Seeking info from people who have had both , Electric Awning and Conventional . Looking at a M/home with Electric one already on it , are they too flimsy , can they be firmed up . Cheers Mick
When we had our 5'er built it came with the electric awning as an inclusion, we declined and had a manual one fitted and never regretted the decision.
We travel full time and have seen and heard of failed motors/gearbox's, unable to tie securely down without additional poles etc. I personally think electric awnings are a gimmick and not really suited to a mobile rv. Just by there design they are never going to be as strong as a manual one. Think of adding antiflappers and/or curved rafters, all add additional weight which has to be borne by the flimsy scissor arm mechanism, unless as said you add additional poles for support, which sort of makes it more of a manual system anyway.
I am a firm believer in the "KISS" principle, (keep it simple, stupid.) But then again some may love them. Just my opinion.
I have not had one but have a couple of friends with them fitted. In each case they are harder to tie down for windy conditions. The parallelogram arms hang down too far, they are real head bangers, one friend has large padding pieces he hangs on his. The top is too flat, you can't slope it down to keep the sun out when the awning hapens to be on the northern side. After seeing these two examples I would be steering clear of them. No wonder Brian replaced his, it would have been so high mounted on a 5th wheeler that it would not have been much of a sun shade.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
We have an electric awning on our US motorhome and it works just fine and seems robust enough for all but bad storms. They are common in the States and I have not heard of any problems with them during my travels. Ours has a feature that allows the awning to shed excess water during heavy rain and struts that put it back to the normal position afterwards. The main advantage of this type of awning is ease of use - they are simple to set up and retract as neded. As motorhomes are often quite a bit higher than caravans it is sometimes easier to have the electric awning, particularly if the awning goes over the top of a slide-out as ours does. Going out over a slide out also necessitates that it has a 'flatter' profile which is not always the most desirable.
Having said that, manual awnings are also also pretty easy to use these days and we have one on our van here in Australia. They do have a bit more flexibility and you can more easily adjust the slope to cater for the prevailing sun or wind conditions.
On balance I wouldn't bother with the extra expense of an electric awning just for the sake of convenience. However, if height or slide outs come into play then they are worth consideration.
we have had a manual awning and it was good,our motor home has an electric awning and we like it.It is adjustable as far as the height and angle of the awning.and will fold in high winds ,then extend again when the wind drops(telescopic gas struts),but I usually retract the awning to half way when leaving the motor home unattended.Yes they can be a head banger,but I soon learnt ,well most times.If I had to choose again,I would go for the electric awning ,it suits our style of travelling....cheers Peter.
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SOME POLITICIANS AND BABIES NAPPIES SHOULD BE CHANGED OFTEN FOR THE SAME REASON.
...cheers Peter.
