Well, it took until noon, but all the awnings are installed and working properly.
One issue was the installers left off a part that seemed inconsequential, but turned out to be necessary to make the electric awnings unfold properly. That part is called a "Tractioner" and is required on all the Carefree awnings with the "Alumaguard" protecting cover. That part engages the Alumaguard and moves it up and down over the roller. Once those were installed, the awnings went in and out.
However, the replacement patio awning was stopping in the middle of going in and out. Well, that issue was due to the installers trying to tie the new Carefree patio awning into the old wiring for the removed A&E awning. We all thought that would work. However, the power draws are different and a relay in the old box was tripping.
Once that was figured out, they by-passed the old wiring and completed all the wiring runs to work the built-in LED lights. That's the thing about the guys at RVs For Less - no matter how long it takes, we can count on them to make sure everything is right. That's a big reason we agreed to have them do our flooring.
It took longer than we expected, but that was partially our fault since we came a week late and it didn't help that they were down a technician this week - the one that was scheduled to do our install last week.
Okay, I'm feeling a little better. The awnings and slide toppers stand out against our white fifth wheel, but they do look pretty sharp.
And they'll look a lot better with the new paint. :)
Oh, I forgot to mention this little problem that the guys helped us with the other day. For a little while now, when Linda brings in the big slideout, it stops on its own. She waits a few seconds and then it comes in the rest of the way.
We happened to mention this to Butch, and he told us there are auto-reset breakers in the wiring between the hydraulic motor and the batteries. They trip when the amp draw is too high, but they re-set themselves so no manual intervention is necessary.
I had no idea about auto-reset breakers or that we had them on the RV. Nine years and still learning. :)
On some coaches, these breakers aren't sized properly. They are rated in amps, and sometimes 30-amp breakers are installed when they should be 50-amp or 80-amp breakers.
But even those that are sized properly tend to wear out after awhile. Many rigs have two breakers wired in parallel, so if one goes bad there aren't enough amps to power the motor without tripping.
If you are having issues with hydraulic slides cutting out on you, this could be the problem.
So, they replaced the breakers, and all the slides come all the way in without stopping. Had we known it could be such a simple fix, we wouldn't have lived with it the last several months.
With everything working properly, we could head north. We said our goodbyes and pulled out around 1:30.
Due to the late start and rain on the way, we decided to just go about 100 miles and stop at the RV park in London, KY where we stopped on the way down. We drove through a lot of rain and considered driving on, but stuck to the plan.
We quickly set up in the drizzle, and then I fueled up the Jeep and picked up some dinner.
We've got about 370 miles to go, so we looked at options about half way for tomorrow night's stop. Using the UltimateCampgrounds.com website, we found a county park in Brookville, Indiana.
We're planning an early morning departure to get on the road before a heavy patch of rain settles in. So, we'll make it an early night.
See you tomorrow from eastern Indiana. :)
The auto reset brakers for the slidouts and alternatives/fixes has been covered several times on the Montana Owners Club Forum. Its a very helpful website for higher end Keystone product owners, aka my 05 Big Sky.
Posted by: Charles Howard | Saturday, July 19, 2014 at 11:34 PM
PS,
I had my local service center "service" the slidouts for the first time last year because they occasionally stopped or seemed more "strained" than usual sometimes. They said I had a lot of rust (not sure where) they cleaned up and slides work like new now.
Posted by: Charles Howard | Sunday, July 20, 2014 at 02:53 PM