Carefree Apex (Roof Mount) Awning Tip

**bclemens** · 04-26-2021, 07:50 AM

This tip comes via Mojo1003 that shot it in over the weekend.

Joe said that Carefree had arranged for a mobile tech to come out and take a look at his awnings that kept hanging up. Supposedly this was the "best field tech in the country".

As I have mentioned before, the issue is when the awning "hangs up" on the roller/pin/shaft that helps keep the awning seated IN. It provides a little resistance so they don't just fall out. Lubrication, and making sure the roller spins freely is the first step. Sometimes the awning doesn't want to get up and over this shaft and so one side hangs up. The more this happens, the more other issues are created. Sitting for long periods of time can also create this issue. The tech also said Tiffin had this issue when they were painting that roller/shaft.

The solution they said was to swap out the plastic roller cover with a brass roller cover.

To be clear, Joe said the tech got his awnings working well without the brass covers, but he got a set just to be safe.

This tip might give you a little more room for error when adjusting the awning. We'll certainly be getting some in to test.

MoJoe1003 · 04-26-2021, 09:20 AM

Full disclosure - I have not installed the brass rollers at this point, so I do not have first hand experience of their functionality. However, the mobile awning tech called the head warranty guy at Carefree and the warranty guy knew exactly what the tech was asking for. So, I’m guessing it’s a thing. I will post a follow up once they are installed. It will probably be early June before that happens.

Jpheifer · 04-26-2021, 09:25 AM

This is a welcome thread - I look forward to seeing the results - can you post a link or source to order these and get install instructions ... if so thank you if not I will await further info. Thank to both of you for taking the time to share this info!

MoJoe1003 · 04-26-2021, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jpheifer

This is a welcome thread - I look forward to seeing the results - can you post a link or source to order these and get install instructions ... if so thank you if not I will await further info. Thank to both of you for taking the time to share this info!

I believe you could call Rick Haro at Carefree of Colorado and ask him for a set. It appears install is easy. The rollers are just held in by a screw, according to the tech, one on each end of the awning. Unscrew, remove the plastic roller, add the brass roller, put a little thread locker on the screw and reinstall. Again, I have not tried to do it yet, but the tech said it was super easy to do.

Probably ought to be sure it works before Rick gets inundated with requests for the brass rollers!

**bclemens** · 04-26-2021, 10:38 AM

Yes...and I don't think Rick would be the guy. I'm sure parts depart can handle that, not the head of customer service.

MoJoe1003 · 04-26-2021, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclemens

Yes...and I don't think Rick would be the guy. I'm sure parts depart can handle that, not the head of customer service.

Good point. He’s the only guy I knew. Probably should not have thrown his name out there. My bad.

LandKKnight · 04-26-2021, 01:26 PM

following just in case I need this

Rancher Rob · 04-26-2021, 08:57 PM

Every time I've tried to call CareFree the last few weeks, all I get is a busy signal! We got my awnings working again without them but I was also hoping to buy their individual window awnings like come on the Tiffins. Their loss I guess.

KRedburn · 05-19-2021, 11:12 AM

I finally was able to replace my torn Apex awning fabric. It had apparently hung up at the rear.
During the fabric removal and replacement it was noticed that the nylon rollers were not "rolling".
Further investigation found that the screw holding the rollers had gotten tight thus preventing them to turn.
I found that the screws are full thread so this could easily happen over time.
What I did to fix was to remove the screw and put a longer one in with a nyloc nut to lock the screw in position and then painted black. Very easy on the back side of the awning. Not that easy on the front.
Adjusted the screw so that the nylon roller was free to move. Result is a very quiet awning when it locks into the cassette. And equally quiet in deploying.

IMO the brass rollers will work very similar to the nylon but the screw will still possibly tighten if no locking nut is incorporated..

A better solution may be to use a shouldered screw with just enough thread so that it could be tightened with loctite. (green or blue).

Just my 2 cents.

Ken

steinmanperformance · 09-15-2021, 10:22 AM

Ken,

How difficult was it to replace the torn material? I have a fairly new (2019) unit and it ripped when retracting and it's very difficult to find someone here in Northeast Ohio that wants to even look at it. I don't want to wait months for the RV stores. I am also going to look at the pins as my awning has hung up several times when extending.

Scott

KRedburn · 09-15-2021, 10:40 AM

It took four of us to do it in my shop; 2 pulling on the leading ends and two keeping the trailing ends straight to go into the channel.
I purchase replacement from Carefree. By calling them I got the fabric for 850 + shipping. It came with the retention cords already installed and instructions are available on their website.

IT WASN'T EASY lots of grunting

As a side note regarding the rollers. I and OUTPULLU are working on a replacement solution for the rollers. Testing has not begun yet.
We are machining a new mounting screw for the rollers that is stainless and the brass roller. Issue with Carefree IMO as stated before is the use of a full thread screw to hold the plastic/nylon roller held in place on the bracket by the paint. We are looking at making a shouldered screw that can be torqued into the bracket and locked in place. The stainless/brass materials in theory will "self lubricate". Outpullu is also looking at the lead rail follower that is 3/16 thick aluminum and adding a flat edge to it that is a bit wider and more contoured

As said we are working on this retrofit and testing has yet to be done.

steinmanperformance · 09-15-2021, 11:18 AM

Thanks for the insight Ken. The material is now a little over 1000 at CareFree. I would interested in those new rollers when you get them tested or if you need a guinea pig, I am game. The fact that a 2 year old motorhome with 8,000 miles has this issue is beyond me when my 17 year old Class A has the original fabric with zero issues.

Scott

L98383 · 09-23-2021, 03:31 PM

Late to the party here... Is there a part number for the bushings?

MoJoe1003 · 09-23-2021, 07:39 PM

Don’t know the part number, but Carefree knows what they are. They provide them to Tiffin for their Class A’s that use the Apex awning. If you have two awnings you will need 8 of them. They take the place of the nylon bushings that comes standard.

L98383 · 09-24-2021, 04:50 PM

For those that are looking for the bushings, the Carefree part number is: R062755-001. $1.98 each.

Sunset beast · 09-24-2021, 08:09 PM

This is great to know! I have a 2016 DX3 and I’ve been using a broom stick to give it a bump to extend out. I’ll try this weekend to see if those nylon rollers are stuck which is probably the case and see about getting those brass rollers.

steinmanperformance · 09-29-2021, 11:50 AM

Well,

I spent an hour on hold and finally got ahold of a nice young lady to check on my replacement fabric which of course is on back order now. Then she proceeded to tell me that once they get the material, instead of the 5-7 day turnaround, it will now be 4 weeks. I also tried to buy the new bushings and according to her, that part is no longer available as an individual part and has been incorporated with end pieces that are 261 dollars each.

RV Randy · 10-01-2021, 08:51 PM

I removed my torn awning fabric today and installed the repaired fabric. Took about 3 hours with myself and my friend and 30 minutes from my wife helping to hold up the end of the fabric as we threaded it into place. But this is the second one we've done so minimal head scratching.

BUT I did find something that might shed new light on this issue: We removed the top cover from the awning box (cassette) and ran it in and out several times to see what was tearing the awning fabric. When ran in (closing the awning) the motor would continue to run for a second or two after the face of the awning (the lower end) had completely closed up against the top awning box. You could hear the material tearing in those 1-2 seconds and the cloth at the end that wasn't torn yet, was as tight as a banjo string. The drum the awning rolls up on was going slightly more than 1/2 rotation further than it needed to!

I got the awning install manual out of the printed materials Dynamax gave us with the coach. It says the awning motor limit is set at the factory, but it is adjustable in the field and provides instructions on how to do it. There are 2 screws, one for the IN limit and one for the OUT limit. You have to turn these screws a lot to see a difference (I think 3 full turns equals 1 inch). So we adjusted the IN limit quite a bit so the cassette box would not close fully. Then we installed the new fabric and wound it in. We slowly adjusted the IN limit so it would close more each time. We got it to where it would close the box lid tightly with a reasonable amount of tension on the fabric but no where close to as tight as it was when we first checked it.

My conclusion is the awning motor IN limit is set wrong at the factory. The non-rolling docking pins could contribute to the issue, but I always heard my awning tear inside the box AFTER the faceplate had fully closed on the docking pins. This adjustment should solve that and the awning is still closed up tight enough that it shouldn't be at risk of opening when driving down the road.

One other note: When fully opening the awning the springs arms would hit the straight out point (where they stop) but the awning material would roll out 2-3 inches further so there was quite a bit of slack in the material. This would result in more flapping and increase the odds of pooling if it rains. So we adjusted the OUT limit so the awnings stops going out just before the spring arms go totally straight. This way the spring arms keep a bit of tension on the awning fabric so there is no slack/droop. I'm hoping this may also reduce the hyper sensitivity of the wind sensor so it doesn't retract the awning at the slightest puff of breeze.

You do not need to remove the top of the awning box to make these limit adjustments if you aren't replacing the fabric too. There are 3 holes in the box top at the front of the rig with rubber plugs in them. 1 is for the IN adjustment, 1 for the OUT adjustment and 1 for manually closing the awning if the awning motor fails. You will need a long 7mm allen wrench to access the manual rewind. Ideally you will have it on a socket that fits your electric drill so you dont spend an hour or so cranking the awning in manually.

johndjmix · 10-02-2021, 03:33 PM

EXACTLY the info we needed. I posted that this was the cause of the tearing several times, but no one seemed to believe it.....i will try the adjustment!

--John

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Randy

...

BUT I did find something that might shed new light on this issue: We removed the top cover from the awning box (cassette) and ran it in and out several times to see what was tearing the awning fabric. When ran in (closing the awning) the motor would continue to run for a second or two after the face of the awning (the lower end) had completely closed up against the top awning box. You could hear the material tearing in those 1-2 seconds and the cloth at the end that wasn't torn yet, was as tight as a banjo string. The drum the awning rolls up on was going slightly more than 1/2 rotation further than it needed to!

I got the awning install manual out of the printed materials Dynamax gave us with the coach. It says the awning motor limit is set at the factory, but it is adjustable in the field and provides instructions on how to do it. There are 2 screws, one for the IN limit and one for the OUT limit. You have to turn these screws a lot to see a difference (I think 3 full turns equals 1 inch). So we adjusted the IN limit quite a bit so the cassette box would not close fully. Then we installed the new fabric and wound it in. We slowly adjusted the IN limit so it would close more each time. We got it to where it would close the box lid tightly with a reasonable amount of tension on the fabric but no where close to as tight as it was when we first checked it.

My conclusion is the awning motor IN limit is set wrong at the factory. The non-rolling docking pins could contribute to the issue, but I always heard my awning tear inside the box AFTER the faceplate had fully closed on the docking pins. This adjustment should solve that and the awning is still closed up tight enough that it shouldn't be at risk of opening when driving down the road.

One other note: When fully opening the awning the springs arms would hit the straight out point (where they stop) but the awning material would roll out 2-3 inches further so there was quite a bit of slack in the material. This would result in more flapping and increase the odds of pooling if it rains. So we adjusted the OUT limit so the awnings stops going out just before the spring arms go totally straight. This way the spring arms keep a bit of tension on the awning fabric so there is no slack/droop. I'm hoping this may also reduce the hyper sensitivity of the wind sensor so it doesn't retract the awning at the slightest puff of breeze.

You do not need to remove the top of the awning box to make these limit adjustments if you aren't replacing the fabric too. There are 3 holes in the box top at the front of the rig with rubber plugs in them. 1 is for the IN adjustment, 1 for the OUT adjustment and 1 for manually closing the awning if the awning motor fails. You will need a long 7mm allen wrench to access the manual rewind. Ideally you will have it on a socket that fits your electric drill so you dont spend an hour or so cranking the awning in manually.

RV Randy · 10-04-2021, 04:00 PM

I also noticed that before adjusting the IN stop, the motor was winding the awning so tight it was stretching the material so both outside edges were slightly longer than the rest of the awning. I think this contributed to the tearing as it was easier for the awning to wind in slightly off center, and with it already being too tight, it was enough to tear the material since the excessive pull was coming more from the side.

I hope everyone who makes this adjustment will post up the results to see if it solves the tearing problem. I'm pretty sure you will continue to suffer the tearing issue over and over even if installing new canvas every time.

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