awning blows fuses upon retracting

[crk112]

Going on our 4th summer with this TT, (Keystone Hideout 242LHS) we purchased it brand new in 2017.

I have an issue I'd like to share with the group and hopefully draw upon your wisdom.

I first encountered this issue last season and it's now repeatable. When retracting the awning, once closed it burns out the 12V 15A fuse nearly every time. Extending the awning is never an issue.

This has not always been the case, something definitely has changed with my awning. If I had to guess, maybe there's a faulty "stop switch" that is supposed to cut off the motor when it gets to a certain point? Am I in the ballpark? Has anyone experience correcting this type of failure?


In anticipation of your first follow-up questions; I let go of the retraction switch as soon as the awning stops retracting. I'm not sitting there holding down the switch after the awning stops retracting. From the time the awning stops retracting to the time I let go of the switch is less than a second.

I appreciate your time, thanks in advance!

[chuckster57]

Brand of awning? It could be the motor. Some brands have a spring in the non motor side to help extend and can cause a little extra load when retracting. I would measure the amp draw when extending and retracting. Since you can get to the fuse, I would use this:


https://www.harborfreight.com/30-amp...ter-67724.html

I have one and it works good.

[JRTJH]

It's possible that your problem could be caused by a number of different issues. I'd first check the awning arms to make sure the tension screws are loose and that the arms are not bent or off center. That could be putting the "maximum load just before the fuse blows" on the circuit as the awning retracts and "at the moment it stops, causes that load to 'just tip the bucket"...

In the meantime, replacing a fuse (while trying to troubleshoot and repair the problem) can be very frustrating... You might consider getting a "blade type circuit breaker" to replace the fuse until you find the issue and repair it. You can avoid much of the frustration of replacing a blown fuse with one of these: https://www.amazon.com/ZOOKOTO-12V-2...0415353&sr=8-4

[crk112]

My bad! It's the Lippert Power Solera (not sure if I put the words in the correct order there model # is V000211365). It measures 12 feet wide between the arms.

I'll be looking at it on Monday ( that's tomorrow already?? where has the weekend gone?).. I'll check out those tension screws and see about locating that 12V amp gauge at my local Harbor Freight... along with one of those resettable blade fuses; that's going to be a savior!!

Thank you both for taking a moment to lend your wisdom! I'll post back with any new developments.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by crk112

My bad! It's the Lippert Power Solera (not sure if I put the words in the correct order there model # is V000211365). It measures 12 feet wide between the arms.

I'll be looking at it on Monday ( that's tomorrow already?? where has the weekend gone?).. I'll check out those tension screws and see about locating that 12V amp gauge at my local Harbor Freight... along with one of those resettable blade fuses; that's going to be a savior!!

Thank you both for taking a moment to lend your wisdom! I'll post back with any new developments.

My trailer has two of those awnings and even though I very rarely use them they almost always "blow" the fuse when retracting them. Luckily the dealer has been proactive and provided the auto resetting fuses.

I've noticed that if I remember to loosen the tension screws before retracting they rarely blow. Which is a pain because I have to drag a step ladder to each arm and loosen each even though I never tighten them to start with. I guess they tighten during towing from vibration.

[crk112]

Good morning all;

Again I appreciate your responses here. I do apologize as I meant to come back sooner to report my results.

I am pretty sure I've located the tension screws, but without doing anything I've not had the problem occur again.

Soooo at least now I know what to look for if it occurs again. The wisdom here is always greatly appreciated.