Awning Arm not closing. Isata 5 36' DS

[caseymyers]

Looking for someone that has a fix for similar issues with their awning.

Hard to see in the photos but my front awning arm does not fold flat against the rubber bumper that should be touching the mounting plate on the coach. The rear arm folds like it should nice and tight. The front arm does not completely fold flat and hangs about an inch away from being closed. My dealer could not adjust this problem away and after many discussion with Carefree the decided the problem would be fixed by installing a new arm on the front end of the awning. That did not fix the problem. And now there is a wear spot appearing on the center support bar (support for the two stage bend) and all of the paint is gone. Additionally in the attached video you can hear the loud noise the awning makes when closing. I've lubed the moving parts so my guess is something is binding or the motor is failing? Any Carefree experts out there?

[caseymyers]

PM me and I'll email you a Movie clip of noise while closing. Although I don't think the noise is associated with the arm not closing completely. Not closing has been an issue since I took delivery. The noise has been around for only one month.

[dannko]

Originally Posted by caseymyers

Looking for someone that has a fix for similar issues with their awning.

Hard to see in the photos but my front awning arm does not fold flat against the rubber bumper that should be touching the mounting plate on the coach. The rear arm folds like it should nice and tight. The front arm does not completely fold flat and hangs about an inch away from being closed. My dealer could not adjust this problem away and after many discussion with Carefree the decided the problem would be fixed by installing a new arm on the front end of the awning. That did not fix the problem. And now there is a wear spot appearing on the center support bar (support for the two stage bend) and all of the paint is gone. Additionally in the attached video you can hear the loud noise the awning makes when closing. I've lubed the moving parts so my guess is something is binding or the motor is failing? Any Carefree experts out there?

I know you don't want to hear this but same on mine, just started on last trip, but both rubber bumpers are about an inch off the metal mounting plate. If you press on the awning rolls, they flex a lot. Though when it rolls up the canvas seems tight at the top on the roll and not like it has a lot of room to roll anymore. Maybe it's the gas struts? I cannot think of anything else.

[BLT4SPD]

Okay, so I am not an "expert", but I have spent many hours either A) working on our awning or B) cleaning and lubricating our awning in the hopes that I won't have work on it again in the future. So, here's my best shot:

1) I believe your noise is coming from the bar that makes the "break" in the awning. The break is what makes it a "dual stage" awning. Inside that bar is a pair of pulleys (one on each end) and a cable between them. When I hear mine making excessive noise, I ALWAYS clean those cables, the inside of that bar, lubricate the pulleys and then clean off the top of the bar where it rides against the awning fabric. 90% of the time, the noise goes away. I don't know what it is about that bar, but it gets D_I_R_T_Y inside there. I have found mud, dead bugs, water, etc etc.

2) The arm not retracting all the way is hard to diagnose from afar. I do agree with DANNKO about the hydraulic helper springs though. I wipe those down all the time with WD40 and that seems to help a lot......and I mean I wipe them down every time the awning is open.

3) If I were you, I would start with cleaning and lubricating every pivot point you can, including the points up on the mount plates attached to the side of the coach.

4) If you want to look at exploded diagrams, We have, what Carefree calls the "Latitude" awning. Here's a link to the diagram:

https://www.e-carefree.com/ecarefree...r?productId=91

[BLT4SPD]

By the way, the MAJOR pain point on these awnings is the gearbox and specifically the planetary gear set that is driven by the motor at the end of the roller bar. What a HORRIBLE design!!!!!

The 2-piece black clam-shell thingy that covers everything acts like a reservoir for water. It does not matter if the awning is retracted or extended, that clamshell WILL collect water, but has a VERY hard time draining it out. Once I discovered what was going on, I have made a point to clean it out on a regular basis and it's STILL full of gunk and debris EVERY time! I actually JUST cleaned it out for the 4th time this past Friday and I took pictures for Carefree because they are going to need to warranty the planetary gear set. This is what it looks like inside that clamshell.....and keep in mind, I don't live in the rust belt and i've cleaned this thing out 4 times in the past year:





I've taken the planetary gears apart a couple times now, cleaned and lubricated everything and it STILL gets gunked up.



THIS time I took it all apart and found these horrendous cracks in the metal "bearing plate" that holds the 4 gears.



I found this Late Friday, so I plan on calling Carefree tomorrow to discuss it. Even though they actually have a way to file a warranty claim on-line and upload photos and all that (https://www.e-carefree.com/ecarefree30/CarefreeWarranty). I'd still like to chat with someone about it, because it's just going to keep happening. I tink a viable solution is to drill a hole in that clamshell to allow it to drain, but I'm not 100% sure on that yet.

[caseymyers]

BLT4SPD. Thanks for all this great info. I have lubricated the moving parts but will clean it and lube again and report back to you. Does your awning arms fold tight or do you also have a gap on one of them too?

[BLT4SPD]

Originally Posted by caseymyers

BLT4SPD. Thanks for all this great info. I have lubricated the moving parts but will clean it and lube again and report back to you. Does your awning arms fold tight or do you also have a gap on one of them too?

They fold up tight. Rubber bumpers touch the wall.

[caseymyers]

Any theories on why one side of mine (as you can see in the photos) does not close tight? This is a new arm from Carefree. No change in how tight it closes even with the new arm. Do you think rain tilt can affect how tight an arm folds? If I had to guess, I'd think that there is some kind of binding going on that does not allow the front side to close completely?

[BLT4SPD]

Another big problem we had was sap! Sap got on the top of the awning and then when it rolled up, that put sap on the BOTTOM of the awning. That guide bar for the dual stage "break" then got sap on it. That bar just slides across the fabric, so if it's not clean, it'll make tons of noise.....and if there is sap on it......ooooph, don't get me started!

[BLT4SPD]

Originally Posted by caseymyers

Any theories on why one side of mine (as you can see in the photos) does not close tight? This is a new arm from Carefree. No change in how tight it closes even with the new arm. Do you think rain tilt can affect how tight an arm folds? If I had to guess, I'd think that there is some kind of binding going on that does not allow the front side to close completely?

You might try removing the gas helper cylinder from just that side and see what happens. If that cylinder was the wrong length or wasn't collapsing all the way, that could easily prevent the awning arm from folding up tight against the body of the coach.....especially since you said that it's been happening since day one.

FYI, the single stage version of our awnings do NOT have those cylinders. They are added to the dual stage to assist with the additional drag of the bar that makes the break in the dual stage. So, you should be okay to roll up the awning without one of those cylinders in place. Although, if it were me, I'd probably be on a ladder next to the awning just in case I needed to help it close all the way.

[caseymyers]

Well first thing tomorrow is a trip to storage to try the arm removal, the cleaning and lube tricks. Fingers crossed. Thanks so much for your help on this one!

[dannko]

so we are probably not the only ones, I assume it is happening to most, they just have not noticed it. Did anyone contact Carefree about the bumpers not hitting and if so what did they say?

[FleckDreher]

Originally Posted by BLT4SPD

That bar just slides across the fabric, so if it's not clean, it'll make tons of noise.....and if there is sap on it......ooooph, don't get me started!

I had the same problem with "chatter" and vibration of the bar on the underside of the awning.

Sounded like it was going to tear something apart.

A couple of sprays of silicone lubricant took care of it and it has not occurred again.

I am going to look at the gear box, but I think a small drain hole is the way to go to prevent water building up.

Water in constant contact with the Zinc alloy is eventually fatal.

Both of my bumpers touch the wall when closed.

[caseymyers]

[QUOTE=BLT4SPD;2145770]Okay, so I am not an "expert", but I have spent many hours either A) working on our awning or B) cleaning and lubricating our awning in the hopes that I won't have work on it again in the future. So, here's my best shot:

1) I believe your noise is coming from the bar that makes the "break" in the awning. The break is what makes it a "dual stage" awning. Inside that bar is a pair of pulleys (one on each end) and a cable between them. When I hear mine making excessive noise, I ALWAYS clean those cables, the inside of that bar, lubricate the pulleys and then clean off the top of the bar where it rides against the awning fabric. 90% of the time, the noise goes away. I don't know what it is about that bar, but it gets D_I_R_T_Y inside there. I have found mud, dead bugs, water, etc etc.

2) The arm not retracting all the way is hard to diagnose from afar. I do agree with DANNKO about the hydraulic helper springs though. I wipe those down all the time with WD40 and that seems to help a lot......and I mean I wipe them down every time the awning is open.

3) If I were you, I would start with cleaning and lubricating every pivot point you can, including the points up on the mount plates attached to the side of the coach.

I had lubricated the awning in the past, probably a few months back. But the silicone did the trick everything is smooth and quiet. I'll lube more often, mine you I don't use the awning much.

I tried playing with the adjusting screw yet again and I cannot get the sag out of the front arm. I took some photo graphs of the mounting plate. I noticed that the front plate is mounted about half an inch lower than the rear mount. Do you think that would affect the geometry? I tried to take off the helper springs/strut but could not figure out how to pop it off and I'm afraid I'd break it.
Have you drilled a drain hole in the plastic gear housing? And if so where?

Attached are mounting plate photos front and rear. And a photo of the fabric where the middle support bar is wearing a hole through the fabric. My theory on the support bar wearing through the fabric is that since the front of the awning is not closing all the way it bounces as we are going down the road causing all the wear. I'm out of ideas, do you have a contact at Carefree?

[caseymyers]

Forgot to mention that the front mounting plate is a bit crooked and mounted a little lower (look at photos) than the rear bracket. Do you think that might explain the front not closing all the way?

[FleckDreher]

Originally Posted by caseymyers

Forgot to mention that the front mounting plate is a bit crooked and mounted a little lower (look at photos) than the rear bracket. Do you think that might explain the front not closing all the way?

Yes, I think it could be the problem. You may be able to compensate somewhat with the angle adjustment set screws on the front mount.

I did not mention that my awning had the "clunk noise" on closing when new and that I lubricated every pivot and slide I could get to.

This got rid of the "clunk noise" and everything seems a lot smoother overall now.

I measured the motor current during the "chattering" of the center bar and the peak excursions made me think if I did not find a solution to it the motor would soon be DOA.

[caseymyers]

Originally Posted by FleckDreher

Yes, I think it could be the problem. You may be able to compensate somewhat with the angle adjustment set screws on the front mount.

I did not mention that my awning had the "clunk noise" on closing when new and that I lubricated every pivot and slide I could get to.

This got rid of the "clunk noise" and everything seems a lot smoother overall now.

I measured the motor current during the "chattering" of the center bar and the peak excursions made me think if I did not find a solution to it the motor would soon be DOA.

My 'clunk' noise is the sagging front arm hitting the top of the patio light fixture as it closes. I did all the adjusting you can do. The arm lifting screw is all the way in. No joy.

[FleckDreher]

Originally Posted by caseymyers

My 'clunk' noise is the sagging front arm hitting the top of the patio light fixture as it closes. I did all the adjusting you can do. The arm lifting screw is all the way in. No joy.

How about buying the front mounting plate as a replacement part and laying out new holes for the arm mounting pivot block 1/2" higher, or whatever the dimension needs to be, and swapping the new plate for the old ?

That would not require trying to change the mounting holes in the coach wall, or removing the awning completely.

[dannko]

Originally Posted by FleckDreher

How about buying the front mounting plate as a replacement part and laying out new holes for the arm mounting pivot block 1/2" higher, or whatever the dimension needs to be, and swapping the new plate for the old ?

That would not require trying to change the mounting holes in the coach wall, or removing the awning completely.

yet that comes with no guarantees, and others on here have the same issue, like myself. Being that it's 97 here, I haven't went out to check all the things discussed here. All I know is mine did not do this before my last trip.

[caseymyers]

Originally Posted by FleckDreher

How about buying the front mounting plate as a replacement part and laying out new holes for the arm mounting pivot block 1/2" higher, or whatever the dimension needs to be, and swapping the new plate for the old ?

That would not require trying to change the mounting holes in the coach wall, or removing the awning completely.

They are pre-drilled. I've tossed around the idea of moving the plate up but the bottom set of holes would be exposed. I could just fill them with sealant I suppose. But that'd be some serious work of holding that awning up while you did the job. Anyone on here done that one? I'd need a tall awning jack?