Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 14:09:27 -0700
Reply-To: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: fiamma awning 10 ft or 11-8 ft
In-Reply-To: <464CAF9D.1080401@colorado.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
RE: Mounting Awnings
Since this thread is expanding I'll jump in with my own experience that may
help others.
Four and a half years ago I added a Fiamma F45i 10" awning to my '90 Westy.
It was mounted by the local vendor using the Fiamma mounting kit. Note that
Fiamma only provides two mounting brackets for the VW Vanagon or Bus. The
Vendor placed the mounting brackets one ahead of the slider (between the
slider and the passenger door) and the other just behind the slider. This
left the rear four feet or so of the awning unsupported. It looked okay.
On the very first outing I was not going to deploy the awning, didn't need
it, was camping with others in bad weather but we had a group meeting hall.
Someone wanted to see the awning so I ran it out all the way to show it. I
had the legs to the ground, the center rafter in, and because it was raining
I tilted the awning down at one corner. Later, when I was away from the
van, a major rain and hail squall came through. The awning was wiped out,
the center rafter bent and broken in half, the casing twisted at the
unsupported back end and one leg broken in two and also broken away fro the
main part of the awning, broken cast hinge/bracket. Three things had
combined to cause the mess. First, the awning was deployed. It should have
been rolled back in in that weather. But it also should have been able to
handle the rain (maybe not the hail) with the center rafter in place and one
corner dropped lower than the other. But in fact the center rafter
contributed to the problem. It created two pools of water, not just one.
If the lowered corner had been maybe a foot lower it might have drained.
But in fact the center rafter acted like a damn and created a large pool of
water, half the area of the awning, that couldn't drain. Now the mounting
also came into play. Since the rear part of the awning case was not
supported it was able to twist from the load putting extra strains on all
the joints, hinges, etc.
Lesson learned: Don't deploy in heavy rain!! (And maybe not in light rain
as you will see below).
After warm discussion with the local vendor that had done the install and
discussion with Fiamma (they had not included the proper mounting
instructions when they shipped the awning, I later got a copy from someone
else) the three parties (Fiamma, the vendor, and myself) came to an
agreement that we were all equally responsible in this situation and I was
given a replacement awning at a third the cost of a new one and was allowed
to keep the old, broken awning. The conditions were that I mount it
myself, which I did. I also sold the damaged awning to a local list member
who had the ability anf tools to repair it, he ended up with a near new
awning for about a third the cost of new or less.
Move on a three years (with a lot of use for the awning, especially in the
summer to provide shade) and a camp out last Spring. I had the awning fully
deployed and staked to the ground. There was a chance of rain so I had
dropped one corner of the awning, or so I had thought. During the night a
very light drizzle started, just after I went to bed. No problem, a light
rain, it can run off easily (as opposed to a cloudburst) and I went to
sleep. I was just waking up at about 0700 the next morning when there was a
major 'crash' just outside the van. I looked out to see the whole awning on
the ground, one end actually detached from the rain gutter!! I got dressed
and climbed out the drivers door (right side was blocked) and found that
apparently I had not had one corner down, at least not enough. Water had
built up to the point that the forward mounting bracket had actually
straitened out the rain gutter and come off the van and the rear mounting
bracket was almost off, that part of the rain gutter also bent almost flat.
There was a small tear in the fabric, right next to the outer framework, and
a bracket/hinge that attached to the outer portion of the awning casing was
broken. This one was all my fault, no one else to blame here. The good
part is that Fiamma had, at that time, a very good online parts catalog and
I was able to identify the broken piece. Fiamma insisted that I purchase
through a dealer, wouldn't sell me the part directly. It took me better
than a month to get the part but once it was in (not and easy job, held in
place by a press fit) all is well. There is a small misalignment in the
system that I haven't tried to figure out and adjust, it doesn't effect the
functioning of the awning. The rain gutters straightened out fine. Now I'm
really paraniod about rain, first drops and the awning is pulled in to no
more than a foot or so extension.
Since someone else has mentioned the mounting gizmos or feet that go on the
side of the van I'll comment on them also. For a couple of years I didn't
have them on the van but finally added them. They really make a difference
when there is a wind or the potential for a wind. Not on the Fiamma but on
othere awnings I've had the spikes/stakes holding down the feet of the legs
to the ground pull out in a wind gust. Using the gizmos/mounting feet on
the van eliminates this possibility. One thing though, on the 10" awning
that extends out further than the 8" the awning cannot be extended all the
way when using the mount gizmos, the legs just aren't quite long enough.
But close enough that I use the mounts on the side of the van most of the
time now. BTW, the white paint on the Fiamma gizmos wont take paint to
match my rig so I have some ugly looking mounting feet on the side of the
van. One of these days I need to pull them back off, strip them down to
bare metal, and repaint.
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