Manual vs Electric Awnings

[kiss6669]

Currently I have a manual awning on the MH, it's basically a PITA to take out but I like using it when we are stopped for a couple days. We are contemplating changing it out for an electrical awning. Any opinions either way, keeping it or switching it out?

 

[malexander]

I've had both. My current one is electric.
I really think I like the manual better, because you can adjust the angle or slope of it. The electrics I've had and have now are either in or out, no adjustment. Yeah, you can stop it part way in or out, but can't adjust the pitch or slope.

 

[Rene T]

I've had both. My current one is electric.
I really think I like the manual better, because you can adjust the angle or slope of it. The electrics I've had and have now are either in or out, no adjustment. Yeah, you can stop it part way in or out, but can't adjust the pitch or slope.

On my electric, there is no need to pitch it for rain. When it rains and it puddles up, one end will collapse draining the water.

 

[Dragginourbedaround]

On my electric, there is no need to pitch it for rain. When it rains and it puddles up, one end will collapse draining the water.

Mine does that too, but I can also slope one end down to drop the water on the side I prefer.

 

[kiss6669]

I've had both. My current one is electric.
I really think I like the manual better, because you can adjust the angle or slope of it. The electrics I've had and have now are either in or out, no adjustment. Yeah, you can stop it part way in or out, but can't adjust the pitch or slope.

That was one of my concerns from the pictures/videos advertising them that is what I have seen the manual is more adjustable.

 

[ArdraF]

We've also had both and honestly I like the convenience of the electric.  On a hot summer desert day we can stop and press the button so the awning is out immediately.  That's nice if Jerry has to fix something and pulls out the drawer with the tools which allows him to work in shade.  It's also nice to add shade quickly to the side with the refrigerator if we're facing in that direction - and it's amazing how many times it works!  The anemometer makes it retract if the wind picks up, although it does have be adjusted properly.  We had ours adjusted at a rally because it wasn't retracting soon enough.  I remember well the times we were outside in the middle of the night bringing in the big awning either because of high wind or heavy rain.  We do have some velcro straps to keep it from banging against the side while driving, but we might need those whether it's manual or electric.  The biggest advantage - and one of the reasons we decided to get electric - is no more banging our heads into the support braces.  I used to put towels on them so we wouldn't walk into them.  That's a pain too - in more ways than one!  If you can afford electric they're really nice to have.  And I have to say we haven't missed not being able to drop an end, but maybe that's because we're seldom in rain!

ArdraF

 

[Prior member]

I have mixed feelings !

My two previous trailers had manual ones and now my present new trailer has an electrical one.
I like the convenience of the electrical one, but am just waiting for it to screw up like most of the automatic stuff does.
If it had a easy way of putting it up and taking it down if the motor did quit then I would be very happy with it, but unfortunately it doesn't .
it is a Lippert one on a Forest river trailer, so I figure it's days are numbered !

Jack L

 

[Greg Barker]

Yeah it depends on the quality of either. My last rig a Navion, had a manual one and it was not of the highest quality. It felt like it would fall apart at anytime. We left it unattended once and one of the arms broke from the wind. My new rig has an automatic and it is much sturdier and seems like it will withstand higher winds.

 

[malexander]

Mine has the wind sensor also. I don't know if it works or not, I've never left it out if I thought the wind was going to get up. It's also remote with a key fob, the entry door awning operates off the same fob.

 

[HappyWanderer]

I currently have electric, but will never own another one. It's an expensive sun shade that must be brought in whenever it rains or the wind blows.

 

[kdbgoat]

I have mixed feelings about awnings also. The first I had was a manual, and had no issues with it. The second was electric, and I really didn't like it. The one I have now is electric, and it seems to be like Rene's and the Newhalls'. I can pitch one or both ends down at a pretty good angle. If I don't have either pitched down, it will dump itself if too much water gets on it. The downside on this one is that it seems a lot more sensitive to wind than the other two. I was thinking about trying tie downs on the corners, but that's a topic for another thread.

 

[HappyWanderer]

Tying down the corners will probably cause the arms to collapse.

I got so frustrated with mine last year that I tied down the corners anyway, didn't care at that point if I destroyed the stupid thing. It was close to 100 degrees with a mild breeze and I wanted a little bit of shade!

One of the arms did get bent and didn't want to retract, but I was able to fix it.

 

[John From Detroit]

I too have an electric,,, and wish I had manual

There is a company that makes the best of both worlds. but they do not market to the RV market.. I hope to contact them some day

It is a manual awning, but instead of just a spring retracting it it uses a crank, you can crank it with a battery operated drill.. and it uses the automatic type arms.    But they market to houses, not RV's.

 

[Dragginourbedaround]

Tying down the corners will probably cause the arms to collapse.

I tie down my corners and never had a problem with collapsed arms, but I will bring the awning in if the gusts get too strong. Mine does not automatically retract with wind gusts. I've never had a manual awning so I have nothing to compare to, but I don't think I would like worrying about running into the arms extensions.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The Carefree Mirage two-stage looks interesting. It's for rigs that have a slide. The first stage extends out over the slide and the 2nd stage then angles downward a bit.
http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/products/mirage.htmlThe Carefree Eclipse has an adjustable angle. Not as much down-angle as a manual awning fixed arms, but it has about 5 selectable angles from "none' to maybe 15 degrees. I had one on my former coach and it worked decently.
http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/products/eclipse.html

 

[lynnmor]

I too have an electric,,, and wish I had manual

There is a company that makes the best of both worlds. but they do not market to the RV market.. I hope to contact them some day

It is a manual awning, but instead of just a spring retracting it it uses a crank, you can crank it with a battery operated drill.. and it uses the automatic type arms.    But they market to houses, not RV's.

Check carefree Pioneer. http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/products/pioneer.html

There are hand crank kits available for some awnings.  I too, would select a hand crank model next time.

I have no more issues with my electric awning, I just keep the useless thing rolled up and forget about it.  Since I travel with my RV, a damaged awning might be trip ending.

 

[Kevin Means]

Yeah, one of the nice things about the manual awnings that were on our previous two coaches, was the ability to keep lowering them as the sun set. I can't do that with our current electric awning - when it's out, it is what it is. But I never whack my head on the supports either.

I'm not sure what model our Carefree electric awning is, but (so far) it's been very reliable. It's got a two-stage sensor I can set for sensitivity (High and Low) to auto-retract if strong winds come up, which has happened a few times, because we boondock in the desert a lot. Overall, I think I think prefer the electric awning due to its ease of use and auto-retract feature. JMO

Kev 

 

[agman]

I like the answers about being able to lower a manual to block a setting sun.  Also, as we all know, the more mechanical features, the more things that can malfunction.

 

[catblaster]

I too have an electric,,, and wish I had manual

There is a company that makes the best of both worlds. but they do not market to the RV market.. I hope to contact them some day

It is a manual awning, but instead of just a spring retracting it it uses a crank, you can crank it with a battery operated drill.. and it uses the automatic type arms.    But they market to houses, not RV's.

    I just bought a right angle DC gearmotor with a speed control. Since the ratchet pawl is broken on our A&E it looks like a doable project to make this electric. Just have to find the time to make the adapters and such.

 

[tonyshell]

Love my electric awning.  Easy in and out and when i'm leaving to go fishing or something easy to roll in.  Not sure about others but mine is adjustable. I pull on the lower arm to pitch one side or the other or both to lower the angle.  I'm sure at some point it may have a failure but i've seen plenty of manual ones have issues as well.  Some of them because they were left out in the wind.