Motorhome canopies
Having a discussion on another forum the question was, "do you have to wind out the canopy fully every time you use it"
Now my thoughts are no.
Sometimes you can't anyway as the pitch might not allow it. We often just wind it out partially but there are some folk who insist that it HAS to be wound out fully or it won't be stable.
Now we always use storm straps and lower one end incase of rain. We have a centre spar which we do use when it's out fully. We don't leave it out if high winds are forecast or a storm.
We have seen canopies collapse under the weight of a lot of rain and we have seen them lifted and buckled in high winds.
Surely if the canopy is not out fully it has less chance of doing either of the above. Provided that it's secured properly.
So what's your thoughts on it fully or partial are they both OK. 😊
Comments
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I have never seen that mentioned in the operating instructions they only say to drop one side for water runoff, however, I am not sure that you would be able to tension the canvas properly unless fully wound out, especially if using tight storm straps. It’s always sensible to wind it in if a storm is coming, especially on the continent, but if you keep an eye on the weather maybe a partially wound out canopy is fine.
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We don’t always wind our Fiamma fully out, depends where we are parked up. We don’t leave it partially wound out overnight though, fully out, or fully in overnight, depending on the wind conditions.
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Thanks, no we've never seen this advice anywhere either.
Our thoughts are, providing it's secured properly its fine.
If you have storm straps on when it's out say half way and you put them coming out the front of the canopy it does tension the canvas fine.
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After friends of ours saw their canopy ripped off and the metal arms buckled over the roof we've always left a little bit on the roller rather than stretch it right out. This might give a bit of extra resilience if the worst starts to happen?
Always on a slight tilt to remove water.
This last week away we've left it out with storm straps, hardly any wind and lovely sunshine, we needed it for welcome shade.
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We tend to wind ours fully out but that is because we are using it as a sun shade. It is always wound in at night, rarely left up. I can't see any reason why it can't be left partially wound out, except perhaps that the folding arms are not fully tensioned.
David
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Unless there is a very good reason to not wind it fully out I do exactly as DD and brue point out but I cannot see why you must always wind it out up to these limits.
. The only times I leave it out overnight is when there is a high degree of certainty that winds will be very light just like last night. Apart from the risks even in a light breeze the flapping will be an overnight annoyance.
peedee
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Be careful about tensioning the ratchet straps too tightly. I did that when staying in Provence in glorious weather on a very sheltered pitch .... but a sudden gust of wind (more like a tornado) caught the awning and gave it a good battering. The straps held and the awning appeared okay but, despite many attempts, the canvas wouldn't wind back in fully after that as the whole frame was twisted.
I had to have a new awning (at a cost of about £800) but now use a storm strap with spring tensioners to allow some movement if an unexpected gust of wind blows.
As an alternative to putting the legs on the ground, does anyone have experience of securing them to brackets on the side of the van ?
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If we were staying on a site and the Thule omnistore was extended from the caravan ,the "sprung storm straps"clipped in the canopy frame and we always used metal pegs on the legs of the canopy
If we stopped overnight on our journey and it was raining we only extended the Thule a couple of feet to keep the rain out of the door of the caravan and then retracted it overnight
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From the winds I have experienced, if the legs are not pegged down they could lift off from the ground at which point anything could happen!
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We used to peg down the legs, that is until one time on a site it Spain we couldn't get the peg out. No matter what we did the peg would not pull out, OH ended up having to cut through it with a hacksaw. We think it got stuck in a tree root.
Since then we don't peg the legs, can you imagine the damage to the awning if a storm or high wind had sprung up. At least with the storm straps you can easily drop the legs and unhook them.
Good advice on the springs, they do take the snap out of a big gust of wind.
We have noticed on some vans that they use a single storm strap that is fed across the roof arms, down at the front edge. This in addition to the 2 front straps. We've also seen a few vans using an 8 litre water container full of water then fastened to the roof Arms so that they just reach the floor, again in addition to the front straps. Can only think these are just extra precautions.
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I struggle a bit with the manual operation. Does anybody have the electrical actuator fitted? As a retrofit I am not sure how you would pick up a 12 volt supply?
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Sorry Hitchglitch no experience of motorised awnings but no doubt very useful.
Someone asked about awnings legs attached to the van and I found a photo or two of Australian relative's caravan with similar.
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