Sunncamp Aspect Awning - Warning!

[PenelopePitstop]

A word of advice to funsters thinking of buying a porch awning.

We have a Sunncamp Aspect Awning which we bought at the Peterborough Show in April this year - some of you will remember us giving a Masterclass in awning erection!!

We have used it in total for about 10 weeks in the UK this summer(??).
On our France / Italy / Spain trip this autumn we have only used it for 6 days last week in Orgiva, Andalucia.
Not a lot of use really and apart from the usual Peak District "breeze" nothing to write home about with the weather - certainly the only sun it encountered was at the Stratford Show ( Masterclass number 2!)

We had a disaster last Monday morning - after about 3 hours of strong wind Rex got up at 8.30 and the roof had ripped off the awning!
It was still attached down one side but had completely ripped away on 3 sides - not the seam but the actual fabric had ripped.

We cleared everything out of it and then dismantled it.

I sent an email to the manufacturer complete with photographs.
I received a very promt reply stating:-

It looks from the photos as if the material has failed due to UV degradation and wind damage, which is not covered under the warranty.

The awning is only designed for occasional use in fair to moderate weather conditions.

I replied pointing out the amount and type of use it has had and have not yet received a reply. :Angry:
I also told them I would be putting a warning on various Motorhome Forums as people were buying their product to use very much in the same way as us.

I have given them 5 days grace and as there is no reply I am now posting this thread.

Let it be a warning - if it looks like it COULD rain or the wind COULD blow or the sun COULD shine - take your awning down! Or use it indoors!!

Has anyone else encountered these problems?

I'm going to try and patch it up a little with Duck Tape - we'll have the smartest awning in Conil!! We really need somewhere to store stuff like tables and chairs and also to cook in so hopefully Duck Tape will perform better than Sunncamp!!

 

[scotjimland]

The awning is only designed for occasional use in fair to moderate weather conditions.[/I]

Sorry to hear about the poor performance of the awning, I believe Sun Camp are a Chinese brand.. not an excuse though, the product clearly isn't 'fit for purpose' ..


... do they also make 'fair weather' crank up sat dishes and oil filled rads that can't be left unsupervised..

 

[PenelopePitstop]

Sorry to hear about the poor performance of the awning, I believe Sun Camp are a Chinese brand.. not an excuse though, the product clearly isn't 'fit for purpose' ..


... do they also make 'fair weather' crank up sat dishes and oil filled rads that can't be left unsupervised..

Wouldn't surprise me Jim!!

If we were in UK I would be tempted to get Trading Standards on to them!:Angry:

 

[TJ-RV]

Sorry about the awning damage. A golden rule with awnings, irrespective of brand or country of origin, is to avoid having them deployed in high winds. It's also advisable not to leave awnings deployed if leaving the RV for a long period of time.

As the owner of one expensive motorhome found to his dismay, it's also best to wait for a thaw before retracting the awnings and your slideouts. We were in transit through Las Cruces, New Mexico en route to Florida a couple of years ago and awoke to find it had snowed overnight. We decided to stay an extra night rather than try to slide down the freeway. The following morning our neighbor attempted to retract his slideouts and the fabric on one of the slide topper awnings tore to shreds. Seeing this, I got out the ladder and checked the fabric on ours; I pulled thick slabs of ice off it. Realising there was ice in the fabric, I waited until the sun came up and warmed things up a little before retracting the awnings.

Brrr .... we should have stayed home in California.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Sorry to hear of that appaling get out, I have heard some excuses in my time, but that takes the biscuit.

You must not use it in the sun as the suns rays degrade the material!

Peter

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[PenelopePitstop]

Sorry to hear of that appaling get out, I have heard some excuses in my time, but that takes the biscuit.

You must not use it in the sun as the suns rays degrade the material!

Peter

Yep! Only to be on calm overcast days or indoors!!

The geodesic design and flexible were fine - So if you can't use it in any wind why have the geodesic design and flexible poles????

It's basically inferior fabric!

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

Try taking it up with your local trading standards office. They may take action on your behalf and explain it isnt fit for purpose.

Good luck

 

[PenelopePitstop]

Try taking it up with your local trading standards office. They may take action on your behalf and explain it isnt fit for purpose.

Good luck

Would do if we were in UK but we're in Spain until April!
May get mad enough about it and do it then!!!:Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry:

 

[ourcampersbeentrashed]

Would do if we were in UK but we're in Spain until April!
May get mad enough about it and do it then!!!:Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry::Angry:

You can take it up with trading standards by using your local council online complaints facilities if that helps. Just because you are in Spain doesnt stop you from starting the ball rolling kind regards

 

[Road Runner]

Hate to say it bit I had one of the original Sunn Camp awning on my caravan and it tore first trip out.

Luckily I had bought it from Towsure who gave me a full refund.

The shows are great but the comeback with goods is zilch similar to ebay.

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[theresa]

we have one of these had it up in spain for 8 weeks with no probs, then it was in use on dartmoor for a further 9 weeks . my other half did treat it with fabsil when on dartmoor as it was so wet . we are hoping to use it again in feb when we go to spain again. sorry to hear about yours . must admit we did take it down in spain when the wind got to bad, as people near to us lost theirs with the wind

 

[PenelopePitstop]

we have one of these had it up in spain for 8 weeks with no probs, then it was in use on dartmoor for a further 9 weeks . my other half did treat it with fabsil when on dartmoor as it was so wet . we are hoping to use it again in feb when we go to spain again. sorry to hear about yours . must admit we did take it down in spain when the wind got to bad, as people near to us lost theirs with the wind

We had no warning about the wind as we'd been having beautiful calm weather and the wind sprang up from no-where early in the morning!

The bendy poles worked well and the structure performed well - it was the fabric that failed!

If I was still in the clothing industry I'd be tempted to send a sample off for tensile strength testing - to see if it's fit for purpose - but I'm not - so I won't!

Won't buy a Sunncamp again anyway! We're going to scrutinise peoples awnings from now until Peterborough!

 

[scotjimland]

Won't buy a Sunncamp again anyway! We're going to scrutinise peoples awnings from now until Peterborough!

Hi Maria

We are very pleased with our new Movelite XL 08, we've had some foul weather, no problems so far..

If you missed my post .. here it is

Link Removed

 

[PenelopePitstop]

Hi Maria

We are very pleased with our new Movelite XL 08, we've had some foul weather, no problems so far..

We would have said exactly the same this time last week!!! It withstood foul (normal!!) Peak District weather during the "summer" - no probs!

We've been reading good reports of the Khyam awnings so may go down that route - more expensive but then it will get used! How much do you pay for a porch on a house??This IS our house!

 

[Thepips]

Hate to say it bit I had one of the original Sunn Camp awning on my caravan and it tore first trip out.

Luckily I had bought it from Towsure who gave me a full refund.

The shows are great but the comeback with goods is zilch similar to ebay.

Got to disagree with you there John. The vast majority of traders at shows are reputable particularly if they're regulars on the show circuit. Just avoid the obvious Sunday market traders.

Regards
Doug

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[Ralph-Dot]

We have had a Sunncamp Awning for about four years, it is not the best quality and has been fixed on several occasions but it did come with warnings that it was not made for use in high winds, although we have ignored the instruction.

Ralph

 

[Road Runner]

Got to disagree with you there John. The vast majority of traders at shows are reputable particularly if they're regulars on the show circuit. Just avoid the obvious Sunday market traders.

Regards
Doug

No doubt some are especially in more pricey goods but to be honest had some real crap stuff from shows stalls.

Dont get many receipts either

 

[PenelopePitstop]

We have had a Sunncamp Awning for about four years, it is not the best quality and has been fixed on several occasions but it did come with warnings that it was not made for use in high winds, although we have ignored the instruction.

Ralph

On their email to me they said it looked like it had suffered from UV degradation - well that was a miracle in UK this year wasn't it??
So, as I see it, they are only to be used when the weather is completely calm and dull and must be taken down every night in case the weather changes while you're asleep!!

Not fit for purpose really is it?

If they are not to be used in windy conditions then why use a geodesic design and flexible poles?? That is the objest of the design!

We had the first bendy pole tent in 1982 and it was used regularly in stormy weather- no problems - the fabric finally failed last Christmas in Portugal when we put it up for our son and grandson to use - it was 25 years old then!!:thumb:

This awning is only 6 months old!

 

[Ralph-Dot]

That is what the instructions for the, Sunncamp Scenic Porch said, we have used it in France when other tents blow down though.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

Hate to say it bit I had one of the original Sunn Camp awning on my caravan and it tore first trip out.

Luckily I had bought it from Towsure who gave me a full refund.

The shows are great but the comeback with goods is zilch similar to ebay.

Not if you buy from us at a show it isnt, full warranty on everything and no quibble guarantee!:thumb:

Peter

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[gilli]

narrow escape

Thanks for that info, honestly we were about to click buy but decided to look at reviews instead, it was a choice between the Aspect and the more expensive Khyam, we don't have to say which one we have now chosen, thanks, hope others will be as fortunate as us to discover your warning before they buy:thumb:

 

[fergur70]

thanks for post

I was about to bid for a Sunncamp Aspect drive away awning on ebay.co.uk:thanks2: - I will not do so now.

 

[Ed Excel]

Sorry to hear about your experience with a SunnCamp awning. We've had two of them but have come to the conclusion an awning is not the right thing for us in winter in Spain. Although we will use it in the UK in summer.

As you probably know, it's not warm enough, or it's dark, in the evening in Spain to be sat in the awning and during the day we want to be in the sun, it's what we're here for! So, the awning was really only used for storage.

This year we're trying a Gelert quick erect tent as an alternative. What a difference; no random flapping noises through the night, no precision parking on return to site, no dust on the contents (tent very well sealed), no fear of the whole thing blowing away and less than half the price of the awning.

 

[sdc77]

Only this week we were laughing about the suncamp warranty on our new porch awning. It's only really covered by the warranty if you leave it in its bag. But for under 100 quid I suppose we shouldn't expect to much.
It's mainly for his royal muttliness though in damp weather to dry his paws off in.

 

[JJ]

Sorry about your woes Little Sis...

But you know me...


Canvas is for Tenters not Rufty Tufty motorhomers...


JJ :Cool:

PS. Thank goodness the Rock Star has all those royalties flowing in... to buy another one.

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[Phill D]

have i missed something this OP was in 2008