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Old 06-21-2022, 11:44 AM   #1
Karen1of2
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Awning tie downs

Just checking to see if many people use tie downs for the electric awnings. If so, what have you found that works best?
 
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Old 06-21-2022, 11:55 AM   #2
Mikendebbie
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I used to use tie-downs in my previous RVs that had the old style manual Dometic awnings - but not with these electric awnings.
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Old 06-21-2022, 02:47 PM   #3
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I've heard of people using tie downs on their awnings but then I saw where the wind came up and tore the awning away from the side of the rig itself, so NO I do NOT use tie downs any longer! I never leave the rig without putting the awning up and alway put it up at night.
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Old 06-21-2022, 03:14 PM   #4
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I'm another "No" for using tie downs with the electric awning. They are just too fickle and cost too much to replace. Awnings are always pulled in at night, because we never know when wind will pick up or rain will down pour. And they are always pulled in if we are not right at the camper.
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Old 06-22-2022, 01:16 AM   #5
Lee-CI
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Another vote for no tie downs with electric awnings, as well as bringing them in at night. Some COE sites are so wooded that they are not put out at all.
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Old 06-22-2022, 06:07 AM   #6
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I guess I’ll confess, I tie mine down. If the weather is good I tie it down to be safe. If the weather is iffy, the awning gets rolled up when we leave or overnight. If it wasn’t tied down I would worry about it overnight even in good weather based on what I read here. From ground to awning I use: landscape screw anchors, ratchet straps and heavy duty bungee cords. To roll up the awning in bad weather I just unhook the bungee cords, takes a few seconds and leave the rest lay on the ground until I put it back out. Generally, I tie down the large awning and just put the slide awning out for shade when we need it. Last time out we had great weather and the main awning was out from the time we got there until we left
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Old 06-22-2022, 07:27 AM   #7
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Tie downs only hold the arms down. The material will still rip off. If you need to contemplate using straps, you should probably bring them in.
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Old 06-22-2022, 01:33 PM   #8
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The answers is you shouldn’t but I do when I’m going to have some light weather but I will put up if I leave
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Old 06-23-2022, 06:12 PM   #9
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I'm contemplating a Vista Shade for Florida. At 3 of the 5 parks we will be staying in this coming winter I have South or west facing sites. Assume most of you with shades unzip and roll up at night even in settled weather?
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Old 06-23-2022, 06:51 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MandK View Post
I'm contemplating a Vista Shade for Florida. At 3 of the 5 parks we will be staying in this coming winter I have South or west facing sites. Assume most of you with shades unzip and roll up at night even in settled weather?
I do because the "weather guessers" don't have any more of a clue what the weather will actually do overnight than I myself do. I really don't like jumping up at night from a sound sleep and then running around like a chicken with my head cut off attempting to take care of something that I knew that I should have already done. YMMV.....
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Old 06-23-2022, 07:08 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MandK View Post
I'm contemplating a Vista Shade for Florida. At 3 of the 5 parks we will be staying in this coming winter I have South or west facing sites. Assume most of you with shades unzip and roll up at night even in settled weather?
Ever since we had our first pop-up, we have used Quick Shades for this purpose. If the sun in the right position, there may not be any shade at all under the awning. Sitting in the intense sun is not pleasant. We suppliment the awning with the quick shades. They can be moved around, tilted and cast a shadow where we want. Sometimes, the shaded area aligns great with the awning shade, sometimes we just use them as stand alone apart from the awning:

Our first camper:



Our 4th camper:







Our current fifth wheel:





And just an FYI, when the wind pick up, the tops come off, but the frames stay in place. We take the cover off at night too, leave the frames. It takes very little effort to put the covers back on the next morning, or if we leave and return back to the camper.

We've never lost one of these in wind or rain. We take very careful care of them.
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Old 06-24-2022, 08:44 AM   #12
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I just bought some tie downs with the springs for use with my Vista Shade, so it has some give during light winds. If it gets any harder everything gets rolled up.
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Old 06-24-2022, 04:04 PM   #13
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I've taken long bungie cords with hooks on both ends and used them to hold our awning down while we are out but we are always onsite when doing this BUT I have seen awnings that have been tied down even with the spring system for give pull out of the ground and flipped over the top of the unit or ripped completely off the fivers. I use a 2 1/2 gallon DEF plastic container filled with water to hold ours down somewhat. The bungie cords give some if a wind comes up and billows the awning and the 2 1/2gallons of water in the jugs give it some extra hold BUT if the winds start to increase or gusts come along the hooks are disconnected from the awning and the awning is rolled up. We have a 2013 unit and the awning is much lower when unrolled than the new units and much easier to disconnect the bungies from if a wind does come up. I also have one of the sunscreen that zips to the awning and it is unzipped and dropped if the winds come up also.
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Old 06-25-2022, 04:28 AM   #14
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I do the same. I have the Carefree zip on screen and use bungee cords to tie down to stakes on the ground. Any wind and it all comes in. Shortly after we got our unit new, the awning was pulling away from the side of the coach and had to be rivetted back on.
We are overly cautious now with it.
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Old 06-26-2022, 01:33 PM   #15
glendodom
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I do tie downs just for the quick surprise but with any wind issues I put them up.
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:00 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Karen1of2 View Post
Just checking to see if many people use tie downs for the electric awnings. If so, what have you found that works best?
I never leave an awning out while away from the RV. I did once, and came back to a destroyed awning. If it's windy enough you think you need tie downs what you really need is to retract them, otherwise they just break in a different place.
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Old 06-26-2022, 02:18 PM   #17
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Hubby made poles to support awning and then used ratchet tie downs to secure.
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Old 06-30-2022, 10:26 PM   #18
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I'm with the 2 gallon buckets. I use a rachet strap to hold them. Allows for heighth adjustments. 1 is half full of pea gravel w/holes in the top & bottom. This allows water to drain through. The other is filled apporately with water. I've found that if the winds come up, I can hit the retract button & pull the awning all the way in w/o unhooking anything. Then back out when the weather clears.
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Old 07-01-2022, 01:00 PM   #19
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Our awnings are in and out many times a day. If we are going to leave the rig for more than 5-10 minutes the awnings come in, also they come in if it starts to rain. Tie downs would be a pain to deal with.
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Old 07-01-2022, 02:04 PM   #20
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If you need to tie your awning down you need to bring them in.
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