Lesson Learned, warning to newbies & advice please

[Bill R]

Any new owners - please listen to the advice on here regarding inclement weather & the awning !
Being sure there would be hardly any wind overnight I left it up. Expecting overnight rain I lowered one corner as advised.
Not low enough ! The rain hammered down and I guess the force of the rain on the awning roof caused it to sag allowing it to pool in spite of a lowered corner.
A loud 4am bang had us awake - the weight of gathered water did its dirty deed.
So IF you leave it out in rain lower the corner to the point where it looks daft - if it doesn't look very odd you haven't lowered it enough.
Better still , wind it in. I won't take that chance again.
Now a request for advice please.
It looks like the damage may be limited to sheared rivets. I've attached a photo of the bracket at the rear where the damage has occurred.
Is this a simple fix ? We are in France and would be good not to have t bother with booking it in somewhere and I'm sure it's not a warranty claim unless it covers owner stupidity

 

[Loz]

Need to drill and re-rivit or nuts and bolts(stainless).

 

[MattBW]

Had a similar issue on an old poptop that popped its rivets in a sudden gust of wind and replacing the rivets was a ten minute job for my local garage with the proper gear.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Jolly bad luck. I did the same thing early on with our Cali, but got away with it.

 

[Hotel California]

So do i understand this got broken by the weight of the water pooling on the awning ?
Or the wind ?
Did you use the Thule tie down kit ?

 

[Loz]

It is also possible to lower the legs to much and put a lot of load on those brackets.

 

[Bill R]

So do i understand this got broken by the weight of the water pooling on the awning ?
Or the wind ?
Did you use the Thule tie down kit ?

Hi Wim
There was no wind so didn't tie it down. It was the weight of pooling water yes - I didn't lower one corner enough although as @Loz points out, lowering it too far can also cause another problem.
Got away with it though thankfully - sheared rivets removed and getting bolts tomorrow to replace .
It could have been a LOT worse !

 

[Amarillo]

Hi Wim
There was no wind so didn't tie it down. It was the weight of pooling water yes - I didn't lower one corner enough although as @Loz points out, lowering it too far can also cause another problem.
Got away with it though thankfully - sheared rivets removed and getting bolts tomorrow to replace .
It could have been a LOT worse !

The canopy should be tensioned to reduce the risk of water pooling. To do this cheaply, buy a couple of sturdy guy ropes, tie them to the top of the legs and peg them down about 2 metres from the awning. Then wind in the canopy until tight.

If rain is forecast, loosen one guy and extend the support leg, drop the other support leg and tighten the guy. If the canopy is well tensioned this doesn't need to be very much.


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[flying banana]

you can also buy an awning pole that fits across the middle of the awning to help prevent water pooling

 

[Hotel California]

The canopy should be tensioned to reduce the risk of water pooling. To do this cheaply, buy a couple of sturdy guy ropes, tie them to the top of the legs and peg them down about 2 metres from the awning. Then wind in the canopy until tight.

If rain is forecast, loosen one guy and extend the support leg, drop the other support leg and tighten the guy. If the canopy is well tensioned this doesn't need to be very much.


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Thats why i asked if he used a tie down kit , as you say i think it puts a bit more tention on the canopy and less chance of a bigger pooling giving the water a better run down to the lowerd side to run off...

 

[Bill R]

Thats why i asked if he used a tie down kit , as you say i think it puts a bit more tention on the canopy and less chance of a bigger pooling giving the water a better run down to the lowerd side to run off...

Yep, another great piece of information from friends on here - I definitely only considered the wind and not the rain when deciding not to bother with the tie down

 

[Loz]

Another thing to consider for wind and rain is the Thule sun blocker that the shop carries, this will also act as a tie down and helps with the rain and a bit of privacy.

 

[Borris]

I've done that, but only once though. Never again. Suprisingly the awning held even though it contained about 30,000 gallons of water. I knew that it was raining hard in the night but couldn't be #rsed to get out of bed to check it. I had lowered one of the legs but clearly not enough.
I thought it looked a bit odd when I had to stoop down to get out from under the awning in the morning. Having discovered our new water storage facility I decided to lower one leg to let the water out. The weight of the water ment that a nano second after I released the catch the awning leg colapsed and I was hit full on by a tsunami of icy cold water. Very invigorating I can assure you.
Never ever have the awning out without securing it down as a slight puff of wind can lift it off the ground. Gusts can cause severe damage.

 

[2into1]

I am the only one wondering if the awning fabric material should have failed before mechanical fixings....the same mechanical fixings that presumably help keep the awning attached to the van when it's zooming down the autobahn at 120mph?

 

[Bill R]

I've done that, but only once though. Never again. Suprisingly the awning held even though it contained about 30,000 gallons of water. I knew that it was raining hard in the night but couldn't be #rsed to get out of bed to check it. I had lowered one of the legs but clearly not enough.
I thought it looked a bit odd when I had to stoop down to get out from under the awning in the morning. Having discovered our new water storage facility I decided to lower one leg to let the water out. The weight of the water ment that a nano second after I released the catch the awning leg colapsed and I was hit full on by a tsunami of icy cold water. Very invigorating I can assure you.
Never ever have the awning out without securing it down as a slight puff of wind can lift it off the ground. Gusts can cause severe damage.

Entertaining story and like you, it's never again for me !
Because of the loud bang of rivets breaking I was out there at 4am in my boxers in hammering rain - not great fun, or a pretty sight !

 

[Borris]

I am the only one wondering if the awning fabric material should have failed before mechanical fixings....the same mechanical fixings that presumably help keep the awning attached to the van when it's zooming down the autobahn at 120mph?

120mph? I don't usually drive ours at much more than half that speed. Do they go that fast?.........and why?

 

[Velma's Dad]

I am the only one wondering if the awning fabric material should have failed before mechanical fixings....the same mechanical fixings that presumably help keep the awning attached to the van when it's zooming down the autobahn at 120mph?

No no, you should wind your awning in at anything above 95mph.

 

[VWDrooper]

How water repellent is the wind blocker ? @Loz

 

[Loz]

How water repellent is the wind blocker ? @Loz

It stops the rain from blowing in but its a double mesh so not totally watertight.

 

[Hotel California]

I am the only one wondering if the awning fabric material should have failed before mechanical fixings....the same mechanical fixings that presumably help keep the awning attached to the van when it's zooming down the autobahn at 120mph?

When the awning is rolled up while driving the pressure on the brackets is very diffrent then when the awning is wind out with a few buckets water standing on it .

It does to me also rises a question about safety doh , but those rivets seem not that strong...

 

[WelshGas]

120mph? I don't usually drive ours at much more than half that speed. Do they go that fast?.........and why?

Mine can. Remember VW is German.

 

[Amarillo]

Mine can. Remember VW is German.

Wow! I crept up to 140 kph between Dresden and Bielefeld, and I thought the van might take off. I cannot imagine what it would be like to drive at 195 kph!


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[andrew bazeley]

I get huge aesthetic pleasure fron angling the awning to follow the line of the roof when up! But this also seems to be the ideal slope to get rid of rainwater. I lower the back leg so that the spring just starts to pull the lower half of the leg up again. You then need to hammer in some pretty sturdy tent pegs to stop it springing up. This has always worked for me, even in pretty awful conditions. The old trick of winding the awning back in a bit to maximise the tension in the fabric helps too.

 

[hirsty]

I’ve posted before about the wind getting up & under my awning, flipping it vertical & shearing the front bracket completely.

It’s more accurately referred to as a sun shade - but I’m still too lazy to wind it in unless there’s a clear & present danger ...

 

[soulstyledevon]

What about tying the awning down with the straps and having it higher slope back towards the van with both legs...?

I have always done the one leg lower trick personally.
However last night I was cleaning mine and thought the run off wasn’t the best in that position.