Dometic 9100 Series Patio Awning Fabric Replacement
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- How to replace the awning fabric on a Dometic 9100 Series patio awning. This one is equipped with LED lights under the awning mount on the side of the RV. which created an unanticipated challenge.
Tools -
Drill w/ square drive bit
1/4" drill bit to remove rivets
7/16" in socket
Pliers for cotter pin
Diagonal Cutting Pliers
Rivet Gun
Punch & Hammer
Cotter Pin
Sharpie Marker
Tape (cover hardware sharp edges)
Zip Ties
Tape Measure
Silicon Lubricant
3/16" Aluminum Rivets (3)
Music by Audionautix.com
Agree with Richard Hughes. Having never done this before needed more of a step by step guide.
Thanks Connie. See my response to Richard and others.
Thanks for this great video. We have a Rockwell fifth wheel with the exact same awning as yours. I have some experience with fabric replacement, but your vid was very helpful. We had problems with the light strip due to the channel being broken so we cut the bead tube off and used automotive ornament double sided tape to attach it to the bottom of the awning mount. Hoping it holds! Anyway many thanks!
Thank you for providing this video!!! It answered the questions regarding a Dometic Power Awning and I am now confident with the installation process.
Glad it was helpful!
Very comprehensive video! Thank you I got a similar design by solera buy mine binds and makes one of the rails arch this creates a gap about 1/4" on the middle of the rear rail. This video shows that its literally just the winding of the fabric thats causing this on mine!
On a manual one where up/down manual switch is if rivet used is too long the inside mechanism doesn’t move in both directions.Ack me how I know lol
Excellent, thanks.
Good video but you skip over may steps that a DIY person would need to do this right- where to pin the torsion side, drilling out both caps, riveting cap back on and more
I agree, he skipped over a lot of the steps and the music didn’t work for me.
Question. I'm getting ready to replace my awning. Do both caps have to be removed? Can't you just slide the awning onto the roller from one side? Thanks in advance!
@@reapersixfour I only removed the non power side but didnt realize the power ones are still spring loaded on non power side so now need to rewind
I get what you showed, but you left out the parts on removing rivets (?) and how to install new fabric to roller. Can you recommend a video that explains that part?
This RV Geeks video should fill in the gaps. ua-cam.com/video/fg5VLMcGdlY/v-deo.html
We lost some important video when a camera died on us. Our goal was to show the unique things to consider for this particular model. Hope this video fills the gaps. Thanks for your comments.
Ray from Love your RV. Has a pretty good video also.
Hi all...I started posting this Regarding SPRING TENSION...and began adding other suggestions as you will soon see.
This a very, very long comment...these are helpful hints meant to save you headache and arguments...it is not a complete step by step...someone may add even better hints...but I would have appreciated these before I started>>> just remember...I warned you this is long ... very long...so don't flip me any crap in the comments.
I am 68 years old and my wife is 57...We changed the awning fabric just the two of us. Minus video time watching how-to-do-it videos and one major mistake...it took us about 2 hours with a lot of second guessing thrown in. I can confidently say next time it would be less than a hour.
SPRING TENSION: Make sure you do this as one of your first steps....roll the awning out about 1 foot.
At the top left side--- in the end cap --- (or the end without the motor) --- look for two oblong openings on opposite sides of the end cap...ours were on the cone shaped part). Look through it and see if you can see the camper wall or daylight.... if not ( and the odds are great you will not)... Have someone hitting the in/out button ---until one of the oblong holes face directly out and the other one direct towards the home ---look through the oblong hole ---you should see daylight through the 2nd oblong hole. If you do...Great!! Slide your pin or what you are using through both holes. Then bump the in-out button to put pressure on it to hold in place. If not keep, going until you do. Trust me...do not blindly fish for the holes...if not lined up so you can see through...you will never ever get it.
I used a piece of an old steel clothes hanger about 5" long (straight) and it went through both holes easily to hold the correct tension. (after I spent 10 minutes trying to find a cotter pin)...save yourself the time and grab an old coat hanger. I bent one end at a 90 degree angle just so it was easier to hold onto. ONCE YOU DO THIS...the awning will not roll in or out...so have the awing with some slack or where you want it. (Once in place I bent mine on the back side as well...on purpose and had to use a pair of pliers pull it out after re-installing the awning tube... but I wanted to prevent it from scratching or cutting anything including wife's hand).
SLACK is important...make sure your awning is out about a foot or so.
The zip ties are important...don't over think it. There is not a lot of tension or weight there they will support. Push on the side of the unit if need to make a gap...most small gap will be easily seen.
Grab 3 ties for each side - 8 to 10 inch zip ties...not the super heavy duty....but not the cheapest either.
You will hook the ties together...3 to a side.
In a pinch...small wire will work if you can get it through between the awning and the wall without damage.
SIDE NOTE>>>Don't panic...Changing the awning was not a hard job...just a bit confusing as we had never done one.
If you have the tools...and know how do use a drill and pop rivet gun...most likely you can do this. Make sure you have the correct size pop rivets and drill bit...or larger as you can drill the holes bigger...just remember...the bigger the rivet...the harder they are to pop!! I used steel rivets...should have used aluminum ones so they don't rust...will probably change them and pop easier.
Once we had the slack and hanger in place, We lifted the awning upwards about 3 inches to get it out of the slot (make sure you took the bolts out). This is one of the reasons you need the slack.
We then held it out the foot away from the unit and let the awning slowly unroll...and held it so it would not go fast and scratch anything. Now the awning tube is hanging down by the steps. Watch the ends from hitting you or the unit as they stick out a few inches. If you let go...gravity will take over and it will roll fast. If you arm or hand or head are in the way...that body part will not feel good after it is hit by a fast rolling 40 to 50 pound arm and fabric.
We checked for any screws holding the fabric to the tube and then drilled out the rivets on the motor side, pulled the motor out of the tube and fairly easily pulled the tube off the fabric. We had two small step stools to set it on...saw horses would have worked better.
And this is where the major mistake happened:
VERY IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE you mark the EXACT POSITION on the motor side before you pull the motor out of the awning tube. Put a mark on the tube and the motor side that match. I forgot...and there are 3 ways it can go back in... I took a chance...guessed wrong...put the rivets in and we put it up...it was fairly heavy for my wife as we rolled it up and sat it up there on the arms...AND THE SPRING SIDE DID NOT MATCH the motor side...so one side was about 1/3 of a revolution off... SPRING SIDE AND MOTOR SIDE HAVE TO MATCH!! NO exceptions.
One tiny mark on the end cap/motor and one on the awning tube that I forgot cost me over 1/2 hour in 95% humidity 90 degree heat with the sun going down...don't be like me...make the marks and line them up when putting the motor end back in the tube. HINT: Make sure the ends that set down in the arm are at the same angle: If the left one is down...the right one should be down before pop rivieting. If one is pointed towards the camper just make sure the other is pointed the same before riveting.
So now the old fabric is hanging there and is ready to be slid off the home rail. BUT WAIT!!!
This is when you make the A and V marks on the tube. Do Not Forget this Step. A mark goes where the awning rubber is in the tube and the V mark goes on where the valance is tucked in and held with a rubber rope. The Awning one is usually stiched into the fabric and the valance one goes through the fabric like a string in your work out shorts.
Make sure you have any screws removed that may be from the awning rail...never assume any video is correct...we had a screw in the middle...no videos showed that.
The rail will be full of dirt, tree junk, bird poop, etc as it is exposed to Mother Nature. As mentioned elsewhere I sprayed this the night before with penetrating lube.
If the wind is not blowing very hard...spread the old awning like a tarp. We had no wind and a 5 to 10 mph breeze would have helped.
Spread the OLD awning cover out close to where you pulled it off the unit and use it as a tarp for the new one.
ROll out you new fabric on the old tarp and remove any protective plastic, etc. and make sure it is laying how you want it.
We then rolled the new fabric up (like rolling up a rug or paper) and made sure ( with a minor discussion) that we had the topside and under side correct.
Then we carried that limp new awning up and started sliding it through the top rail...I was holding the entire weight and it is fairly heavy. This is one of the places a third person would have been nice to have.
Some videos show letting the new fabric hang loose and unrolled after getting it started in the top rail...and if there is a next time...I will try that. The first 3 or 4 feet went easily with my wife on ladder 2 (we only had 2) pulling...keep in mind I had all the weight still except for that. This is the point where next time I might let the fabric unroll and a slight breeze or wind would help billow it out. Since we had sprayed the channel...it slid fairly easily...I had made sure that the rail end was spread open and did not have any burrs or metal that could rip the fabric...and the only area I was worried about was a joint in the rail.
My other suggestions are: If you do not have a third person...have a third ladder and set it in the middle as it will help pulling the fabric through if using the method in this video. If you are using a straight or collapsable ladder...set the height of it so you can move it easily if needed...ie: it has to be able to go under the awning rail if moved to the center.
I sprayed the top rail the night before with penetrating oil to help slide the old off. MAKE SURE you clean that entire rail before putting the new one in. I sprayed the valance and awning rail as well both before and during replacement with silicone lube.
IMPORTANT TIP: I used duct tape on the top of the arm we were sliding the new cover over as it is very close to the awning rail and is fairly sharp...I doubled it up and am DANG GLAD I DID... DO THIS!!
Final thoughts:
One of the first comments you see talks about drilling out both end caps...we drilled out only one.
I was worried about the spring coming unwound if I drilled out the other side.
Your rubber rope may be a hard rubber...that is what we had and it came in two pieces that are meant to be slid in from both ends...we slid both from the same end ...
One side of the fabric has the rope already in it and you will slide this all the way through the tube channel. This should go easily.
After you slide the fabric on the tube now you have to tuck the fabric in the other channel and use this rubber rope. After some effort in the now rapidly fading sunlight... We figured out that simply tucking the fabric loose in the channel worked best...I also used some silicone lube to help...the first 13 or so feet went quickly and then...because we only drilled out the one side...it got harder and I had to use a pick to pull while my wife pushed the rubber through. We made it through though!!
If you have flexible rubber...you simply push it down in.
I could waste another 30 minutes of your life with more thoughts...but will end with this.
We mowed our large yard with two walk behind mowers and weed eated and put up the fence garden so did not start on this until an hour and a half before sunset. Don't be like us...give yourself plenty of time to get this job done so you can have a cold one after!! Mike McCann Mach1 Realty
Good details,
@@jlow1952 Thanks Jay...we had it out for a 3 day weekend last week and the new awning was great!!
Thank you so much for the details! I assumed you never let the spring tension go, correct? I was wondering why most people thought it was necessary to remove both end caps and unwound the spring.
Mike thank you for the details I really did not want to unwind my spring if not needed and that is exactly how you did it. This is the detail I wish people had recorded What you typed. My fun story is they shipped me a 15ft awning when I ordered a 16ft. The sticker on the awning even says 16ft and my name but it was not. So I get to do this all over again.
@@jiexu5993 Correct.That is why when you go to lower the old awning down to the ground by hand...it will try to go faster than you want as the spring is unwinding inside the tube and then as you roll the new awning up the side of the camper...you are rolling the spring tighter again and as you get closer to the top you can feel the tension inside the tube making it a bit harder to roll up.
nice. just one simple question, outside temp? and how long did it take you from beginning to completion?? I am going to do mine right after I finish re-coating the roof.
Sorry, need more detail. You mention pinning the spring, what did you use and how? Did you remove the cap at the end you did not pin (toward the front)? Does it house the motor and are there any concerns with removing that? Thanks for the effort, but some important info was omitted.
Sorry we lost some video when a camera died that I wasn't able to recreate. I used a long cotter pin to pin the spring. You can see the size of the pin at the 8 min mark in the video next to the Sharpie. (You could also use a heavy piece of coat hanger wire.) I did remove the cap at the opposite end which houses the motor by drilling out the rivets. Make sure you mark the locations of the rivets for reassembly.
@@candprv Just so I'm clear, you only had to pin the spring on the non-motor side, or both? So it didn't look like you had to actually unwind the spring, is that correct?
@@chrisprice2561 Yes, you need to pin the spring on the non-motor end of the awning. That is the only spring in the assembly and you don't want to unwind it. You can see the hole in that end of the awning at 2:46 in the video.
Did this have a spring load that had to be unwound then wound back up after?
Go back and watch the beginning. He mentions putting a pick or awl in to hold the spring. I'm just about ready to replace mine and I had to grind down an old screw driver to fit so we'll see how it goes.
Yes, the spring is tensioned. You can pin it with a large cotter pin. You can see the hole in that end of the awning at 2:46 in the video.
So you removed the motor side. Is there only a spring on one end?
So... did you put the lights back on the camper
YES! We got this set of LED lights from Amazon:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0855CR151/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
We cleaned the area with soap and water, then alcohol. The new lights had a peel and stick adhesive. We attached them about 2 inches below the awning rail on the coach. They work great and are much less intense while still providing adequate lighting under the awning.
Thank you for the video..My wife and I replaced our dometic 9100 power awning that had the lights just like yours. I didn't think anything about them being ours remained straight, flat and worked... Because the lights reduce the size of the track for the new awning we had to rob one of the smaller cords from the valance and slide it into the awning where it attached to the RV. Then we robbed a cording from the old awning to replace the valance one in the new awning. What should have been a 2 hr job took 6 hrs. What a nightmare. So if you have the lighting in the track on the RV ask the awning manufacture how to deal with it before ordering.
What number did you give to the company where you purchased the replacement
I ordered the awning from Tough Top Awnings and used their measurement instructions to purchase the replacement.
What about the spring tension on the non motor side. I removed my awning and the spring unwound
I cover pinning the spring at the 2:40 mark in the video.
@@candprv So now I plan on installing the awning with the awning rolled onto the roller with a foot extended. With the awning in this position would we still load the spring 11 times as suggested for a 21ft awning. Saw some videos where the awning was fully extended ( a manual awning, mine is motor on front side) and they loaded the springs then let it retract back onto the trailer. So my question, am I putting too much tension on the spring? Once I extend the awning doesn't it load the spring even more. Thank you,
Yes, the awning tension does increase as you deploy (extend) the awning. The tension will help the motor overcome the weight of the awning and the gas struts. The tension also keeps the awning tight against the side of the RV as you travel.
@@candprv the recommendation for 21 ft awnings is 12 turns. Is that measurement based on the awning being close to the trailer before being deployed? So it is preloaded before deployment/ appreciate the help. thank you .
Sorry to say I can't help with any specifics for your awning. The pre-load tension with the awning against the side of the RV on most power awnings is ~12 turns. Deploying the awning adds more tension to the spring.
No information on spring tension 👎
@vladkot1 at the top --- in the end cap --- on the end without the motor --- look for two oblong openings on opposite sides of the end cap. Have someone hitting the in/out button ---until the oblong hole faces directly out and the other one direct towards the home ---look through the oblong hole ---you should see daylight through the 2nd oblong hole. I used an old steel clothes hanger about 5" long (straight) and went through both holes easily to hold the correct tension. I bent one end at a 90 degree angle just so it was easier to hold onto. ONCE YOU DO THIS...the awning will not roll in or out...so have it where you want it.