Just FYI to anyone who is still struggling with changing out their LED's - I replaced mine in under an hour and it's a pretty simple job.
1st - I did not use the very overpriced factory light strip. I purchased a set of 12v LED lights for around $12 from Amazon. The lights have very good reviews and seeing the final installed results, I'm very happy. Here's a link to the ones I used. FYI, I have a 21' power awning (Dometic 9100). The factory lights were 16.4' . If you have an awning under 16' just simply cut the LED strip down at the correct cut locations.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
To remove the lights I simply rolled the awning out from the trailer about one foot. I zip tied the awning arms about midway down so they wouldn't spring out once the roller tube was removed.
Next I used a scratch awl to pin the tension spring on the left side. There's plenty of videos on how to do this. I know you're not replacing your fabric, but here's a good video that shows at least how to pin and remove the tension spring.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...0&&FORM=VDRVRV
After the tension spring was pinned, have two people, one on each end with ladders. Simply unbolt the 7/16 bolt from the top of each arm which holds the roller to the arm. Left up and walk the roller to the ground while unrolling together. I did not remove the awning from the trailer. Just simply unroll it and walk it to the ground.
I propped each end of the roller on the ladder rungs about waste high off the ground. Using a vice grips, clamp the bracket which you just pulled out of the arm (the part which the 7/16 bolt threads through). As you pull out the scratch awl the vice grips will want to go towards the trailer in a counter clockwise direction. There was much less pressure from what I was expecting and I could have easily done it with one hand. Remember to have your partner hold the roll tube so it doesn't try to turn under pressure. (There really isn't much. I could have unwound the last three winds with a finger.
Once you back off all the pressure (should be 7 turns on a 9100 power awning) you're set to drill out the three rivets on the end cap. Pull the spring out as much as you need to cut the wires and splice in your new lights. You'll notice that your factory lights will not be adhesived in the channel. They'll slide right out.
Splice the new lights wires to your power and reassemble. Once you put the new 3/16s pop rivets in, rewind the spring 7 turns clockwise and repin it with your scratch awl or whatever else you choose to use. Roll the awning back up to the top of the arms, reattach the two 7/16s bolts on each arm, cut your zip ties and walla!
I wish I would have recorded the process as there are literally no videos online demonstrating this. If you have any questions send me a message. I'd love to help out.