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Old 06-13-2018, 08:02 AM   #1
Sac Colorado
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Dometic awning won't retract flush

Hi,

I have a 2013 Montana 3100RL. Last night I retracted the awning and the front support arm wouldn't go flush with the outside sidewall. The back arm is ~1/2" from the sidewall (top to bottom) but the front arm is about 1+" gap at the top. I don't think it's catching on anything - I got up on a ladder and could push it flush but it wouldn't stay that way. Nothing looks bent and I'm pretty sure that it has been flush in the past. I did loosen the black knobs before retracting. Any ideas would be helpful. Thank you, Sean
 
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Old 06-13-2018, 08:34 AM   #2
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My arms on my montana do not sit tight against the side of the rv either and both are a little different in where they are when retracted. Been this way for long time and no issues yet. My guess is that this varies from install to install across all the keystone products.
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Old 06-13-2018, 09:12 AM   #3
Carl n Susan
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This is not terribly uncommon and is relatively easy to fix. Flapping and bouncing in the wind eventually causes the end of the awning to slide a little in the track on the roller. Then when it is retracted, it rolls up slightly crooked pulling the arms off center with the wall support bracket.

It takes me more time to figure out which way the awning has slid than to correct it. I *THINK* (don't trust this with out checking) that when rolled up, the exposed end of the awning (not covered by the rest of the rolled up material) is the part that has to be moved towards the rest of the rolled up awning mass (clear as mud eh?). Moving the awning in the slot is done by getting on a ladder on the side of the awning end which you want the material to move towards. Grab the awning material by the hanging flap and end of the material and pull towards you while bracing your body against the awning arm. A little movement is usually what is required. Roll it up and check how well it worked. Readjust as necessary. I put a felt tip marker line on the roller where the end of the material should be once it is aligned for next time.
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Old 06-13-2018, 09:12 AM   #4
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Thanks curtis934! My only concern is I don't think that my issue was that way at installation. I believe the front arm has been flush in the past with about 1/2" to the sidewall from top to bottom.
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Old 06-13-2018, 09:21 AM   #5
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Try and do what carl said I just had to do that on mine last week we were in some heave winds up in the mountains!
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Old 06-13-2018, 12:10 PM   #6
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What Carl Said.
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Old 06-13-2018, 01:10 PM   #7
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What Susan told Carl to do.
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Old 06-13-2018, 02:42 PM   #8
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What Susan told Carl to do.
He doesn't or wouldn't listen to me anyway.
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Old 06-13-2018, 03:46 PM   #9
Sac Colorado
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Carl - thank you for your response and solution. I think I did it right because both arms are now completely flush. I pulled the awning material on the cylinder (a way from the RV side). It looks like the awning is threaded through a couple of channels in the motorized cylinder. I pulled the awning toward the back of the RV BUT it didn't hardly seem to move at all in the channel (I'm not sure if there are any screws to remove - but I didn't remove any). Put the awning back in and both support arms are completely flush again.
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Old 06-13-2018, 07:11 PM   #10
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Carl - thank you for your response and solution. I think I did it right because both arms are now completely flush. I pulled the awning material on the cylinder (a way from the RV side). It looks like the awning is threaded through a couple of channels in the motorized cylinder. I pulled the awning toward the back of the RV BUT it didn't hardly seem to move at all in the channel (I'm not sure if there are any screws to remove - but I didn't remove any). Put the awning back in and both support arms are completely flush again.
Great!! Just to clarify, there are no screws holding the fabric in place on the roller and you usually don't need to slide it very much (depending on how out of whack it is). A 1/4" makes a lot of difference.
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Old 08-24-2020, 07:02 AM   #11
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Following...Now having same problem as well as the awning pulling away from the outside wall in 3 places. In shop for warranty repair now.
Not sure if the rolling up crooked caused the awning to pull away from wall across the top or the other way around.
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Old 08-24-2020, 07:17 AM   #12
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Two travel trailers ago, I had a similar problem and it was an on-going problem, but it was an easy fix.

Basically, what's happened is your awning is simply not square to the trailer, so when it rolls up, the closer to the end of rolling up, the greater the off-square is attempting to push the arms (from the roller) out of square.

Solution: either on the roller end or the end attached to the trailer simply needs to be slid in the track to make the awning square to the trailer again.

Making it square to the awning roller will not solve the problem, it might even make it worse. So, slide the awning in the track until it lines up square to the trailer. Now, if you have a set screw in the track, screw both ends back down again. But, in time, the awning will shift again and the arms will be out of align again when you roll up the awning.

I used a carpenter square on the side of the trailer against the extended awning. I got pretty good after a while knowing exactly where to reposition the awning. I found it much easier to slide it on the trailer side, than on the roller side, because the roller has 2 grooves to slide in.

And yes, it does require some "muscle" so tug and pull that awning to get it to move in that groove. There's probably nothing wrong with your awning arms.

Good luck.
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Old 08-24-2020, 07:23 AM   #13
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Thanks, DutchmenSport. I recently noticed it rolling up crooked and was searching for a fix and found this thread. Incidentally, I also noticed on our last outing that the end that attaches to the outside of the trailer across the top is pulling off the wall. DW noticed it first as the LED lights were wavy when looking down the wall, but she never said anything. I noticed it when rain started running down the wall between the awning and wall. There are currently 3 gaps pulled away about 1/2 to 3/4 inch from wall and about 12 inches in length, one near each end and one in the middle closer to the front. I have it in for warranty work now, so hopefully it gets fixed. Not a lot of faith in CW service.
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Old 08-24-2020, 09:43 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by RMcNeal View Post
Thanks, DutchmenSport. I recently noticed it rolling up crooked and was searching for a fix and found this thread. Incidentally, I also noticed on our last outing that the end that attaches to the outside of the trailer across the top is pulling off the wall. DW noticed it first as the LED lights were wavy when looking down the wall, but she never said anything. I noticed it when rain started running down the wall between the awning and wall. There are currently 3 gaps pulled away about 1/2 to 3/4 inch from wall and about 12 inches in length, one near each end and one in the middle closer to the front. I have it in for warranty work now, so hopefully it gets fixed. Not a lot of faith in CW service.
And the CW Tech said to himself:"All I need is gobs of silicone caulk and some BIGGER screws, yeah, that's the ticket"
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Old 08-25-2020, 04:57 PM   #15
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And the CW Tech said to himself:"All I need is gobs of silicone caulk and some BIGGER screws, yeah, that's the ticket"
Then cover that with clear gorilla tape. Done
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Old 08-25-2020, 06:07 PM   #16
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Following...Now having same problem as well as the awning pulling away from the outside wall in 3 places. In shop for warranty repair now.
Not sure if the rolling up crooked caused the awning to pull away from wall across the top or the other way around.
Our two month old 3121rl had the front awning rail pulling away at either end. Almost none of the screws were going through the predrilled holes in the rail and the ones those that were.... were stripped out. I replaced those screws with one size up stainless and drilled new holes through the rail in-between and installed screws in them and hand tightened everything. It's sucked up nice and tight now.

We're full timers so doing it myself was the path of least resistance.
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Old 08-18-2022, 04:27 PM   #17
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Thanks for the thread!

My 2021 3761FL just came down with the awning arm not flush with the wall Syndrome. I was at a loss because I knew it rolled up flush before. Thanks for saving me a trip to the shop. I think I can get this myself! You guys are all the best!!!
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Old 08-18-2022, 05:14 PM   #18
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Put it out check to see if anything is in the track
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Old 08-22-2022, 07:47 PM   #19
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Got it, finally!

It is not indicative which way to move the awning in the roller track. I had it and the last small adjustment and it slid all the way to the end of the roller UGH! So I had to start all over again, finally got it so the arms will close completely and marked the location on the roller with a sharpie for future reference. Thanks for all the help on this link.
Todd
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