Dometic Electric Awning

Submitted: Saturday, Mar 01, 2014 at 02:02
ThreadID: 129228 Views:3786 Replies:6 FollowUps:0
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I'm wondering whether anyone else has had this problem and if so how they dealt with it.
My awning was last retracted about 5 days ago. Up until now it hasn't given me any problems.Now I can't get it to extend. I've checked the retract/extend switch - it has power and seems to be working OK. I remember there had been problems with the switch sticking on and burning out the motor but it certainly gave no indication that this happened.
I am miles away from the nearest Dometic agent and wondered if anyone had any thoughts about what else I could do to check it out.
The first issue is how to get the awning open with no power.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Garry
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Reply By: ~Rover - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 08:22

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 08:22
Does the awning motor make any noise when you try to extend the awning? If so the motor shaft has chewed out the drive cog. This happened to us and required a new motor and cog to fix the problem. It is caused by the awning roller rocking back and forth in windy conditions. Best to fit poles at each end and use guy ropes to hold it down.

Andy
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Reply By: Valentinian venturer - Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 08:32

Monday, Mar 03, 2014 at 08:32
Hi Garry,

I had a situation where my awning would not extend. When I pushed the extend button I could hear a click in the motor . I thought the motor was burnt out. I took it to a Dometic agent who was going to replace the motor. They initially got a person on each end & with some difficulty unwound the awning a couple of inches which was enough to free the motor to start working again. I don't have an answer if you want to manually fully open the awning if the motor is burnt out.
Good luck,
Ian

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Reply By: Grumblebum & Dragon - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 00:55

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 00:55
It was a concern for us - so we stayed with the manual option - still very easy after using an Aussie Traveller for 8 years

John and Jean
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Reply By: mhwombats - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 01:08

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 01:08
Thanks everyone for your feedback.
The motor is certainly as dead as a doornail! I've checked that there is power to the switch and that the switch is OK with my multimeter. But there is no noise at all when I operate the switch.
My multimeter says zero resistance through the motor so it seems something has shorted out.
I seems like there is nothing much I can do until I can get to a Dometic agent.
Thanks again for the comments.
Garry
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Reply By: ~Rover - Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 06:25

Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 at 06:25
Hi Garry,
Unfortunately, you'll be shocked when you find how much a new motor costs, unless of course you still have any of the 12 months warranty left. It is puzzling when you consider the yanks get 24 months warranty on exactly the same awning.

As for your original question, it is possible to manually roll up an awning with a failed motor but unfortunately according to info on the web, it's s one way trip.

Andy
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Reply By: John & Sally - Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 at 09:57

Wednesday, Mar 05, 2014 at 09:57
good evening Garry,
We experienced a similar problem with the Dometic awning not operating correctly and also not sitting correctly on the van when fully retracted.
On our warranty paperwork it says the same, that in the US they cover for 24 months.
When we contacted the Queensland consumers affairs department, they said if the warranty states 24 months in the US then the goods should be fit for purpose and a similar warranty would be expected here in Australia. Consumer affairs were extremely helpful . We pushed hard with Dometic and did not give up. Dometic gave us the run around from one person to the next over months . The state manager promised this and that then she failed to deliver even after promising it would be at their installer. When we had the Bushtracker serviced I took it up with Peter at Bushtracker. Peter spoke to someone at Dometic.and it was sorted within an hour.
AMAZING
The awning was replaced and now works perfectly.
Good end result for Sally and I so don't give up.
Cheers
John.
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