Look what the wind has done to my awning.

magicsurfbus said:
The brown signs on the surrounding roads are a bit of a giveaway there:)



I think you may have hit upon the manufacturer's escape clause - they'll probably quote some small print about angles and blame the fitter.
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I don't think the fitting can be any further forward it is fitted to the van using the Fiamma fitting kit. Here's a picture from when it was fitted and the brackets are from Fiamma and attached to the van roof onto slots already in place from Fiat (for roof racks
IMG_0337.JPG
?) so I doubt the angle is wrong.
 
I would say I would take it back as it clearly was not manufactured correctly OR someone thought they would like to permanently borrow your awning and had a go at removing it from your van???
 
RidersofRohan said:
..so I doubt the angle is wrong.
Click to expand...

Obviously it's difficult to establish the exact fixing arrangement from your first photo, but if the fitting is all correct then it's ridiculous that the casing should bend in a strong wind, assuming nothing else briefly caught under it by fluke and pulled it out of shape.

I'm wondering if getting on the roof, winding the canvas out and applying steady pressure along the length of the cover with some sort of roller, maybe even a painting roller, might get it back into shape?
 
The wind is so strong at the Ski resort we were meant to be at until
fridqy,we decided to move on. As we were packing up we saw the van next to us move forward during one particularly strong gust, as we had seen them go out earlier we had a quick discussion as the whether they were be back. Then we noticed the silver screens were still up and the Camper moved again! We shot out, grabbed some rocks to wedge under the wheels. We tried pushing it back but there was too much resistance from the hand brake so had to leave it in the middle of the car park with the rocks stopping in going any further.
 
IMG_1095.JPG
Just had a look at positioning on our Fiat, although it is a Thule awning, it is very high up and was the first thing I noticed when we bought the MH
Don't try and fix it yourself, it must be a fault from Fiama as surely it is designed to withstand high winds just from normal driving?

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RidersofRohan said:
I don't think the fitting can be any further forward it is fitted to the van using the Fiamma fitting kit. Here's a picture from when it was fitted and the brackets are from Fiamma and attached to the van roof onto slots already in place from Fiat (for roof racksView attachment 141355 ?) so I doubt the angle is wrong.
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OK so it looks like it's fitted correctly, so it's the supplier to contact in my view.

Martin
 
You can clearly see whats gonna happen here, all 3 (Fiamma,Supplier and Fitter) will point to the other for blame, cant see how its been fitted incorrectly, they are basically fool proof to fit, supplier only supplied the item however he is where i would start, after all he took your £ for the sale of it, Fiamma made it an i would say the blame lies with them... It could be a long drawn out battle of wits to get it sorted - however for your sake i hope its not... These things are not cheap neither so lets hope someone will hold their hand up and supply you with another, as the brackets are already fixed to the van its only a case of undoing the awning case from the brkts and pulling it off - (However its a 2 man job with 2 sets of ladders) dropping the new one on and bolting it back onto the brakts !
PS: They weight a ton so i wouldnt attempt to get it down yourself
 
Armytwowheels said:
The wind is so strong at the Ski resort we were meant to be at until
fridqy,we decided to move on. As we were packing up we saw the van next to us move forward during one particularly strong gust, as we had seen them go out earlier we had a quick discussion as the whether they were be back. Then we noticed the silver screens were still up and the Camper moved again! We shot out, grabbed some rocks to wedge under the wheels. We tried pushing it back but there was too much resistance from the hand brake so had to leave it in the middle of the car park with the rocks stopping in going any further.
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Blimey Sandra, get down that hill pronto!

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That's terrible... good luck to @RidersofRohan getting this sorted. .. but it does look like an instalation issue now..
At least the vans not damaged

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Another thought, if you paid for any of the work by credit card maybe they might be picking up either the cost of the awning or a legal challenge

but maybe when the wind drops and you get a closer look it might end up being a fairly simple part replacement followed by careful parking when next strong winds forecast o_O

best of luck getting it sorted (y)
 
Thanks. Just taken the dog out and if anything the wind is now worse. Hard to stay on your feet while dodging horizontal dog wee. So won't be climbing any ladders today, managed to put a stone on the next bit of hen house roof and retreated indoors.
I've asked the supplier about the spare part.
I think there is something wrong that it doesn't withstand say gusts of 70 mph as you would be facing more than that with a headwind on a motorway or crossing a bridge etc. As to whether its a flimsy design fault, and no-one else has said that it has happened to them and there must be a few F65s about suggests not. So it comes down to poor manufacture of my unit or poor fitting.
 
I still can't get my head around the wind causing that. We bought our F45 awning second hand and I partially unrolled it on the lawn and moved it by gripping that section, there was a bit of "give" in it and I had to press it back in line but no way would the wind do that on mine, plus when it's snugged up in the home position, the "front rail" overlaps that section. I wonder if they've changed the design ?
 
@RidersofRohan does your wind out section overlap the top cover that has bent, on our F45 it does?.

Martin
 
if and only if you have no luck having it replaced under warranty, i have effected a repair on a similarly damaged awning case with a large rubber mallet. but do it slowly working back and forth along the bend

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Your contract is with the supplier of the awning
However copy the fitters and Fiamma into the problem
 
funflair said:
@RidersofRohan does your wind out section overlap the top cover that has bent, on our F45 it does?.

Martin
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Its a bit hard to tell now, it looks flush from the outside when its closed but there is a lip under and inside the top piece (iie the bit thats bent. I would say it is probably more of a rain seal than a structural thing. You can just see it in the 2nd photo. The first photo is a crop of a photo from our trip to Spain in the Autumn and shows it closed and flush.
IMG_0658 - Copy.JPG

P1000643.JPG
 
Supposing it was not quite closed properly the last time, say fabric did not roll right due to some winds so there was a slight gap, the wind could soon find a way to pull the fabric out and bend the case. Not quite the same but I had an over the door awning on my yankee, the motor failed so I had to roll it in by hand but it did not close up tight. I cable tied it but after a trip the wind had managed to pull a foot or more of the fabric out.
 
This fault has been seen before. Ive seen it on a Globecar forum, and the owner received a replacement under warranty.

In fact the person had more than one fail in the same way.

Does yours have the gasket between the roof and the F65?
 
sallylillian said:
Supposing it was not quite closed properly the last time, say fabric did not roll right due to some winds so there was a slight gap, the wind could soon find a way to pull the fabric out and bend the case. Not quite the same but I had an over the door awning on my yankee, the motor failed so I had to roll it in by hand but it did not close up tight. I cable tied it but after a trip the wind had managed to pull a foot or more of the fabric out.
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I see what you are saying but from the photos the cloth hasn't rolled out its the cassette top that's come up. The last time the awning was used (opened) was in Almeria in November, so we've come along the way back through Spain over the Pyrenees and through France without any problem.
jezport said:
This fault has been seen before. Ive seen it on a Globecar forum, and the owner received a replacement under warranty.

In fact the person had more than one fail in the same way.

Does yours have the gasket between the roof and the F65?
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Thanks. I will go back to the supplier tomorrow with this information.
I don't have a gasket between the roof of the van and the bottom of the cassette isn't that an optional extra to stop rain from the roof running down your neck?

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I'm guessing the F65 awning is one of the longer ones? In which case it could be an inherent flaw not anticipated by the designer - maybe the longer F65s flex or bow more than their shorter counterparts when the vehicle is rocking about in a strong lateral wind, and once the top is bent upwards the wind gets under it and bang.

The almost perfectly symmetrical shape of the bend has a sort of waveform look about it, which makes me wonder if it was resonating somehow? Anyway, the bottom line is it shouldn't have happened.

Also, a quick search on Google reveals others have had the same problem and have reported it on the dark side (which apparently I'm not allowed to link to directly).

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...pv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=fiamma+f65+awning+wind+damage
 
RidersofRohan said:
I see what you are saying but from the photos the cloth hasn't rolled out its the cassette top that's come up. The last time the awning was used (opened) was in Almeria in November, so we've come along the way back through Spain over the Pyrenees and through France without any problem.

Thanks. I will go back to the supplier tomorrow with this information.
I don't have a gasket between the roof of the van and the bottom of the cassette isn't that an optional extra to stop rain from the roof running down your neck?
Click to expand...
Yes the gasket is for that. The reason I asked was that someone had suggested that having it sealed to the roof caused the problem by not letting the wind pass through.
 
Jez can you send a link to the Globecar forum for the OP to view and if necessary copy as more power to their elbow
 
Make a record of the weather reports for your immediate area in terms of wind direction, speed and gusts. If these are not abnormal then sue the supplier of the awning in the small claims court for a product of unmerchantable quality. If the court finds for you then he will claim off Fiamma etc. You can claim the fitting costs plus the cost of the awning plus your legal costs. You might find the supplier gets onto Fiamma who might then choose to settle out of court rather than have their name besmirched in court when they are found guilty!
 
Looking at the weather forecast the wind drops tomorrow morning so I will climb up at try to pull the metal down into place. I'll report back tomorrow either from home or Calderdale Royal !!

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