lazy man's power awning mod .

[TURBS]

Your much to kind John!

[OldCoot]

A hidden waterproof switch for each of the stabilizer jacks should be feasible, and a battery disconnect could be used to disable the battery(ies) which would also disable the charge wire from the tv wouldn't it?

[browne02]

Just checked Ebay no more left bummer

[OldCoot]

He only sold 34 in about 2 days.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by dunnnc

He only sold 34 in about 2 days.

I should be getting a cut!

[OldCoot]

At least 20% I think. Go for it f1100turbo, you deserve it.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Y_n_R

Herk, I have been talking about doing this with our 5'er as well. You never know if a little kid will get curious and hit one of those rocker switches. Can you give us a more detail and maybe some pics as to how and where you placed the kill switch(es)? Thanks.

P.S. I think from a safety perspective this should be done at the factory.

In the extreme upper left hand corner you can see the kill switch.
Make SURE the switch is rated for 30 amps DC. That is what the fused circuit is good for.

[TURBS]

OK guys and gals I am uploading a video to you tube of the function of my power awning remote !
STAY TUNED!

[Gotago2]

I'm so electrical challenged that mastering turning on and off a switch is the extent of my ability. That and being color blind does not help with all the diagrams with different color wires. So I guess as much as this is the niftiest mod I've seen in a long time I'll pass unless I can talk my neighbor into doing it for me. I will send him this thread to read and see if I can impose on his time for at least a six pack .

[TURBS]

well lets try this !


Power awning with remote mod - YouTube

[Herk7769]

Yours is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jak9Z...ature=youtu.be

[TURBS]

See how many hits I get tonight ! it was posted at 6 pm !


by the way thanks herk !

[TURBS]

I am just going to use a dpdt rocker that is
on/off/on it would serve both uses.flipped up on remote flipped center both off and flipped down on manual switch.
Should be fine

[Herk7769]

I plan on an up/down switch with no center "off".
Then it will be either Normal or Remote operation.

[TURBS]

any one else get theres installed yet ?
I know theres been about a bazillion sold so just wondering how its going ?
Almost 600 views on you tube so far
Power awning with remote mod - YouTube

[Herk7769]

Planned to do it today but it was too windy here.

Going to spend the day with a camping buddy tomorrow so it will be Friday. Photos of how I installed it in my Flagstaff 5th wheel will follow.

[hoffkm]

Picked up my switches and an inline fuse today, hope to install this weekend. I plan to wire a switch in the ground circuit of the relay and place a momentary push switch in the 12V+ circuit of the existing manual toggle switch. I'll post up with how it works out.

[Herk7769]

I am using DPDT Flat Lever Heavy-Duty Toggle Switch - RadioShack.com mounted in a small project box located in the front storage compartment under the steps.

There is 12VDC; a ground wire; and the two wires from the motor all within 4 inches of each other.

VERY easy access with only 3 screws to remove and lots of room to work.
Switch will be the only thing that shows when finished.

[TURBS]

Can't wait

[RJHuser]

I took a different approach to installing the awning remote control.

As was said previously, the remote module outputs (yellow and blue wires) are both at DC- (DC negative) when the module is not active. That's why the module cannot be wired directly in to the existing manual switch - it causes a direct short.

I opened the module case and removed the circuit board to see how the unit works. On the circuit board are two relays, both of which are SPDT (Single Pole Double Throw). The armature of each relay is connected to the output wires (yellow and blue), the NC (Normally Closed) contact is connected to DC-, and the NO (Normally Open) contact is connected to DC+ (DC positive).

When a button on the remote is pressed, one of the relays is energized, and, for example, the yellow wire becomes DC+ and the blue wire stays at DC-, thus driving the awning motor in, say, the open direction. When the other button on the remote is pressed, the other relay is energized, and the blue wire becomes DC+ and the yellow wire stays at DC-, thus driving the awning motor in the opposite or closed direction.

Since, as said above, when the relays are in the de-energized position, both output wires are connected to DC-, the module cannot be connected directly to the awning motor wiring, as this results in a direct short if the awning panel mounted manual switch is used.

(By the way, the design of the remote module is kind of dumb due to the use of the SPDT relays. A DPDT or DPST (Double Pole Single Throw) relay cost the same or a few pennies more than the SPDT relay. A few changes to the circuit board would make installation of this system much easier.)

The approach I took to install the remote module was to add DPDT relays external to the unit.

I purchased two compact DPDT relays (I could have used DPST relays, but they are harder to find then DPDT relays) and epoxied them to the top of the module case. The output wires (yellow and blue) from the module were connected to one side of each of the relay's coil (yellow to one of the relays coil, blue to the other relays coil), and DC- was connected to the other side of the relay's coils.

Now, when one button on the remote is pressed, one of the DPDT relays is energized, and when the other button is pressed, the other relay is energized.

The rest of the wiring consist of connecting DC+ to the left NO contact of each relay and to the module, DC- to the right NO contact of each relay and to the module, and, the tricky part, to connect the yellow output wire to the left armature of the first relay and the right armature of the other relay. The blue output wire is then connected to the right armature of the first relay and the left armature of the other relay. (No wires are connected to the relays NC contact.) This forms the polarity crossing output similar to the panel mounted manual switch.

(One other change I made was to bring the antenna wire out the opposite end of the modules case to reduce any interference from the power and switched wiring.)

I elected to mount the remote module behind the monitor panel in the trailer, where the manual awning switch is. I connected the red DC+ and black DC- wires directly to the manual switch's incoming power terminals, and the yellow and blue output wires to the manual switch's terminals going to the awning motor.

So far it's working well. Both the manual switch and the remote switch are available at the same time without having to have another switch to select the manual or remote modes. Of course, if someone presses the extend manual switch and the retract remote switch (or visa-verse) at the same time the fuse will blow, but this is a fairly remote possibility.

Sorry for the very long post, but I wanted to present an alternate method to connecting the remote module to the awning. And it does take a thousand words to show one picture (or in this case, a wiring diagram)!

(By-the-way, this modification, with the correctly sized (amp rating) relays could be used for many other function, including high-amperage applications, such as slides, stabilizers, jacks, etc.)