that rv awnings are basically worthless unless you are sitting in your site and are reactive to changes in the weather. When you have witnessed the aftermath of an awning left open during a light but gusty wind you can then draw your own conclusion.

We love our awning and it is out almost all the time we are camping, except when a heavier wind or heavy rain is expected or happening. We feel that it about doubles the size of the "living space" of our camper, which is a 24 footer with no slides. We have an outdoor mat, and a portable outdoor kitchen, grill/stove, table, etc. that we set up under the awning. We do a lot of living out there and it keeps us in the shade when the sun is very hot, and it keeps us and our stuff dry when it is raining (put not heavy downpouring).

With most awnings being about 16 foot long or longer and something like 8 foot wide, that is a HUGE surface that acts like a sail to catch wind. Exactly what do you want RV manufacturers to do? You can install de-flappers and anchor tie-downs to the awning, but nothing is going to prevent that sail from catching a big wind gust.

For us, we would MUCH rather have our awning knowing its (somewhat minor) limitations, than not have it at all.

[us71na]

Our Carefree Travel'R awning has a self dumping feature that works quite well. I was reading at their website about their "Direct Response (TM) electronic system" that detects excess motion in the awning and will automatically close it if the limits are exceed, thereby preventing damage to the awning. I am going to look into the Direct Response system for my awning.

[jloco]

I find the older Dometic manual awning much more sturdy than these new power awnings. As mentioned, if a strong wind kicks up along with rain, it'll rip the awning right off the trailer.


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[Gunnar]

Ours stays out, slanted for rain runoff. We do roll it back up if we are going to be away from the campsite for a time.

[namusmc65]

Ours is out all the time, all the way. Water rolls off without any problem. Don't even have to slant it. Granted if, a thunderstorm rolls through with heavy winds, we might take it in. But rain, never so far.

[mike837go]

Deploy the awning upon arrival.


If too windy torrential rain: pack it up.


Anything short of that, it stays out and we'll clear any puddles later.

[ParrishCamper]

If it's really windy we bring awning in.
However because we have electric awning which can't handle as much wind as manual awning. I made awning tie down poles from PVC. Awning rest in PVC cradle and a strap is anchor to a tie down.
I always lower one side when setting up.