Awning travel lock

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duanecatman

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May 1, 2011
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Does having aluminum wrapped awnings negate or reduce the necessity of having a travel lock system installed.
Thanks for any input you can provide, I know the subject of travel locks was discussed in "tech talk" in Sept 2012 but no recent posts [subject may be closed].
 
Don't know that it negates the need ...my aluminum wrapped window awnings sometimes "float" out from the coach in strong crosswinds.  Power awnings should not need locks ...can't say about which manual models might.
 
Mine has locks and I use them plus an additional cord. My friend had his open on the interstate and he also had locks the wind blew them open so I learned from him and now have two locking devices on each support.
 
I hear you.
Out of an abundance of caution travel locks in addition to the aluminum cover wrap may be a very good idea BUT has anyone actually experienced or know of anyone who has experienced an awning blowout who was travelling with an aluminum wrapped awning at the time?
Thanks again to all who read and respond
 
duanecatman said:
I hear you.
Out of an abundance of caution travel locks in addition to the aluminum cover wrap may be a very good idea BUT has anyone actually experienced or know of anyone who has experienced an awning blowout who was travelling with an aluminum wrapped awning at the time?
Thanks again to all who read and respond

To answer your question...YES...I have had that happen..
I was traveling in high winds in lower Michigan and as I crossed into Indiana I saw the awning starting to unravel & managed to get it back together and secured enough to finish my trip..
Called my insurance agent and they covered it under comprehensive at no cost to me..my new awning has a center brace that supports the awning when extended and applies pressure to the rolled up awning when in travel mode.
BTW both locks were working and it still unraveled..I love duct tape and bungee cords...

George
 
Icemaker said:
To answer your question...YES...I have had that happen..
I was traveling in high winds in lower Michigan and as I crossed into Indiana I saw the awning starting to unravel & managed to get it back together and secured enough to finish my trip..
Called my insurance agent and they covered it under comprehensive at no cost to me..my new awning has a center brace that supports the awning when extended and applies pressure to the rolled up awning when in travel mode.
BTW both locks were working and it still unraveled..I love duct tape and bungee cords...

George

Not sure what you mean by "both locks were working", but a true awning lock works on keeping the roller from unfurling (turning) and would NOT have allowed the awning to unroll.  Locking the arms does absolutely nothing to prevent the roller from dumping the awning material.
 
George
When you refer to "the new awning having a centre brace" are you talking about an awning that you installed after the mishap or was it in place when the event occurred ?
My aluminum wrapped awning also has a centre support arm which looks to be preventing the aluminum cover from being able to flare out when in the rolled up or stored position.
If it is your new replacement setup ... have you now also installed an awning roller lock in addition or do you feel comfortable with the pressure that the centre support adds being able to solely prevent a recurrence of the problem.
 
duanecatman said:
George
When you refer to "the new awning having a centre brace" are you talking about an awning that you installed after the mishap or was it in place when the event occurred ?
My aluminum wrapped awning also has a centre support arm which looks to be preventing the aluminum cover from being able to flare out when in the rolled up or stored position.
If it is your new replacement setup ... have you now also installed an awning roller lock in addition or do you feel comfortable with the pressure that the centre support adds being able to solely prevent a recurrence of the problem.

Sorry I missed the question...
My original awning 19 footer,did not have a center brace...the MFG sent it w/the new awning as part of the instal kit...the shop charged me $130.00 to add it to the job or gave me a choice to add it myself...I opted to let the pro's install it just encase there was an issue later...
So far it seems to prevent a "roll out" because it applies positive pressure on the tube..
I think it is a good thing...wait 20n years and I'll have a better judgement to base things on..

George
 
Duane...

Sorry I missed this posting or I would have responded earlier. Yes! Get awning locks - even if you've got an aluminum wrapped awning. I've had a good, aluminum wrapped A&E awning on my Allegro Class A since 2000 and I've always felt that I didn't need anything else to hold the awning in place. Well, I (almost) found out the hard way that that's not correct.

While driving through El Centro, CA last February, in very strong winds, I saw (in my rear view mirror), the forward awning upright separate from the wall about six inches and then slam back onto the wall. A strong gust of wind had overpowered the latching mechanism at the top of the upright - something I thought would never happen. I usually don't drive in such winds (it's no fun), but I was late for a family get-together. I couldn't get stopped fast enough. I made a roadside fix to secure both uprights and later installed some stronger, easily-removable straps.

FWIW.

(By the way, I don't have a center brace. Such braces may prevent unintentional roll-outs - I don't know)

Kev
 
Kevin, read some of the entries in this topic and you will see that securing the arms is not enough.  The real problem is that the roller unfurls the awning even with the arms securely attached to the side of the motorhome.

You have to stop the roller from turning, period.....
 
Just Lou said:
Kevin, read some of the entries in this topic and you will see that securing the arms is not enough.  The real problem is that the roller unfurls the awning even with the arms securely attached to the side of the motorhome.

You have to stop the roller from turning, period.....

I believe that is the answer....the pressure applied by the middle arm while in travel mode seems to assist it's stability and {I believe} helps prevent the roller tube from wrongly turning.

George

 
duanecatman said:
I hear you.
Out of an abundance of caution travel locks in addition to the aluminum cover wrap may be a very good idea BUT has anyone actually experienced or know of anyone who has experienced an awning blowout who was travelling with an aluminum wrapped awning at the time?
Thanks again to all who read and respond

I'm not sure what you mean by aluminum WRAPPED but mine has an aluminum COVER and it HAS opened while on the road.  And yes, I have a lock on my awning.  Now I have a lock and put two bungees on each end prior to traveling.
 
Icemaker said:
I believe that is the answer....the pressure applied by the middle arm while in travel mode seems to assist it's stability and {I believe} helps prevent the roller tube from wrongly turning.

George,

No, the middle arm will not restrain the roller from turning.  It will improve that ability but only a little.  My Dutch Star and others all have a brace on the roller in the middle and I can tell you that does not stop the roller in a high wind.  Years ago while we were on the way to and from a rally, 11 of the rigs in our group, all either Dutch Stars or the Mountain Aires with the same or similar awnings lost their awnings.  We were all on US 12 west of Baker MT on our way to Miles City and then our homes.  About 10 or so of us did not for some unknown reason. 

I now have a wind break about 1" below  my awning and have not had a problem.

BTW, people near here have lost rolled up awnings while parked in the area.  We do get some real winds.  High to day at the house was over 40mph.  Gusts to 70+ are not uncommon. 
 
Here is a link to what I think Lou and the others are talking about. You can see how the pin inserts into the center tube to keep it from unfurling. I have no association with this company and there are probably others that will supply the same thing. You can see a pic of the A&E power awning in the article. I have not found the need for one yet and hope I never have too.  :D

http://awninglock.com/index.shtml?utm_expid=1952912-2
 
I have that lock and it hasn't worked for me.  When I started a thread about this topic, someone else "stole" it and proceeded to show and explain how he locked his awning.  Although he should have started another thread, it was very imformative.
 
I have that lock and it hasn't worked for me
Sheltie, do you mean you installed it and your awning still unfurled, or it just wouldn't fit your awning?
 
Mavarick said:
Sheltie, do you mean you installed it and your awning still unfurled, or it just wouldn't fit your awning?

I installed it per instructions and the awning still came out about 2".  At least it didn't come out any further this time.
 
Here is one you can make yourself. It is cheap and requires no holes to be drilled. You can get the parts at any hardware store.

You can see the instructions HERE.I have used one for several years.
It would take one heck of a side wind to overcome it.
 

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