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Old 07-08-2004, 07:27 PM   #1
patodonn
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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M.O.C. #331
Bye, Bye Awning!!

It was only a small thunderstorm, and it wasn't coming directly overhead and there had been several just like it in the preceding several day(s) with no significant winds, so why should I take the awning down for the umpteenth time in a week?

Well, I almost got back to the rig in time....there were two wind gusts, not really strong, just as I arrived...the first one just yanked it around a bit, the second one tore both of the support arms loose at the bottom support points, and up and over the awning went!! Bent/twisted the support arms, popped rivets in them, tore a 2 foot section of awning attachment hardware loose from the side of the Monty just a little way below the roof line.

It only took about 30 min of work on the roof to take everything apart enough to cut the awning loose right next to the side of the Monty. Support arms and awning are on the way to the dump. Estimate is about $700 for a replacement, including the work. No serious damage to the Monty itself except for a few bolt/screw holes which will need patching and replacement of a small section of the awning support which is screwed into the side at the top of the Monty.

Lessons learned: 1.) NEVER, NEVER, leave the rig with the awning deployed if there is ANY chance of a significant wind coming up, thunderstorm or otherwise. 2.) If you even THINK you might want to stow the awning due to approaching weather, you have already made the decision! Dont delay, do it NOW! 3.) ALWAYS use additional mooring lines from the ends of the awning "tube" to the ground. That will, hopefully, keep any stray wind gusts from getting under the awning and pulling it up and away. 4.) If you aren't going to be there all the time, make sure your spouse/companion(s) practice "solo" awning stowing, so they can do it in an emergency. 5.) The winds that did this were only about two or three significant gusts, and I would say about 20 MPH. It doesn't take much if you don't have additional mooring for the awning!

Y'all be careful out there!! You can bet I will be next time!!
 
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Old 07-09-2004, 12:12 AM   #2
Montana_70
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M.O.C. #70
PJ,

So sorry to hear about your awning! But thank you for posting this. I have been having the "awning conversation" with myself since I have arrived in Orlando. It rains everday and sometimes wind, sometimes not, but you never know. I do have tie downs, but I have still been rolling it up, rolling it down, sometimes more than once in a day.

Maybe the tie downs would prevent what happened to you but, I don't have an $700 to find out and I need my awning living out in this "field" in July right now.

Your post will help me from becoming too complacent. I think I'll chose rolling up the awning than going through what you just did.





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Old 07-09-2004, 12:55 AM   #3
BillyRay
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M.O.C. #607
I've seen it way too many times! where we are it is a daily occurance to someone...when the wind comes over the lake.
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Old 07-09-2004, 01:11 AM   #4
Bill and Ann
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Unfortunate you lost your awning. I have two friends that lost their awning last year and it was a wakeup call to me. I very seldom leave it up now when we go out. I have also had to get up many times at 2 or 3 am to put it down.
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Old 07-09-2004, 02:56 AM   #5
NJ Hillbilly
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M.O.C. #242
There are just some places or situations that the awning does not go down. Myrtle Beach for example, the place we camp at the only time the awning is out is if we are sitting under it. I have seen many folded over the roof there.

Another good idea is to add a tension rafter/center support. A friends awning tube bent in a downpour, he did have an incline in the fabric but it wasn't enough. A tension rafter would probably held the fabric tight enough so the waster would not have pooled and bent his awning.

John
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Old 07-09-2004, 03:06 AM   #6
ken
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M.O.C. #345
Sorry about the awning.
We have been there and done that. Thanks to the insurance company to replace it. Good advise...............
Ken and Velda
Dahlgren VA
2003 3655FL Montana/Ford F350 Diesel

Quote:
quote:Originally posted by patodonn

It was only a small thunderstorm, and it wasn't coming directly overhead and there had been several just like it in the preceding several day(s) with no significant winds, so why should I take the awning down for the umpteenth time in a week?

Well, I almost got back to the rig in time....there were two wind gusts, not really strong, just as I arrived...the first one just yanked it around a bit, the second one tore both of the support arms loose at the bottom support points, and up and over the awning went!! Bent/twisted the support arms, popped rivets in them, tore a 2 foot section of awning attachment hardware loose from the side of the Monty just a little way below the roof line.

It only took about 30 min of work on the roof to take everything apart enough to cut the awning loose right next to the side of the Monty. Support arms and awning are on the way to the dump. Estimate is about $700 for a replacement, including the work. No serious damage to the Monty itself except for a few bolt/screw holes which will need patching and replacement of a small section of the awning support which is screwed into the side at the top of the Monty.

Lessons learned: 1.) NEVER, NEVER, leave the rig with the awning deployed if there is ANY chance of a significant wind coming up, thunderstorm or otherwise. 2.) If you even THINK you might want to stow the awning due to approaching weather, you have already made the decision! Dont delay, do it NOW! 3.) ALWAYS use additional mooring lines from the ends of the awning "tube" to the ground. That will, hopefully, keep any stray wind gusts from getting under the awning and pulling it up and away. 4.) If you aren't going to be there all the time, make sure your spouse/companion(s) practice "solo" awning stowing, so they can do it in an emergency. 5.) The winds that did this were only about two or three significant gusts, and I would say about 20 MPH. It doesn't take much if you don't have additional mooring for the awning!

Y'all be careful out there!! You can bet I will be next time!!
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Old 07-09-2004, 03:25 AM   #7
sreigle
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PJ & Nan, I'm sorry to hear about your awning loss. We've been there, also, and, like you, are now very careful about when we deploy the awning and it gets retracted when we leave.
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Old 07-09-2004, 03:58 AM   #8
Bowie
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M.O.C. #1475
Sorry to hear of your misadventure!! But thanks for posting it as a reminder to all of us not to get complacent--even if we DO have tie downs. Good luck with repairs and replacement.
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Old 07-09-2004, 04:21 AM   #9
Montana_35
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M.O.C. #35
While we are on the subject...Has anyone ever had one destroyed or damaged while properly tied down and with deflappers in place??? Just wondering.
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Old 07-09-2004, 04:33 AM   #10
DHenry
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M.O.C. #496
Thank you for your post, it is a constant reminder that we can not be to careful. I have always made it a practice to stow away my awning before going to bed and sometimes I have put it away a lot earlier if it starts getting windy out.
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Old 07-09-2004, 05:04 AM   #11
sreigle
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That's a really good question, Virgil, and I will be following this thread. Ours had four deflappers deployed but was not tied down with the aftermarket tiedowns. We now have those tiedowns and use them.

Our situation was in Virginia. Almost three weeks of no wind at all made us complacent when we left for the day. We were open to the North side, on a hill, and the awning was on the north. We left for the day. A sudden storm dumping close to 4 inches of rain and gusts to 60mph got ours. Two of our neighbors climbed the roof, got the awning back down and retracted it for us. The storm destroyed three of the arms (two outers and one inner and cracked/broke one of the mounts but did not pull the mounts from the Montana. So all I had to replace was the three arms. $61 and change in parts. We got off very cheaply. Thankfully we had great neighbors who got the awning retracted before more damage was caused, such as ripping the roofing material. These guys were up on the roof in the downpour. One of them I'm still in email contact with. Great people you find in rv parks.
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Old 07-09-2004, 08:08 AM   #12
NJ Hillbilly
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M.O.C. #242
I use 2 sets of de-flappers (the ones with the velcro straps) and I also have straps that wrap around the tube and use a spring to maintain tension on the fabric. They attach to the bottom of the lower arm and don't attach to the ground.

John
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Old 07-09-2004, 08:20 AM   #13
skyguy
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There is an old sailers diity that goes something like:
"Tis always better to be in port wishing you were out sailing, than to be out sailing wishing you were in port!!"

Guess this could apply to awnings too - in Colorado, winds spawn out of nowhere off of thunderstorms, and our awning is "in" more than "out".

Al
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Old 07-09-2004, 09:47 AM   #14
Montana_621
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M.O.C. #621
Those people truly are wonderful! I can't say I'd be up on another RVer's roof trying to put their awning down in the pouring rain when they were gone and left it out. They went way above and beyond the call of duty.

You did get off easy and pretty cheaply I might add.

Patodonn, so sorry for your loss of the awning and cost, that really sucks.

We have had our awning out twice in 2 years.... I guess we don't have to worry. Mike hates to put it out and most of the time we are in shaded spots so I could care less.

Quote:
quote:Originally posted by sreigle

That's a really good question, Virgil, and I will be following this thread. Ours had four deflappers deployed but was not tied down with the aftermarket tiedowns. We now have those tiedowns and use them.

Our situation was in Virginia. Almost three weeks of no wind at all made us complacent when we left for the day. We were open to the North side, on a hill, and the awning was on the north. We left for the day. A sudden storm dumping close to 4 inches of rain and gusts to 60mph got ours. Two of our neighbors climbed the roof, got the awning back down and retracted it for us. The storm destroyed three of the arms (two outers and one inner and cracked/broke one of the mounts but did not pull the mounts from the Montana. So all I had to replace was the three arms. $61 and change in parts. We got off very cheaply. Thankfully we had great neighbors who got the awning retracted before more damage was caused, such as ripping the roofing material. These guys were up on the roof in the downpour. One of them I'm still in email contact with. Great people you find in rv parks.
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Old 07-09-2004, 11:35 AM   #15
lightningjack11
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M.O.C. #59
Two years ago, just outside of Pigeon Forge I put out the awning on an absolutely beautiful day. While admiring my work a cloud come over the mountain top that looked real mean. It was close to the ground. I put up my awning quickly and just made. When I was done I looked around and at least four awnings were torn off the campers around me. This occurred in about 5 minutes time. We were very lucky.

Don't think any of them were tied down.
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Old 07-09-2004, 03:43 PM   #16
patodonn
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M.O.C. #331
Thanks to everyone for their comments..I am also interested in the "stats" re awning loss with the additional mooring straps to the ground added on. I did have four deflappers on mine, two per side.

I'll check later on in a search mode to see what comments are forthcoming..

Best Regards,
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Old 07-09-2004, 07:08 PM   #17
sreigle
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PJ & Nan, there are a couple of options you can use besides searching for updates to this thread.

One is the "active topics" link at the top right of the page. That one brings up only topics with new posts since you last logged in. Actually, there will be a drop down box and you can select 'since last login', or 'last hour', 'last day', etc.

The other option is to click the link at the bottom of the page, just above the reply box, for 'subscribe to this topic'. Then you will be sent an email when a new post is posted to this thread. Haven't done this in a long time as I subscribed to too many and got inundated with emails. But for a single topic or two it's great. I am hoping it still works in this new software as I just described.
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Old 07-10-2004, 10:14 AM   #18
Thunderman
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Sorry to hear of your loss. I also use the deflappers......I also have had to get up at 2:30 or so in the morning many times to roll it up.
A few years back, my son and some of his friends wanted to use the trailer at the lake. The last thing I told them was "if you leave the area, put the awning up" Guess what,the wind came up and wiped out the awning fabric...the boys had left for a short time. Life does go on.
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Old 08-16-2004, 05:43 PM   #19
Montana_1197
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I'd be a rich man if I had a dollar for everytime I've told a friend, "If you don't roll it up before you go to bed, you'll be outside in your shorts at 2:30 rolling it in". Around here no matter how beautiful and calm it is at midnight, it always seems to get a little brezzy in the wee hours, then calms again just at dawn. I keep mine lashed down so tight you could use it for a trampoline. but I still put it up before retiring.
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Old 08-16-2004, 06:03 PM   #20
fulltimedreamer
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I lost an awning while hosting at Ft. Yargo State Park back in June. I always leave one side lower so that the middle doesn't catch water and overload the awning. Well, you guessed it, I came in late at night and raised the awning so that we could get into the coach and thought I had put enough slant to the awning to drain off the rain. The next morning I get a knock on my door telling me that my awning is getting ready to come down from the weight of the water in the awning. I got outside just in time to see the roller bar bend in the middle and drop the load of water.

Fortunately, my insurance company sent out a Mobile RV guy who measured the awning and ordered a new one. The next week he installed the new awning and a center support that will hopefully keep water from collecting in the awning. American RV out of Madison, Georgia did a great job and everthing is good as new. My cost was a $100 deductible, but my insurance company took a $1350 hit.

Needless to say, I use the new center support and make sure one end of the awning is lower than the other. I also use tiedowns to protect against those rogue winds.
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