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Old 10-30-2017, 05:20 PM   #1
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Awning woes continue

Posted earlier this year that the 11 foot awning on the slide of our 2016 Cruiser 315RL had failed. Bought 5er used from everyone's favorite super store, CW. No surprise that six months and a couple visits later and still no resolution. Had to purchase new awning motor out of pocket. The LCI Solera electric awnings are useless without a working motor. No override, but at least if they don't come in, you can use a cordless drill.

So just for further aggravation the second awning failed just like the first. The 14 foot awning on the main body. Same exact problem, goes out, won't come back in. I have been working with LCI who are graciously sending me a "goodwill replacement motor". Additionally the motor I already replaced is failing, so I have two useless awnings. This doesn't fix the problem though and I don't want to budget $400 a year for awning motors.

I've been told these motors don't like cold. Well it was 75 degrees out when both failed. I'm getting 12 volts to motor when plugged in to shore power in both the in and out position. The motors seem to fail when they have a load on them because the one I took off works just fine in both directions when I add 12 volts to them. I've also been told the fabric may not be square or the tension on the bolts in the adjustment arms may be off and should be torqued to 70 pounds.

I've written to Crossroads customer service. The coach is supposed to have a 2 year warranty. I don't think expecting awnings to be functional for more than 5 months is too much to ask.

Is anyone else having these failures with their awnings? Anyone have any suggestions in the mean time? I'm not bringing it back to the hacks at CW and paying them a ton of money to have them tell me they fixed it.
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Old 10-31-2017, 06:58 AM   #2
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I do not have an issue with my awning however I thought I would send to you an idea on how to look into this further which may help your cause.

If you put an amp meter in series with the motor when functioning you could tell where in the stow away process your motor is being over worked. You will see where in the cycle your motor draws more current which will tell you where in the awning the problem occurs. This may point to a sticking issue in the roll up tube or in the awning arms themselves. Your installation of the awning my be skewed not allowing a smooth roll up.

Just a thought.
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Old 10-31-2017, 08:06 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildasindrive View Post
I do not have an issue with my awning however I thought I would send to you an idea on how to look into this further which may help your cause.

If you put an amp meter in series with the motor when functioning you could tell where in the stow away process your motor is being over worked. You will see where in the cycle your motor draws more current which will tell you where in the awning the problem occurs. This may point to a sticking issue in the roll up tube or in the awning arms themselves. Your installation of the awning my be skewed not allowing a smooth roll up.

Just a thought.
Thanks, that's a good idea. I think the fact that both awnings are failing in the same manner is a bigger issue. A technician at LCI suggested I may need to run a heavier gauge wire from the panel inside to the motors. Is he kidding me? Chasing wires through walls? I can do a lot of stuff, but that is above my capabilities.

We are going seasonal again next year. If I don't get any help with it, I will probably put them out and stake them to the ground open for the season. I bought a truck so we could visit a couple different places so I will just use the drill to being them in at the seasonal site and not use them if we go somewhere for a weekend. Even though they are convenient, (and kinda cool, I"m a gadget guy), I really would prefer manual awnings.
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Old 10-31-2017, 09:19 AM   #4
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Actually that isn't a bad idea to run large gauge wire. However I would run the wire as a test first. Attach the wire to the source and lay it on the ground with the other end to the motor. This would prove a wire issue if it does exist and answer your questions. If everything is the same just hook it back up. I hate electrical issues, sometimes they are the hardest to diagnose.
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Old 10-31-2017, 10:12 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wildasindrive View Post
Actually that isn't a bad idea to run large gauge wire. However I would run the wire as a test first. Attach the wire to the source and lay it on the ground with the other end to the motor. This would prove a wire issue if it does exist and answer your questions. If everything is the same just hook it back up. I hate electrical issues, sometimes they are the hardest to diagnose.
I agree with this. If the awning works using the drill then binding shouldn't be the problem. I'd be leaning towards an electrical issue.
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Old 10-31-2017, 11:56 AM   #6
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Good idea to use a heavier gauge wire on the outside to see if that moves the motors. Doesn't make sense that they work fine for months then stop working. I'll see if I can try a larger diameter wire. Right now I can't open the awnings because of where it's parked. I have to move it again before winter, so I will try the larger wire and report back. If it is the wire, I'm not sure how I would snake the larger wire through the walls.
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Old 10-31-2017, 05:39 PM   #7
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I don't know if your motor is built inside the awning tube like mine is, but if it is I would look where the motor wires run from the awning rail to the motor. I only had my used camper for a week in March, when the awning would not retract. After inspection found the retract wire shorted where it make a 90 degree turn into the motor. Had to get a new motor, and after installing, made sure they would not rub inside the awning tube.

But if I remember your previous post on this, I think your motor is outside the awning tube, and not like mine. Is that correct?
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Old 11-01-2017, 08:45 AM   #8
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I don't know if your motor is built inside the awning tube like mine is, but if it is I would look where the motor wires run from the awning rail to the motor. I only had my used camper for a week in March, when the awning would not retract. After inspection found the retract wire shorted where it make a 90 degree turn into the motor. Had to get a new motor, and after installing, made sure they would not rub inside the awning tube.

But if I remember your previous post on this, I think your motor is outside the awning tube, and not like mine. Is that correct?
My awning motor is on the outside. I suspect the type you have is a better unit. I think the only benefit to my type is the ability to bring it in manually.

Seeing as I've had two fail, actually 3 if you count the replacement motor I've already put in, I'm surprised there aren't more posts about the problem.

Maybe I use it too much? Shouldn't be a problem in 2 season's usage. I don't leave the awnings out if there is a high wind. I will leave them out in heavy rain if I am at the camper. I bring them in when we leave camp every weekend and if we are going to be gone for a few hours and there is a storm expected. My most recent campsite was more protected from wind so that wasn't as big a concern. The site before that was more in the open and wind would hit the awning and if it was strong enough I could feel it inside.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg defective motor 1.jpg (116.7 KB, 12 views)
File Type: jpg defective motor volts 1.jpg (113.9 KB, 11 views)
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Old 11-01-2017, 08:52 AM   #9
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Quote:
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My awning motor is on the outside. I suspect the type you have is a better unit. I think the only benefit to my type is the ability to bring it in manually.

Seeing as I've had two fail, actually 3 if you count the replacement motor I've already put in, I'm surprised there aren't more posts about the problem.

Maybe I use it too much? Shouldn't be a problem in 2 season's usage. I don't leave the awnings out if there is a high wind. I will leave them out in heavy rain if I am at the camper. I bring them in when we leave camp every weekend and if we are going to be gone for a few hours and there is a storm expected. My most recent campsite was more protected from wind so that wasn't as big a concern. The site before that was more in the open and wind would hit the awning and if it was strong enough I could feel it inside.
Check the voltage with the awning opening or closing.
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Old 11-01-2017, 05:13 PM   #10
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I received an email from Camping World corporate on Monday that they were going to contact CW in Chichester and have a manager contact me immediately. Not holding my breath.

I received an email from Crossroads customer service today telling me I can bring my 5er to one of two other dealers that are both 70 miles away. They didn't tell me whether or not the problem would be fixed under warranty.
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Old 11-01-2017, 06:16 PM   #11
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Sean , looking at your pics, yours is outside like I thought. Mine is totally internally in the awning. Looks like in the picture you have the correct volts. Hope you have good luck with Crossroads.
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Old 11-09-2017, 08:37 AM   #12
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Good news maybe..... I contacted Crossroads who was no help with CW, but gave me options of other dealers to bring my 5er to for warranty repair. Could not tell me if the repairs would be covered.

I contacted LCI. They couldn't help but sent a new awning motor as a good faith measure.

As I posted earlier, a FB ad for CW came across my feed, I posted an honest comment not so favorable comment and was contacted by someone at CW saying someone from the dealership I purchased my 5er from would contact me ASAP.

As I expected I received no phone calls, emails, snail mail, telegraph, smoke signals. I responded to the instant message I had received from CW and asked what they considered was ASAP, it had been a week. I received a response within 12 hours apologizing and saying they would follow up personally with CW. 24 hours later, they messaged me to ask if I had heard from my dealer. I said no, but thank you for your efforts.

The next day I received a call from the service manager at my CW dealer. She asked if I was still having problems with my remote. I explained that was July 2016 and I had given up on that quest for greater things. She had no record of me emailing or coming in about the failed awning or motor. She then told me I could bring the unit in to be looked at. I asked if it would be covered under warranty as I am under the 2 years still and identified this problem 9 months ago. She asked if I had an extended warranty service plan. I told her I did not. She said they recommend extended warranty plans to everyone who purchases a new RV. I said I am aware of that. I then asked her why would I pay extra money to have your organization ignore me when I contact you with problems and warranty claims. She had nothing to say.

So I'm bringing it in 11/25 for them to diagnose the awnings. She told me that if the failure is due to wind, rain or other damage it would not be covered. Yikes, these people don't listen. How much simpler can it be than the awning goes out when the button is pushed but will not retract. Anyway am hopeful to get some resolution. Thanks for all the support.
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Old 01-11-2018, 01:21 PM   #13
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My awnings are apparently fixed. I say apparently because it's been below 40 degrees since I picked it up from CW after the repair.

First I want to say that CW had me in and out in 2 weeks. Actually they had it diagnosed in 3 days, then were waiting for Cross Roads to approve the repair. In fairness, since I have not had anything great to say about them, I want to say I think they provided me good service.

The problem with the awnings was a crimped connection to the back of the remote control board in the garage. CR denied the claim but CW only charged me $64 to diagnose and repair. They also got my remote working. I haven't been able to check any of this because of weather.

The remote now works the light over the door and will extend and retract the 3 slides. I was really hoping it would operate the awnings and the outside lights on the awning. CR told CW that the remote doesn't operate the awnings. What is funny about that is the failed fuse holder was in the remote control board.

Anyway, thank you Camping World for getting it done, not over charging. I"m starting to believe that a lot of repair delays are related to waiting for approval from manufacturers. I also told them if waiting for the warranty approval was going to cause a really long delay that I would pay them to fix it so I could get it home before snow and they could fight CR.
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