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Old 08-27-2017, 05:42 AM   #1
Campy
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Solara awning issues!

I have had issues with my Solara power awning since is was new on the camper from 2014. This awning never would fold up and go flat to the wall, it would always hang out about 3 inches. At first I though it was installed poorly and the arms were crooked not letting them "overlap" to fold up. This weekend I had enough and decided to find out what is really going on! I opened it up and disconnected the non-motor end from the roller tube and after hanging the roller tube from a tall step ladder we folded the arm flat to the wall,... or tried to! It will not go, it binds up 3 inches short of going flat. We opened it back up and found a couple of issues looking closely at what is going on. First the gas shock is mounted on a pin BELOW another pin and they bind and it bends the gas shock upon closure. Second, with the shock completely removed the arm will still not go flat because the lower "rain pitch bendy arm" is too short! If you remove the bolt in the middle of the "bendy arm" and then fold it up it goes flat to the wall,... Success!! Just barely opening it up to peek in there the "bendy arm" is one bolt hole width too short! You can't make this stuff up, who designed this awning? Currently working on a redesign to make it function properly or may just toss it and start fresh with an awning that actually functions!
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Old 08-27-2017, 06:31 AM   #2
JRTJH
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Lippert Industries has had some significant "start up" problems with many of their products. Just when they get their act together with frame welds they introduce another product and the reputation goes "down the tubes" again. They fix that on and introduce another with issues. It seems they just don't do the research/testing in house, rather they sell it and let the customers do their research....

Hopefully you can find a solution for your existing awning without having to buy a new one. Have you contacted Lippert's Customer Service? They may have identified this as a manufacturing problem (the awning is manufactured in China) and have an "unpublished program" to replace parts when identified, but not a recall for all awnings ??? Might be worth a try. It's obvious that when two "non stretchable parts" won't fit together that something was built wrong....

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck !!!
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Old 08-27-2017, 03:25 PM   #3
Campy
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Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
Lippert Industries has had some significant "start up" problems with many of their products. Just when they get their act together with frame welds they introduce another product and the reputation goes "down the tubes" again. They fix that on and introduce another with issues. It seems they just don't do the research/testing in house, rather they sell it and let the customers do their research....

Hopefully you can find a solution for your existing awning without having to buy a new one. Have you contacted Lippert's Customer Service? They may have identified this as a manufacturing problem (the awning is manufactured in China) and have an "unpublished program" to replace parts when identified, but not a recall for all awnings ??? Might be worth a try. It's obvious that when two "non stretchable parts" won't fit together that something was built wrong....

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck !!!
Shame that it has come to this with RV parts but I guess it is what it is. I'm working on a solution now that will keep me from having to replace it but wish I could do more than just "fix" it, would really like to improve it so the wife could reach it to hang her patio lights without a ladder.
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Old 09-07-2017, 06:40 AM   #4
Campy
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All my problems ended up being solved by cutting the roller tube shorter by 3/8 inch. This corrected the misaligned arms that was causing them to NOT overlap and lay flat to the wall. I believe now that the complete awning was install wrong to start with!
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Old 09-07-2017, 11:53 AM   #5
mattmountz94
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Good to know. While i don't have a keystone i have the same awning and mine to never rolls up all the way. I have tried numerous times shifting the awning in the tracks thinking that was off center pulling it one way or the other. No matter how i moved it the issue still remained. I have learned to live with it but maybe i will dig into it more now with this knowledge.
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Old 09-07-2017, 12:23 PM   #6
Campy
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Originally Posted by mattmountz94 View Post
Good to know. While i don't have a keystone i have the same awning and mine to never rolls up all the way. I have tried numerous times shifting the awning in the tracks thinking that was off center pulling it one way or the other. No matter how i moved it the issue still remained. I have learned to live with it but maybe i will dig into it more now with this knowledge.
Open it up and measure the frame mounted to the wall (front to back) at the top and the bottom and see if they are the same distance. Mine ended up being wider at the top causing the arms to NOT overlap and lay flat, cutting the tube shorter fixed it.
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Old 09-08-2017, 02:14 AM   #7
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Will do thanks. I am still not certain that the awning isn't crooked in the tracks either as when it rolls up it gets pretty wavy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Campy View Post
Open it up and measure the frame mounted to the wall (front to back) at the top and the bottom and see if they are the same distance. Mine ended up being wider at the top causing the arms to NOT overlap and lay flat, cutting the tube shorter fixed it.
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Old 09-08-2017, 06:02 AM   #8
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I believe now that the complete awning was install wrong to start with!
I've been doing my own QC work. Your not dreaming one bit. Great job on researching the issue and performing the repair needed.
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