HELP! Power Awning Problems

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by oldcoot

how about a big round of applause to david for making a 3+ hr round trip to help a frf member?

thank you dave!

thank you dave!

[Brother Les]

Two thumbs up. One less worry crossed off the 'list'. Friends helping friends, known and unknown, with word or deed or a smile and a nice hello.

Safe travels and have a great fellowship with yours and those around you.

[dcheatwood]

Well, I would love to say that years of experience and training afforded me the knowledge to perform the reapirs on bigjohnd's awning. But, I can't. Just went through basic checks starting with trying to roll it out by hand. Would not budge. Was able to pull plug in channel to unplug awning motor (heard before that they had auto shut off and would reset if disconnected a while) Just a wild shot. While waiting for motor to wake up I checked fuses and found two fuses that showed trouble code when touched. Crimped the clips a little tighter and the codes went away. Checked breakers and fuses near battery. Went back to awning and tried unrolling it again. Came out easy this time. Direct wired 12V to the motor wires and it ran fine. Checked voltage at loose end of supply wires, no voltage. Went back to panel, a different fuse was blown. Replaced it and tested switch. All working like new.
The only thing I can figure is that several things worked together to cause motor to lock up. First, the 2 fuses that were loose fitting. And, I found that the tension nuts on the articulating arms were tightened down, causing motor to strain to open and close with arms stiff. BigjohnD's wife said the motor has never been so quiet as now. I assume the nuts were too tight all along and the motor strained until it finally shut down. But all is well now. God is good.


PS. That is the longest awning I've ever seen!

[dcheatwood]

And did I mention, John's mom and dad are good friends of mine and live a few miles from me? I knew John when he was a little kid and lived a few streets over from me. But haven't seen him since late 80s.
Now I've gone put things in perspective. There you all were thinking I was a great guy. Ha.

[Brother Les]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

God is good.

X2


Thank-you for being a friend, Dave. We should all pass that along.

[Joe_GA]

You are still a good guy, Dave, whether you know John or not! Thanks for helping a brother FROG out!

[BillyBass]

I would try changing the switch first.I think you can try a light switch its a single pole .If not it got to be in the motor or you can check all your breakers bc pulling it can loosing up the wires when bouncing down the road

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by BillyBass

I would try changing the switch first.I think you can try a light switch its a single pole .If not it got to be in the motor or you can check all your breakers bc pulling it can loosing up the wires when bouncing down the road

You could also make a fused jumper to manually open and close the awning (at the switch location) in a pinch.

[dcheatwood]

And now, if the rain holds off, I'm back on my issue witht eh frig not cooling. AFter about 18 hours on 120V, it was at 40 degrees this morning, but back up to 46 now and has not been opened. Gonna turn all the fans over.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Problem solved. Awning back up and running.

Sent from my XT907 using Forest River Forums mobile app

Originally Posted by OldCoot

How about a big round of applause to David for making a 3+ hr round trip to help a frf member?

Thank you Dave!

Yes, X10! Thank you Dave!

It's guys like you that make me proud to be in this fine company of folk. Stop by our camp at Goshen and the beer's on me!

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

And now, if the rain holds off, I'm back on my issue witht eh frig not cooling. AFter about 18 hours on 120V, it was at 40 degrees this morning, but back up to 46 now and has not been opened. Gonna turn all the fans over.

Dave,

I believe OC did some sort of mod that improved cooling on his unit.

From my Foxhole, it sounds like your unit is cooling (no ammonia smell right?) So if your unit is cooling I wonder how the seals are doing on your fridge?

Is your freezer functioning correctly?

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob

Dave,

I believe OC did some sort of mod that improved cooling on his unit.

From my Foxhole, it sounds like your unit is cooling (no ammonia smell right?) So if your unit is cooling I wonder how the seals are doing on your fridge?

Is your freezer functioning correctly?

Yeah, freezer is fine but like many others have reported, not cold in frig. I just put 3 fans (original with thermistor and two switched) in the rear pointing up to suck cooler air in the bottom and warmer air out the top. I've tested the door with a dollar and it was fine. My 3rd rv with dometic and never had an issue before. But this is first one with frig in slide out. Guess circulation is not as adequate as roof vent. No ammonia smell. Holding now at 44 degrees with ori fan cycling. I'm gonna watch it a while and then turn on 2 other fans to see if any change. I have a temp transmitter in the frig so I can read temp from the house and no need to open door. hasn't opened in about 15 hours now.

[Ford Idaho]

Thought the fan/s were supposed to be in the fridge blowing on the cooling fins.

Interesting, I shall watch.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Yeah, freezer is fine but like many others have reported, not cold in frig. I just put 3 fans (original with thermistor and two switched) in the rear pointing up to suck cooler air in the bottom and wormer air out the top. I've tested the door with a dollar and it was fine. My 3rd rv with dometic and never had an issue before. But this is first one with frig in slide out. Guess circulation is not as adequate as roof vent. No ammonia smell. Holding now at 44 degrees with ori fan cycling. I'm gonna watch it a while and then turn on 2 other fans to see if any change. I have a temp transmitter in the frig so I can read temp from the house and no need to open door. hasn't opened in about 15 hours now.

Dave,

I was doing some research for you and found this:
Purchase | Buy RV Fridge Control | Norcold Documentation | Dometic Documentation

Don't know if it is worth anything or not...would love to hear opinions!

Hmmm My refer is on the slide as well. Over Memorial Day weekend, I noticed that the refer was making a whining (or steady tone) sound. No issues with cooling, just that odd sound which I attributed to cooling during the heat of the day (got up to 93 deg with @ 70% humidity )

I have thought about installing a fan(s) in our refer as well - this sounds like a mod I need to do.Soon.

This temp issue has got to be driving you crazy!!

[OldCoot]

Fans inside are to keep the temp even, not lower it, the fans outside blowing across the entire back is what will help LOWER the frig temp. Fans down as close to the burner as possible as it cools the entire coolant plumbing system.

[Weezer]

Wow! Thought about BigJohn and his family several times today...*tough* work day BTW, and now to come home to such a wonderful story!

dcheatwood......A boisterous and LOUD round of applause for ya!

I know this awesome group of people came to our aid when we had the smoke alarm go off in the early morning hours and woke up to an RV full of smoke. Saved our trip, they did!

SO glad that John can now exhale and relax for the rest of his offshore rotation, knowing all is well at the home front.

BTW John, you've created quite a stir here at home....your home front set-up is EXACTLY what DH has been planning for us. He spent HOURS online last night researching metal buildings big enough for a small apartment, his shop, and our 5er. ...... He's officially on a mission now!

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

Thought the fan/s were supposed to be in the fridge blowing on the cooling fins.

Interesting, I shall watch.

FI. I think some are in the bottom. Mine came with 1 fan mounted just beneath the upper fins blowing down. I'm sure it should have been blowing up as heat rises. So I put one one either side that I can turn on and off on hotter days.

Sent from my XT907 using Forest River Forums mobile app

[BigJohnD]

This may be totally worthless info, but this is what I did to the fridge in our Forester. It was in the slide and the cooling fan seemed to work ok. It was only a single fan, but blowing upwards across the coils. After I cut the original thermister off inside the fridge and did this cheap $26 mod, I never had any other issues. It was an experimental mod, but it worked then. In our case, I couldn't get the temp set the way I wanted it. It was always too warm.

Dometic Thermistor Repair Kit

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by BigJohnD

This may be totally worthless info, but this is what I did to the fridge in our Forester. It was in the slide and the cooling fan seemed to work ok. It was only a single fan, but blowing upwards across the coils. After I cut the original thermister off inside the fridge and did this cheap $26 mod, I never had any other issues. It was an experimental mod, but it worked then. In our case, I couldn't get the temp set the way I wanted it. It was always too warm.

Dometic Thermistor Repair Kit

I've been thinking about one of those. Had never heard a report about effectiveness. Thanks for telling me.

[BillyBass]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

You could also make a fused jumper to manually open and close the awning (at the switch location) in a pinch.

What was the problem with the awning in case it happens to me thanks