DX3 Awning

mookieblaylock · 04-28-2018, 10:17 AM

I was wondering if anyone would mind sharing some pics of the awning extended. I’ve seen some pics of the Isata 5 awning, and it seems to fold down in the middle. Ours extends straight out. I never really thought about it much until I saw it from a distance yesterday. It’s cocked with the end towards the front of the coach considerably higher. Also, the arms never fully lock straight (possibly normal?). Just wanting to know if mine might be bound up somewhere or need some adjusting.

Bill Davis · 04-28-2018, 10:26 AM

It looks normal to me. It is supposed to angle toward the rear to allow water to run off.

joet19711 · 04-28-2018, 10:31 AM

here is what mine looks like

mookieblaylock · 04-28-2018, 10:34 AM

Good deal. Thanks for the feedback!

CSWVK · 04-28-2018, 12:50 PM

Ours is angled down slightly in the rear. Pitch is adjustable at both ends, individually. But be carefull of slideout & door clearances. Instructions are in the carefree apex manual. Really easy.

RV Randy · 04-29-2018, 10:47 PM

Deployed our canopy in the field for the first time this weekend. When extending it, it was making a squeaking noise from the mechanism to the rear of the vehicle. That end actually stopped moving for 2-3 seconds while the canvas kept rolling out, then it popped out like it is spring loaded. It extended fully and retracted OK since I exercised it several mores times without issue. But it was still squeaking, anyone know where the lubrication points are for it? The automatic wind sensor and retractor worked too later in the day when a good breeze came up. Mine, when deployed, looked more like the blue rigs photo above. There is not a noticeable difference in height between the front and the back. I think I would check the adjustment on the front arms of that rig because my arms do extended to being fully straight. And its just before the last few inches of extension when the awning drops down, so thats why I think your front is too high i.e. arms are not extending fully.

**bclemens** · 04-30-2018, 08:20 AM

The 5 series is a 2-stage awning.

The DX3 is a box style awning...different awning completely..

mookieblaylock · 05-05-2018, 08:52 AM

I adjusted the pitch of the front arm yesterday and was able to get the front and rear level. I think it looks a lot more like it should now.

My arms still do not extend to a fully locked position. While up there I removed the top cover and found the motor limit adjustment screws. I tried to adjust the ‘out’ limit to see if I could get it to run for a few extra seconds when extending but had no success. There’s a good 2-2 1/2 wraps of canvas on the roller when it stops, but, no matter which way I adjusted the limit screw, it never changed the operation.

One thing I did discover, though - the motor controller has a safety thermal switch built in. If the motor starts to get hot, as it did while I was testing, the controller will disable the motor for 15 minutes or so. I found this is in one of the manuals after the fact...must have missed it when skimming through looking for the adjustment instructions.

RV Randy · 05-08-2018, 10:41 AM

Did you ever get your rear cap fixed?

mookieblaylock · 05-08-2018, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Randy

Did you ever get your rear cap fixed?

Yea, we fixed it ourselves with about two rolls of duck tape...surprising how close of a color match it is.

Seriously, though, while we did actually take that approach, the plan is to wait until December or so to get it in for repair. We were super excited to get the coach and had plans for pretty much the entire year. The repair shop could never give us an estimate as to when they could get started, let alone how long it would take once they finally did, so we took the advice of some others and rocked out with duck tape.

It was a little embarrassing at first, but now we could care less. I'll say this - ripping a couple of decent sized holes in your rear cap is an EXCELLENT way to get over the anxiety of 'scratching' your new rig.

cavie · 05-08-2018, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookieblaylock

I adjusted the pitch of the front arm yesterday and was able to get the front and rear level. I think it looks a lot more like it should now.

My arms still do not extend to a fully locked position. While up there I removed the top cover and found the motor limit adjustment screws. I tried to adjust the ‘out’ limit to see if I could get it to run for a few extra seconds when extending but had no success. There’s a good 2-2 1/2 wraps of canvas on the roller when it stops, but, no matter which way I adjusted the limit screw, it never changed the operation.

One thing I did discover, though - the motor controller has a safety thermal switch built in. If the motor starts to get hot, as it did while I was testing, the controller will disable the motor for 15 minutes or so. I found this is in one of the manuals after the fact...must have missed it when skimming through looking for the adjustment instructions.

You don't want the front and rear level it will pool water in the middle. You want one end out level and one end slightly lower.

RV Randy · 05-09-2018, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mookieblaylock

Yea, we fixed it ourselves with about two rolls of duck tape...surprising how close of a color match it is.

Seriously, though, while we did actually take that approach, the plan is to wait until December or so to get it in for repair. We were super excited to get the coach and had plans for pretty much the entire year. The repair shop could never give us an estimate as to when they could get started, let alone how long it would take once they finally did, so we took the advice of some others and rocked out with duck tape.

It was a little embarrassing at first, but now we could care less. I'll say this - ripping a couple of decent sized holes in your rear cap is an EXCELLENT way to get over the anxiety of 'scratching' your new rig.

Good ole' duct tape, where would we be without it?

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