Another consideration that so far, hasn't been discussed. THE AWNING RAIL... We have a number of reports on the forum about awning rails pulling away from the trailer sidewall and allowing water to leak into the trailer (behind the loose awning rail). Sometimes awning rails are attached to a metal backing plate, sometimes they are screwed into the FILON and all that's holding the rail is Butyl putty tape and a few screws into the fiberglass.
Now, consider an awning that's "flopping in the breeze" and pulling the awning fabric putting stress on the awning rail. Consider an awning that's extended, a rain starts, the awning fills with 20 or 30 gallons of water, automatically dumps, fills again, dumps and the owner thinks "It's all good, the awning is dumping".... Now think about that awning rail, the weight of an extra 30 gallons of water (30x8.3=249) weighing about 250 pounds, pulling on the awning rail.....
OK, your trailer, your decisions, but I never leave the awning in "auto dump mode" when it's raining. I lower one end of the awning so all the water will run off the fabric, not pool and pull against the awning rail. I also never let the awning "flop in the breeze". If the wind is blowing enough to billow the awning, by the time the first "flop" is finished, I'm on the awning switch, pulling it in until "calmer breezes are found".....
It goes without saying, if I'm not in the trailer or in the campsite, the awning is rolled up and stowed.
Your views may differ.....
__________________
John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
|