awning troubleshooting

[retire057]

The 21 foot electric Dometic awning on my 2016 Salem Hemisphere will extend but will only retract about 6 inches and then stop. It appears to stop on thermal overload because it will try again after waiting a few minutes.

Here is what I have done to try and figure it out:

I replaced the motor but the problem still remains so I'm assuming its not the motor.

I checked the incoming voltage to the motor and it's getting 120 volts both in and out so I'm assuming its not the switch.

I replaced the strut on the motor side thinking that it might be providing too much resistance but the problem remains.

I can roll it in and out using my drill, so does that mean that the spring mechanism is operating as it is supposed to?

Any suggestions? I'm out of ideas.

[tony_bar]

not sure if this is the same issue I had but when I purchased a 2016 Viber 279 rbs the awning did the exact same thing. Took it in and they replaced the feeding wire which according to the dealer was the wrong size. It works fine now except if I use the tablet to operate the awning it blows a fuse.

hopefully this helps

[youroo]

Sounds like the above reply might be the fix,but your Elect motor is Not 120V! Youroo!!

[tony_bar]

On a side not does anyone have a wiring diagram for the vibe awnings? Preferably for the 279rbs (rear bath suite) no bunks 2 slides. If not any ideas where I could get one?

[aceinspp]

Most manufactures or builders of campers do not furnish wiring diagrams. Later RJD

[rsdata]

will extend but will only retract about 6 inches and then stop. It appears to stop on thermal overload because it will try again after waiting a few minutes.

Sounds like a bad wire connection issue to me... rolling out does not require as much power as the roller spring helps, but retracting is now pulling against the roller spring requiring more amps thru the wiring to the motor in the roller. A bad connection drops voltage requiring more amps which then trips the breaker (overload switch).

I would first look for a loose or poor crimp connection on that wire run to the motor from the switch or even back to the fuse panel.
Test by supplying 12 VDC direct to motor leads and see if it retracts without issue.

You might need to replace the wire run to the motor with a bit thicker wire as an alternative.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by youroo

Sounds like the above reply might be the fix,but your Elect motor is Not 120V! Youroo!!

Like youroo says, if you’re reading 120 volts, something is wrong with your trailer or with your meter.

[retire057]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.
My bad, I wrote 120 volts but I meant that I measured 12 volts.

I’m going to try applying 12 volts to the motor leads to see if wiring is the problem.

[retire057]

Originally Posted by tony_bar

not sure if this is the same issue I had but when I purchased a 2016 Viber 279 rbs the awning did the exact same thing. Took it in and they replaced the feeding wire which according to the dealer was the wrong size. It works fine now except if I use the tablet to operate the awning it blows a fuse.

hopefully this helps

Tonybar, did your awning do this when you first got it or did this problem develop later?

[retire057]

I hooked up a separate 12v source directly to the awning motor and got the same result.

So I’m assuming the problem is in the head gears or the tube spring. What do y’all think?

[rsdata]

the same result being that a thermal overload happened?

Where is the breaker located? must be in the motor? and you already replaced the motor?

[tony_bar]

It came from the dealer like this...I purchased new but I think it was a reworked unit.... When the dealer fixed the wire it caused the fuse to trip while using the tablet

[retire057]

Originally Posted by rsdata

the same result being that a thermal overload happened?

Where is the breaker located? must be in the motor? and you already replaced the motor?

It didnt overload because I didn’t run it till it stopped completely but it did exactly the same thing, struggling to retract

[rsdata]

mine deploys quickly, but goes slow, 1/3 the speed when retracting, but always finishes the job without blowing a fuse or having a thermal delay... been doing that now for 4 years of the 6 years I have owned it... has not let me down yet...

sounds like you maybe made some progress... no thermal cutoff... and were you feeding it 12.6 volts directly from a 12V lead-acid battery? or were you plugged into shore power feeding it 13.2 volts from the trailer converter?

My awning goes slower when retracting just on battery power alone... the extra 0.6 volts from the converter power when plugged in to shore power helps roll it a bit faster when still plugged into shore power...

so if it did not trip the breaker, the wiring may still be at fault

[retire057]

Thanks for your comments. I was feeding it from a separate 12 volt battery directly to the Awning motor leads.

[Craig Cobb]

Has anyone ever had the awnings only work by remote. Switch in the trailer quit working.

[retire057]

In that case, I would suspect a faulty switch.

[retire057]

Well, I was finally able to fix my problem. I changed out the entire awning head that included the motor and the gears. That fixed it. I had previously tried replacing just the awning motor in the head but that didn’t work. The problem must have been in the head gears.

[rsdata]

thx for the final report