Can I add a wind sensor to our electric awning?

I've seen RVs advertised with a wind sensor for the awning.  This would be Awesome!  Can a person add this to an electric awning that didn't come with that feature?

While I don?t know how exactly, I?m sure it can be done. One of these retired engineers or electricians will chime in for sure. I too have this question!

I'm curious where this question goes.
Based on a number of posts here, plus my own experience, these sensors are notorious for failure.
I climbed on a ladder and took a hair dryer to mine. After about 2 minutes on "high" it finally retracted.
I estimate my artificial wind speed was well over 25 mph.
Perhaps an add on might work better.

That's a bummer to hear that they don't work well.  I read some older posts and hoped that maybe technology had improved.  I feel spoiled that I have an electric awning, so maybe I ought to rest there.  I'm curious to hear what others might have to say.

Actually the term "wind sensor" is a bit of a misnomer, at least for the awnings I have had. They are more of a vibration sensor.  A straight line 20 mph wind won't make it budge, but 2 vertical shakes will roll it right up. The previous Carefree awning I had on my Phaeton was too sensitive and would roll up with barely a breeze.  Carefree got enough complaints about it that they redesigned it to be less sensitive. They sent me one (actually  two) free of charge and I replaced the existing one. It did help with the sensitivity.

That being said, it may be possible to add the Carefree wind sensor to an existing awning. It is a small box that fit in the head rail and detected the movement of the front awning rail.  It most likely has a "mercury  type" switch or some variant of that to sense  the motion.

Bob's experience with the hair dryer is factual though. Occasionally the awning would retract on a completely still day if the weather was hot enough.

When we bought our current motorhome we ordered it with a Girard automatic awning (yes, $$$).  At first we weren't too sure about it because it retracted with very little breeze.  At a rally the Girard tech adjusted it and we've been very happy with the result.  It usually stays out with a light breeze and retracts when we think the breeze is picking up.  I can't speak about the Carefree awnings, but the key with Girard awnings is that they are adjustable.  When we have good winds and the awning is retracted that little anemometer on the roof spins like crazy.  If it's sunny and we have a shadow from the right direction we can see the shadow of it spinning.

ArdraF

On my awning (Carefree I think) there are 2 switches for sensitivity..high and low. On low if a bird flies too close it will roll up..lol. Works good on the high postion thou. Our awning is almost useless thou because it comes straight out and has little affect on the sun beating down. The other manual ones on other coaches were adjustable on the angle and worked great. I noticed on other rigs some are adjustable but ours isn't. Still like the ease of use thou.

Actually the term "wind sensor" is a bit of a misnomer, at least for the awnings I have had.

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On my Beaver, Marty, there were two little anemometers on the roof. A tree got one of them, so I had to replace it. On my Ventana I've not actually seen the sensor, but it's likely more as you describe.

I added the Carefree device to my Lippert awning. Simple to add into the head, hard part was getting the wiring to the awning switch.

It is not what I would really call a "wind sensor" per se, but more of a gust sensor. If the awning gets wind-whipped and "jolted" it rolls up.

Carefree part #SR0093 is what I added.

My "wind sensor" is wetting a finger and sticking my arm out the front door with said finger extended upward. I also look at trees. If they look like it's too windy, I roll the awning in. 
If we are going away from the RV for an extended period of time, I roll it in.

Ever hear that some technology is more a PITA than it's worth? IMHO, this is an example.

Thanks for information and opinions.  It sure seems like a great idea on paper.  We camp often in an area that is calm one minute with gusts to 40 the next.  I feel like I'm going to not be fast enough to save the awning one of these days.  But I think for now I'll pass on the idea.  Thanks again!

Is it spring yet?  It was 50 yesterday and snowed today in Montana. 

THough I will admit to never having looked... Do they make them without wind sensors????

Randy328 said:

I added the Carefree device to my Lippert awning. Simple to add into the head, hard part was getting the wiring to the awning switch.

It is not what I would really call a "wind sensor" per se, but more of a gust sensor. If the awning gets wind-whipped and "jolted" it rolls up.

Carefree part #SR0093 is what I added.

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do you have any more details? I would love to do the same on mine

DMordarski said:

do you have any more details? I would love to do the same on mine

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Welcome to the forum.
Hopefully he?ll reply to you soon. He?s not on the forum very often so I just sent him a PM. 

DMordarski said:

do you have any more details? I would love to do the same on mine

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Hi and welcome. I used the Carefree sensor, part number SR0093. It's available on Amazon still for $85.02. https://www.amazon.com/Carefree-SR0093-Direct-Response-Upgrade/dp/B004RCUR8M

I have the Lippert Solera awning, it has the Power drive Solera head with speaker.

I removed the cover from the drive head and mounted the sensor - it uses double stick tape. Connected the wiring and brought the cable out the same place the other cables entered the head unit. Ran them inside the arms in the same channel as the power cables. Getting the cable inside and routing to where your current switches are will probably be the hardest part. You remove the old switches and install the CareFree ones and you are set.

You can download their instructions https://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/documents/12V-Travelr-Direct-Response.pdf to give you an idea of what the wiring looks like.

Running the cable cleanly was the longest part. In my case, wiring the new switches was easy as the old switches were easily changed as mine had on/off on one switch and the retract/extend switch but no sensors.

With the sensor installed, when you press Retract it retracts all the way. If you want it to stop, hit Extend. Turning it Off prevents it from auto-retracting (or extending), I turned it Off when moving only.

I used my RV a lot at race tracks teaching motorcycle racing, I installed the sensor back in 2016. On track 30 minutes, off an hour. It was nice to have the awning extended, and I can't tell you how many times I came back in and my awning had retracted. I never had an damage. I thought that was great for $85 and some time.

There are many types of wind sensors, not sure which one you want to add? If you want to install a three-cup wind speed sensor and a 360° wind direction sensor, I can provide you with product selection suggestions. I also know a little about the common problems of wind sensors.