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.