Awning disaster!

[ibnub]

So as new owners of the 23ikss who knew that the exterior door had to be fully closed before retracting the awning! Needless to say the door caught in the lower retracting arm and crumpled the arm. Thank goodness there was no damage to the actual door.
Silly mistake, but would have thought that the door would be designed so as to not get caught. Anyone else had this happen or are we just foolish newbees?![emoji30]

[ependydad]

Different camper, different situation but I just mashed a decorative piece on my awning on a ladder I had propped up.

[doc73]

My grey wolf needed the door closed or it would crunch into the awning.

[bikendan]

The dealer should have made you aware of this, during the PDI. Should have demonstrated the proper way of deploying the awning.

Another example of a lousy PDI from a dealer.

[dcheatwood]

I snapped an awning support arm off the RV wall mount when I closed the awning with the door hand rail folded the wrong way. Lots of oops moments in this business.
I was surprised at how strong the little motor and awning were. Seems the awning would have ripped away first. Stuff stuff. Lol

[Maman325]

I think we covered it in our pdi - but I've almost done it more than a few times. And we don't use our awning often!

[wharfrat48]

Any way to adjust the door? Our 23IKSS (2015) does not have this issue (although the open door is very close to the awning arm).

[Ron045]

Only one season under my belt, but I seem to remember closing the awning while standing in the open doorway watching it close after I pushed the button.

I even remember getting wet one time after closing the awning during an initial rain as the roller came over my head.

I will check it out again this week and include pictures. Maybe the design has been altered.

Ron

[MillMitch]

Originally Posted by ibnub

So as new owners of the 23ikss who knew that the exterior door had to be fully closed before retracting the awning! Needless to say the door caught in the lower retracting arm and crumpled the arm. Thank goodness there was no damage to the actual door.
Silly mistake, but would have thought that the door would be designed so as to not get caught. Anyone else had this happen or are we just foolish newbees?![emoji30]

Now that you've pointed it out, I'll keep an eye on mine. I already ran a tree limb along my awning while backing up for the first time - we'll see if it went through the fabric when i open it up in a couple weeks.

[jonshonda]

Omg you just cannot engineer out every possible thing that might happen. Own your mistake and move on.

[Ron045]

Originally Posted by jonshonda

Omg you just cannot engineer out every possible thing that might happen. Own your mistake and move on.

As I read the thread, I'm not sure anyone placed blame on the Engineer.

Some folks merely expressed some differences in their operations which may have been as a result of design changes.

The OP even states it was a "silly mistake", so I believe he did own it. Isn't it nice that he shared the experience so others don't do the same thing?

Here are some pics of my 2017 23IKSS. As you can see from the first pic, the awning should not be open or closed with the door fully open.

However in the 2nd pic you will see when the door is half open there is awning clearance. That supports my memory from last season on standing in the doorway to close the awning.

Good Luck and thank for sharing your story. That's how we all learn and get smarter.

vr
Ron

P.S. However while we are on the subject of engineering I wonder how much it would cost to put in a safety sensor similar to automatic car doors so when it feels resistance, it will stop and re-open?

While we are at it how about a wind sensor similar to the awning on my house? When the wind hits a specified MPH, the awning closes for safety.

Ok, I probably just added $500 to the cost of the camper... Maybe these should just be user mods.

[ibnub]

Originally Posted by Ron045

Only one season under my belt, but I seem to remember closing the awning while standing in the open doorway watching it close after I pushed the button.

I even remember getting wet one time after closing the awning during an initial rain as the roller came over my head.

I will check it out again this week and include pictures. Maybe the design has been altered.

Ron

Thanks Ron! Of course I owned my mistake. Like you said, just wanted others to not make the same mistake. Live and learn that is why we all post.

[CampingGator]

Thanks for the information! I have never thought about it. I will have to look at ours when I get home this evening.

[OldCoot]

Ours would hit the arm also, so I moved the air cylinder 2" closer to the door hinge and the door anchor 2" farther away from the hinge and now the door will open only to within 1-1/2" of the arm.

[ibnub]

Great mod. The 2018 model doesn't operate on a hinge though so there is no way to correct other then pure diligence !

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by ibnub

Great mod. The 2018 model doesn't operate on a hinge though so there is no way to correct other then pure diligence !

How does it open if there are no hinges? The air cyl is mounted to the door and the camper wall, doesn't even come close to the 3 hinges on the door.

[ibnub]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

How does it open if there are no hinges? The air cyl is mounted to the door and the camper wall, doesn't even come close to the 3 hinges on the door.

The newer models have a friction hinge. They are supposed to stay in place even in a 20mph wind.

[Helmsey]

I found out the hard way that my basement door has to be closed to open or retract my awning...