Vanagon EuroVan
Previous (more recent) messageNext (less recent) messagePrevious (more recent) in topicNext (less recent) in topicPrevious (more recent) by same authorNext (less recent) by same authorPrevious page (February 2004, week 2)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Mon, 9 Feb 2004 14:52:42 -0800
Reply-To:     LOREN BUSCH <labusch@VERIZON.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         LOREN BUSCH <labusch@VERIZON.NET>
Subject:      Fiamma Awning Problem
In-Reply-To:  <20040209190133.LZWX5396.mta006.verizon.net@gerry.vanagon.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Please excuse the cross posting on this, but I think many of you may be interested in this.

For those of you with Fiamma awnings (or thinking about them) we should have some good information on how they handle warranty problems. Story as follows,

I had decided to bite the bullet and get the awning I really wanted, the 9'10" Fiamma 45 series. I know from past experience with other awnings on Westies that I wanted the addition length and the extra depth, a full nine feet. I also decided to go with a local supplier here in Seattle, Sports Rack. This was because of other list members having problems in shipping, broken parts. They also were able to get the price down a little bit, about break even after local sales tax and installation.

The awning was set up for actual use for the first time weekend before last at a WetWesties campout. The awning was set up according to Fiammas instructions if it was raining: I staked down the feet in case any wind came up, inserted the center rafter and tilted one corner down to allow drainage. This seemed to work, I was at the van for over an hour with a light rain. Later in the afternoon, while I was away from the van, there was a short session of fairly heavy rain. When I returned to the van, disaster had struck. I found out later that a fellow WetWestie had put back up a completely down awning. The center rafter was bent and broken, not down but sideways. The whole body of the awning housing was twisted a little bit, and the rear spring loaded support arm was broken off at the outboard mounting bracket. There was also about a six inch tear in the awning where it was attached to the outer part of the awning mechanism. Later I was able to roll the awning back into the carrier but only one end would lock in. Since then neither end will lock in.

A little research shows that the awning mounting brackets were not installed according to Fiamma's instructions, the rear mount was to far forward, allowing the entire case to twist at the van with a very light load of water on it. This apparently allowed enough of a load to build up that the outboard bracket for the arm broke. This allowed water to build up instead of draining, pooling at the rear half of the awning. This in turn created enough of a side load that the center rafter gave way sideways, ending in a full collapse. Another scenario is that the rafter, supposed to help in the rain, in fact caused the problem by not allowing enough drainage and trapped a pool of water at the rear.

I'll be meeting with the manager of the Sports Rack that did the installation tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted on the results.


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.