Fiamma 45s Awning fails to retract fully
Has anyone experienced this problem. The awning fails to retract fully at one end and does not seat properly in the cassette. The awning is just over one year old and came with our Bailey Advance 76-4. A warranty claim was submitted by my dealer but this has been rejected which I am pursuing.
The claim was rejected following an examination of photographs sent by the dealer on the basis of weather damage. It was said that the awning fabric looks to have taken on water this in turn with the weight of the water pooling has pulled the awning arms and caused damage to the lead bar.
The failure to retract fully happened during a 5-week trip through France this summer when it rained only once and that was on the last day travelling back. When the awning is deployed I always use a curved rafter pole, which raises the centre of the awning, the tie down straps, the wider foot plates and one leg lowered. The awning is never left deployed overnight, when away from the van or when it rains.
I have seen the Fiamma technical video which appears to deal with this problem but I am wary of following the instructions until I have a final decision on my warranty claim.
Comments
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Seems a fairly flimsy excuse about water pooling. Awnings of this type are provided with a rafter if the canopy is over a certain length, I think 4 metre and over? On my previous Bailey the Fiamma would occasionally fail to fully dock on one end but this was usually solved by winding out a bit and then winding back in. How much does it protrude from the casing?
David
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When we had Thule fitted to our caravan the company (Rose awnings)advised that there is more damage caused to awnings when instead of just winding out about one metre, then ensuring the legs take the weight before extending it fully, otherwise the bars are under to much stress and can be damaged which can cause problems when retracting as with the OPs problem
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Hope not, we have the Fiamma. Ours has a little red flag at each end, which retracts when it locks into place. I wouldn't fancy driving far if that didn't happen, not without a liberal application of Duck tape anyway.
I am always very careful to only extend it the bare minimum before putting the legs down. The chap doing our handover did stress this was very important, or damage could result. Fortunately I am reasonably tall so can manage this without something to stand on.
edit. will have to have a look at this video in case we ever get a problem.
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Although the dealer told me the claim had been rejected this was not the full story. The UK supplier had assessed it as weather damage but forwarded all the detail including my explanation to Fiamma who would have the final say.
Fiamma also determined it was weather damage but have offered to replace the fabric and its roller as a gesture of good will, Just waiting for the part to be delivered to the dealer.
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