Foretravel Owners' Forum

Yesterday the Girard patio awning would only retract about a foot then stop. :(  A call to Girard tech support and was told I needed to bypass the current limit switch...that the limiter was not used anymore or was needed.  After locating it with help of schematics, I bypassed the current limit switch and with a little adjustment of the stop limit switch, it now works fine. :D

Bill - can you outline the procedure for us?  Our current limiter appears to have failed for the second time in 4-5 years so I guess it's time to bypass it.

Thanks,

Michelle

Us too.

Bill - You are a rock star.  ;D

I will be happy to outline the procedure.  Did not see the post until a minute ago so will post it tomorrow.

Sometime in June when I tried to retract the Girard patio awning it would move in about a foot and then stop.  Wait a while and then it would move another foot and stop.  I checked the installation manual and in the troubleshooting section found my symptom and the comment was that the motor was not receiving enough amps.  I looked at schematics and got nowhere so called Gerard (800-382-8442).  I was advised that the current limiting device was defective and should be bypassed as it was not needed and was not in use anymore.  I was told that the current limiter was usually installed close to the control box and both should be near the motor end of the awning.  So I removed the panel in the front cabinet that the awning controls were mounted to and found the control box and current limiter.  I will try to explain and use pictures to describe my process. 

Photo A will show the location of the cabinet containing the awning controls in our 2003 U320.

Photo B shows location of panel with awning controls mounted.

Photo C: I removed the panel and disconnected the awning switch.

Photo D: Behind the panel I found the Current Limiting Device; the small box on right.

Photo E & F: The photos were taken after the bypass was made so will try to explain. 
I found the circuit breaker for the awning and turned it off.  I was the 50 amp breaker located in one of the two breaker panels on the side of the bed platform and labeled "Girard Awning, TV and other small electronics.
A cable from the motor with 4 wires (white, red, black, green) entering the current limiter box was connected to a terminal strip and another cable from the control box with 4 wires (white, red, black, green) entering the box was connected to a 2nd terminal strip. 
The current limiter electronics, encapsulated in the cover was connected to these two cables via the terminal strips.  On the terminal strip from the motor, I removed the wires on the electronics side and removed the wires from the cable side of the cable to the control box.  I then installed the wires from the control box cable to the terminal strip on the motor cable; keeping the colors matched, white to white, red to red and so on.  This bypassed the current limiter.  I removed the 2nd terminal strip and taped all loose wires and terminal strip. 

Next step as per Girard Tech Support was to check the Stop Limit Switch.  Adjusted properly, the awning will fully retract and the motor will shut off when fully retracted.
I ran the awning out a few feet and then back in.  When the awning stopped, I could hear the motor still running.
Photos G, H & I show the location of the adjustment screw for the in/retracted position; it is the screw located closest to the coach, photo I.  It is the screw closest to the manual crank linkage. 
Using a 5/32" Allan wrench the screw was adjusted CCW (if I remember correctly) until the motor stopped running and the awning was fully retracted.  It took a little while of adjusting the screw back and forth to get the awning fully retracted without the motor continuing to run.

The awning has worked fine ever since.  The installation manual for our Girard G-2000 awning was helpful and I hope my explanation and photos are also helpful. 
I would have liked to have placed arrows and circles on the photos but none of the programs that I can open the photos with have that capability.  I will try to find a program that will do that for future post.  Please feel free to post or pm any questions you may have.

And thanks Scott but the Forum is the real Rock Star.  I have learned more about our Foretravel than I would have ever thought possible and it is only because of this great Forum which is made up of lots of Rock Stars!

I got all excited because I thought that I was finally going to fix our awning. After removing the access panel, I found that someone had already removed the current limiter. Sometimes the awning will not roll up, sometimes it will not.

Any other ideas out there?

I get mine to work by resetting breaker...

Bob, do you have the installation manual for your awning?  If so look in the troubleshooting section and also the adjustment for in and out limits.  I can copy for you if you do not have the manual.  Also might give Girard a call.

I do have the manual. Will check trouble shooting.  Thank You.

It's also in the Files section here on the forum

Should i have the current limiter bypassed on mine as a preventative measure?  At the moment, it works fine.

I usually say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". 
It looks to me like its purpose is secondary protection for the motor.  If it should fail in the future, you can crank it in manually and fix then...my 2 cents worth anyway :).