Jayco Greyhawk 31DS (2013) Awning question

[KC1SA]

Purchased this coach last fall and had it professionally inspected. Since the coach has been at our house the awning has not been opened (not enough room on my postage stamp-sized lot where we live). So I've not been able to get any learning experience with the awning system.

The awning looks simple enough to operate but I have a few questions that the more experienced forum folks could answer:

1. Can the awning be partially opened? Perhaps a foot extended as a sort of rain gutter when you are entering/exiting the coach. Not sure if I would ever do this but just wondering if this is advisable. I read and watched a bunch of articles and videos about the awning should not be deployed in windy conditions so I'm good with that (we had an awning on our Starcraft popup years ago and that awning became a kite one day).

2. In the owner's manual there is a discussion on retracting the awning manually by using the provided cable and attaching to the contacts at the end of the awning and using a portable electric (battery) for a drill to retract the awning. The previous owner did not provide this cable, Does anyone have a picture of one of these?

Many thanks!

 

[craigav]

The awning can be stopped at any point while extending or retracting it, so yes you could do that although I am not sure I would leave it that way as even a few feet out could allow it to get damaged if the winds were strong enough.

I didn't get any "provided cable" either although I did see one for sale on Ebay not too longer ago. All it is, is a ~10' wire with alligator clips on it (not sure of the exact length due to my aging memory) although a similar cable could be made easily enough with speaker wire and alligator clips, and I didn't purchase the one I saw as it was selling for ~30$ and I already have plenty of wire and alligator clips (perhaps I should make myself one soon). Also, it will only help you if you have a electrical (wiring, fuse, switch, etc.) issue with the RV's wiring going to the awning motor (or a dead battery but charging the battery would be simpler). If the Awning motor is bad then the cable will not help you.

I don't think you can use a drill to extend or retract the awning directly (although I see that is not what you said is in the manual anyway), but perhaps different models have that option which would be good if they all did have that ability. The cable kit is designed to use a 12v battery directly to the awning motor, so what they are saying is if you have a 12v drill battery that you could use that, but keep in mind most battery drills sold now are 18v or higher and that could damage the awning's motor.

On a Class C, with a little longer section of wire than what I believe the kit provided, you could just run a wire from the chassis battery to the awning motor as the chassis battery would be fairly close anyway. ~CA

 

[norty1]

Ill take a pic of mine when it stops raining!

 

[KC1SA]

thanks for the confirmation on awning use. Yes, I think just having a couple of wires of 14 gauge should be adequate to retract the motor. That failure mode probably isn't all that common. I do have a friend who had some issues with their awning he was not careful enough and the spring in the awning unwound and gave him some pretty bad cuts on his hands. I haven't had mine open yet, but it looks like there may be a gas piston damper too... another point of injury if you aren't careful.

Getting ready for our first 'trip' next weekend so just putting all the questions to bed before they pop up while traveling.

 

[KC1SA]

rain? here is New England we are going to build an ark very soon.

 

[norty1]

Here ya go! 10 ft long, stranded light wire will do.

 

[435-fht]

FYI, on my '23 Greyhawk, the awning retracted very slowly after a weekend's use.

I happened to be driving by my RV dealer and stopped in to have a tech come out and look at my awning operation. He said that the cylinder rods can dry out after being extended for awhile. After opening/closing a second time, my awning retracted at a normal speed.