Exterior Fiamma F45S Windout awning

[mikerezny]

Hi,
this is a good news story.
For months now my Fiamma F45S windout awning squeeks when winding it in and out. The noise itself didn't worry me but it did concern me that something could be not lubricated and thus eventually causing damage, and more importantly, causing me to spend money to fix it.

Dis some Google searching which showed that I am not the only one to have this problem. But, the solution seemed to be that something needed a good spray with silicon-based lube. But the details were rather sparse.

I sent off an email to Fiamma in the States last night and was pleasantly surprised to have a reply this morning with clear and concise details about what to lubricate.

After a couple of hours of carefull work, I managed to remove the entire bearing and winding mechanism from one side of the awning which allowed me access to the front and rear roller bearings as well as the key parts of the winder. Liberal application of silicon lube then reassembled.

So far, no more squeeks. More importantly, the mystery of the awning mechanism has gone and I now have a very clear idea of how it all works. I am sure that will be helpful in the future

The good news is that it was great to send off an email to an organisation and get a prompt and useful response. Lots of brownie points for Fiamma!

A mate down around the corner owns an early model Penguin. Returned home from a trip to Cairns to report that he had wound out the awning and sat down to have a cuppa before getting around to tying it down. Wasn't worried since there was no wind. Well except for a quick short burst of wind that sent the awning back over the roof. Bent one of the arms and tore the awning.

cheers
Mike

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi,
this is a good news story.
For months now my Fiamma F45S windout awning squeeks when winding it in and out. The noise itself didn't worry me but it did concern me that something could be not lubricated and thus eventually causing damage, and more importantly, causing me to spend money to fix it.

Dis some Google searching which showed that I am not the only one to have this problem. But, the solution seemed to be that something needed a good spray with silicon-based lube. But the details were rather sparse.

I sent off an email to Fiamma in the States last night and was pleasantly surprised to have a reply this morning with clear and concise details about what to lubricate.

After a couple of hours of carefull work, I managed to remove the entire bearing and winding mechanism from one side of the awning which allowed me access to the front and rear roller bearings as well as the key parts of the winder. Liberal application of silicon lube then reassembled.

So far, no more squeeks. More importantly, the mystery of the awning mechanism has gone and I now have a very clear idea of how it all works. I am sure that will be helpful in the future

The good news is that it was great to send off an email to an organisation and get a prompt and useful response. Lots of brownie points for Fiamma!

A mate down around the corner owns an early model Penguin. Returned home from a trip to Cairns to report that he had wound out the awning and sat down to have a cuppa before getting around to tying it down. Wasn't worried since there was no wind. Well except for a quick short burst of wind that sent the awning back over the roof. Bent one of the arms and tore the awning.

cheers
Mike

Good news story @mikerezny and you solved another potential problem for yourself and others. The "couple of hours of careful work" might put off anyone with lesser mechanical knowledge or patience, but not you. Great stuff!! Speaking of awnings, ours is a bagged type, but still has the potential for damage to occur if wind gets up. Some time back when unfamiliar with Penguin, whilst taking down awning prior to rolling it up, all the tie down ropes had been disconnected as well as the vertical but not the horizontal support bars from van, when a gust of wind caught the awning and threw it back over the roof. Finally got it back into position, but not before one of the bars was bent beyond repair and two of the anchor points had been damaged. All repaired okay now, but NEVER again are all tie down ropes released until just before before awing is ready to be rolled up. A better method of of taking awning down is now used. Tough way to learn when you are new at this camping game!! Still not as bad as your mate down the road.