ftwildernessguy 778 Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 Now I am not by any means an expert, but I am a lot smarter now re. replacement of the awning fabric on a Dometic AE awning. The job took about 5 hours total including lunch and pee breaks, and I will admit I have not put away my tools yet. I also have many band aids on my hand and just about got killed by a flying vice grip pliers as a spring released tension and I lost my grip. But if your local RV repair shop is like mine, they would have charged me 600 bucks in labor over and above the 200 bucks for the fabric, my camper would have sat in their lot for a month and the work would have been done by a high school kid at a summer job. So if you need any advice or just some words of encouragement, just write me a post. Now, it's time for an adult beverage. KUNGALOOSH, campers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 740 Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 Trick to the springs: Open awning and use cotter pins or nails to lock the shaft. (should be holes that line up on both ends of tube) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ftwildernessguy 778 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 The problem came with the left hand spring. You have to load the spring then put the end plug on the support arm. Not easy with a loaded spring. I ended up putting the cap on the arm and winding the spring by rotating the arm like a propeller. The other side was no problem since it had the ratchet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 Couldn't you have just attached it with Eternabond? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ftwildernessguy 778 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 I repaired the old one with gorilla tape but that didn't work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 WWLD? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted June 26, 2018 Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 4 hours ago, DaveInTN said: WWLD? You know he really did have good info, just not the best delivery. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblr....Rennie 224 Posted June 26, 2018 Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 Grumpy was correct, that was how the techs replaced our awning at a FROG Rally once in Goshen In. the thing that I hated the most was they made it look so easy, all done in less then a hour. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ftwildernessguy 778 Posted June 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2018 The technic used depends on the awning. In my case, you could lock the right side with a cotter pin or nail, but the left side not only has no hole for the nail, but if you could put one in there is nothing inside for the nail to engage to prevent the spring from unwinding. The ratchet on the right side makes a nail or cotter pin unnecessary. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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