dometic manual awning

[irene l]

We have a new (picked up August 18th) Surveyor 264. We are having trouble with the manual awning. We can't always get the spring-loaded buttons to engage on the awning arms. Sometimes it seems to be engaged and then slips all the way down to the bottom. With a lot of pulling, we are usually able to get it to engage. Does anyone else have this problem? Have you found a solution? Thanks for any help.

[MtnGuy]

Not exactly sure what you are referring to. A little more info would be helpful.

[acadianbob]

Are you talking about the black plastic holding device that needs to be engaged when putting the awning in storage position? If so, I've had that same problem; struggling to get them to engage. Then I accidentally found something that helps. Push against the metal upright; push toward the trailer while engaging the black holding piece. That worked for me. YES, those pieces are a big struggle!! We have the Surveyor 235.

The 264 is a very nice unit. Hope you are enjoying it.

[shineysideup]

Originally Posted by acadianbob

Are you talking about the black plastic holding device that needs to be engaged when putting the awning in storage position? If so, I've had that same problem; struggling to get them to engage. Then I accidentally found something that helps. Push against the metal upright; push toward the trailer while engaging the black holding piece. That worked for me. YES, those pieces are a big struggle!! We have the Surveyor 235.

The 264 is a very nice unit. Hope you are enjoying it.

Acadianbob, I too have a surveyor 235rks. I have found that I engage the black holding devices before I turn the locking cranks at the bottom tight (for the horizontal arms when the awning is out). You just gotta have a small enough hand to get in there after it is snapped in place

I think the person may be refering to the pop out pins that hold the bottom arms up? these can be a pain to engage, I just give it a couple wiggles when it is near the hole. If you look in the bottom of the tube that actually slides there is supposed to be white plastic pieces in there... both of mine fell out, I saw them when they did and I crazy glued them back into place. Last year my 3 1/2 year old pulled the handle on the side that adjusts the awning height and the awning came crashing down... luckily it hurt only his pride! My son and his sister doesn't touch the handles anymore!

cheers,

shineysideup

[irene l]

Shineysideup and others,

You're all right about the various parts of these awnings. I was referring to extending the arms to put the awning out. We have trouble getting the lock buttons to hold. I don't remember seeing any white plastic pieces or noticing any falling, but who knows. We will continue to work with this and maybe it will get easier.

[dlc49]

We had a similar problem, DW got pinched when it came down. Now we're sure to shake the arm and be sure lock is engaged. Adding a latch pin in the hole below wouldn't hurt either.

[flyingaggie]

I previously had a 255rks and never had any issues with those locking pins. However, our 304 we have now, we have the same issue. I don't know if dometic modified the manufacture process in the last year, but it seems they have tightened the tolerances in the hole size or they started using weaker springs to pop the pins in place. I now visually verify the pins are through the proper holes before I let go of the arm. A lot of times, it requires some shaking as dlc mentioned above.

Tim

[fmielke]

We also had a problem whith the pin not popping into place on our 2009 Salem 403FB. We sprayed the lever mechanism and pins with WD40 and they have worked just fine all summer.