This post is part of the RV project series. In January 2021 we purchased a 2001 Glendale Titanium 27EXB for a good price, which needed a fairly significant amount of work. Check out all the articles here. The first time we opened the awning was on our first weekend camping trip, and we found the following problems.
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| A&E Dometic 8500 series awning |
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Broken spring on one of the support arm lift handles - pin won't engage in the support arm holes
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Lift handle removed, the pin is still there, but with a broken spring it won't engage on the support arm holes|
| Cracked hardware joining the rafter arm to the support arm |
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Repairs to the broken lift handle was fairly straightforward. Drill out the rivets holding the lift handle to the support arm, and then use the rivet supplied with the Dometic replacement part to reattach the lift handle to the arm. This repair took about 20 minutes from start to finish. While the lift handle was broken, to use the awning, we used a screwdriver inserted into one to the support arm holes to extend the support arm.
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| Removing the broken lift handle by drilling out the rivets |
Another issue was cracked hardware joining the rafter arms to the main support arms. There is a complicated casting that slides in channels in the main support arm. In my case these castings were cracked and very close to failure.
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| Notice the cracks on the left and right of the white metal casting. Ready to fail. |
My RV repair shop had the appropriate parts. The first step in the repair is to remove the rafter arm extension which is riveted to this hardware piece from the main support arm. To do this - you need to momentarily lift off the casting at the top of the support arm which supports the awning roller. Important - this casting is under spring tension - when you lift it off it will let off the tension on the spring of the awning if you don't restrain it. I used a set of vice grips to hold onto this casting to keep it from spinning, and I supported the weight of the awning roller on the top rung of an adjustable ladder while performing the repair. The awning needs to be opened in order to remove the rafter arm.
Vice grips with a piece of plastic protecting the finish of the piece. Ensure the vice grips are securely attached so that spring tension doesn't cause the casting to spin.
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| Supporting the awning with an adjustable ladder. Here, the rafter arm is being replaced with new hardware. |
Replacing the hardware element is fairly straightforward. Drill out the rivet holding the hardware element to the rafter arm, and then replace the part with a new rivet. The trickiest part is forming the head on the new rivet - it's not a pop rivet, so you need to use a ball pien hammer and punch to form the rivet head correctly.
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| First step is to drill out the rivet to release the old part |
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| Install the new part and insert the new rivet |
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| This is the rivet head before forming. I used a roll pin punch with a rounded head to splay out the rivet material, once it was in a cone shape, I used the ball end of a ball pien hammer to roll down the rivet material and finish installation. |
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These are the old parts - note the damage to the part on the right. I replaced both parts since I was at it.
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Total time for this hardware repair was about an hour. You need to extend the awning, and finding the method with the vice grips to keep the support arm upper casting from spinning took some time.
The next issue with the awning was a series of cracks and holes along the top edge where the awning material is exposed to the sun when the awning is rolled up. I simply used a roll of CAMCO clear awning repair tape to fix these cracks and holes. I performed the cleaning stages carefully - first pass with rubber roof cleaning agent did a fantastic job removing dirt and grime and getting the surface quite clean. Then - prior to applying the tape, I used rubbing alcohol to remove any traces of grease which might keep the tape from adhering properly. This tape is very sticky, applies easily. I used a clean cloth to work the tape into the awning fabric for good adhesion. So far, so good.
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| Camco clear awning repair tape applied over cracks in the awning fabric |
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section below.
