Foretravel Owners' Forum

Hi folks,

Figured I would run this by the forum to see if this rings a bell.

Last year, we had the motor replaced in the front awning during our service trip to NAC. We had a problem in that the awning would not deploy using either the remote or the wall switch--motor would not start up at all. The rear awning was fine.

Things had worked fine since new motor, but we had very limited use. Most of our use has been during the two months we have been here in Mesa. Last week, the front awning would not retract. Same thing--motor would not engage using either the remote or the wall unit and the rear awning worked fine.

Tried all the obvious checks. Threw the circuit breaker more times than I can count. Took down the panel the awning controls were on, thinking I might check the connection to the wall unit. Surprise, surprise the wall unit and the remote are both radio controlled with no wired connections.

Had put in calls to MOT service line and got a call back this morning. Of course, five minutes before they called I got the awning to retract. Trying to find out why it worked. The only thing I did different was to press the "stop" button on the remote and then try the retract button. That did the trick, but don't understand why. Can't help but wonder if that would have solved the original issue we had last year.

As an aside, I had tried to determine how to manually retract the awning. My Girard manual references a manual procedure to use when all else fails, but does not give any info on how to do that. I remember reading (I think here) about a hex keyed connection that you would use to move the awning. The only hex slot I could see was on the underside of the awning housing at the motor end. Here is a picture of the underside:





The white key is outboard, the red is inboard. I thought this was how you manually closed the awning, by turning the white key slot to bring the awning in. However, the awning did not move, no matter how I turned the hex key.

I explained all this to my MOT contact (I think, and assume, it was Aubrey who was on call and got my message) and determined that what I was manipulating was the limit control, not the mechanism for manual operation. Aubrey walked me through and I was able to determine access to the manual control was on top of the awning under a rubber cap. I haven't looked at that yet, but I'm thinking I may get a hex key of the correct size (whatever that is) that will fit a drill and use that to manually operate the awning if all else fails. In that case, is there anything I need to do to disengage the drive before overriding it manually? Or is it okay to just start cranking away?

I'm going to call Girard tomorrow and discuss all of this with the goal of trying to find out what would cause this type of failure and what I may have screwed up by messing with the limit adjustment screws (and how to restore the correct adjustment). I had noticed that the front awning was about three inches shorter than the rear awning when fully extended. I assume these two hex slots are what would be used to correct that, but I will check that with Girard tomorrow.

Anyone run  across this before?

Don

I think your hex connection is much bigger than the ones pictured and has a U-joint right next to it.  It's located directly above what you have pictured.  Mine also has a long hex key that allows me to stand on the ground, insert the key into the socket and turn the crank handle to move the awning.  The hex socket is the furthest thing forward in the enclosure, and there's a plastic trim piece that surrounds it when the awning is closed.

Yours may be different.

Don,

Which model Girard do you have? 

It sounds like the current limiter for the front awning might be the issue.  Our last contact (2009) at Girard was Ricky Diego, and he was a fantastic help in determining this failure on our awning (same thing - you could press "stop" and then try again and slowly get the awning to retract that way).

If yours is the model 2000, the complete manual is in the Files section here: 

Travelin' Man, I'm sure that is where mine is located as well. The rubber covers on top are right above the limit adjusters I pictured. Wish I had an adjuster that would allow me to do it from the ground. May ask Girard about that.

Michelle, mine is also a 2000. I'm going to follow up with Girard and may mention your contact if my situation doesn't ring a bell (don't think that's likely, given your experience.

Thanks folks!

Don

Don, on the top of our Girard awnings is a large opening where an allen wrench can be inserted. You defiantly we need a handle to attach to the allen wrench when pulling in the awning. I have had to retract my 2000 unit this way. You can also download the manual for the awning online. FOT tried fixing mine by thinking of replacing the motor for a few hundred of dollars. I had them try out the old motor when it was off and it worked. That is when I said put back the old motor and find the real cause, which they could not. What did it turn out to be - weak batteries in the remotes. Yes, both controls are wireless and batteries do need changing. 

Bob, I was kind of hoping you would see this post. Since we were right behind each other on the assembly line, I figured our setups would be the same.

I'll try putting in new batteries. Need to do that anyway. Could be the signal was strong enough for the rear awning but not for the front. Will update with what I hear from Girard.

Thanks.

Don