RV Power Awning Struggles and Troubleshooting | Dometic 9200
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- In this Episode:
We talk about the troubles we’ve been having with our Dometic 9200 power awning. We will go over troubleshooting steps for this awning, as well as other RV systems.
Welcome to our RV Camping channel. Ryan and Rachel here, we are weekend warriors with a mission to highlight RVing in the eastern United States; with our daughter Sarah, son William, and our two dogs (Trigger and Lilly). We live in Pennsylvania, and while PA is our favorite State to explore, we also visit the surrounding states when possible. Our 2019 Wildwood X-Lite is towed behind our new 2021 RAM 2500 BigHorn. We hope you will subscribe, join us on some of our adventures and be inspired to go on your own adventures.
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I've since sold the awning motor, so it's no longer available.
Thanks for this video. I was poised to buy a $300.0 like you did. I came up with an even easier solution. Not intentionally, but I accidentally opened up the switch. Inside I discovered carbon buildup on the connectors. Using a pencil eraser I cleaned off the carbon, put the switch back together, and reinstalled it. It works like new.
I still have my original somewhere, I’ll have to look at the inside. Good to see there’s an even cheaper solution!
When I closed last season, my awning button wouldnt do anything. I turned that hidden nut which manually closes the awning (hidden under a rubber grommet) a few times. Button started working again. My motor was seized up I guess. When I opened this season, had to do the same thing again. 2 minutes after climbing off my ladder, my neighbor who was also opening for the season said his awning was dead. I did the same to his and it worked. Just another thing you guys can check if your power awning isnt working. BTW, when I would press the switch I would hear absolutely nothing, so I check the usual (fuse, switch, wiring etc). It was just the motor seized up.
I can definitely see that happening. I used the hidden nut to bring ours in twice, it’s not ideal.
It worked for us after turning it a few times I was able to get my awning to retract again thanks!
@boduke15 both my neighbor and I usually kept our awnings pitched toward the motor side which probably caused excessive amounts of water to enter the motor housing. We pitch them the other way now just in case.
Yep. Was the switch. Pulled it out and opened it up. Several bits of plastic fell out. Rebuilt and installed. Works fine now.
Good deal! Always best when something can be done easily!
I bought the switch for $50 Canadian on Amazon, now have two, lol. Once I got in there what a rats nest of wires. Low and behold there was two white wires not connected. Lesson learned check wires. Thanks for your help
Yeah, there's quite a few wires, and they all are going to the same panel. It's a wonder anyone can make sense of that situation. I'm glad I could help and I appreciate you watching.
There are a couple things you can do to verify the switch without checking the amperage. First is measure the voltage at the motor connector while the connector is connected to the motor and the switch is operated. The voltage should not drop alot under load. IF your switch contacts have high resistance the voltage will drop significantly under load. You can also connect the motor connector backwards to see if the problem reverses. Nice video, very useful. :)
That sounds like I’d need 3 or 4 hands to test, and I only have 2… All kidding aside, thanks for watching and I appreciate your comment. I pinned this one so hopefully it can help someone else diagnose this issue.
Thanks for the tips and the perspective. Sometimes I get caught up on all the maintenance and forget the experiences camping brings. I just ordered a switch and my plan is to solder 3 6-inch 12awg wires to the switch instead of using spade connectors. Then I’ll just Wago the wires together.
On our 4th camping season and just replaced a 16’ fabric. My perspective was not the greatest but your words helped (along with the awning tips).
@@jaywhite1850 I try not to get frustrated too much with these RVs. Camping has its challenges, but it’s given us a lot more than it’s taken. It’s by far the easiest way for us to travel, and we’ve gotten to do so much more since we got the RV. Just try to keep things as simple and reliable as possible so you can enjoy the journey. Thanks for watching!
Great info thanks! Will check the switch first before ordering new motor!
Definitely a good idea to try the cheapest option first. Worst case, you’ll end up with an extra switch!
I’ve gone down the rabbit hole when a light wasn’t working. Ohm meter indicated the switch worked and voltage was present in the socket when on. The switch was making good enough contact for the tiny bit of current the meter needs to take volt or ohm readings, but went open circuit when under any load.
A test light instead of the meter would likely show the problem (get one with an incandescent bulb that pulls a few amps). Meter wise for like $100 at Home Depot you can get a decent meter with clamp on amp meter. Be sure to get one that does both ac and dc.
I have a test light, I never thought of using it for that. Thanks for the tip, I’ll remember it next time.
Yeah it can really save you from wasting time or misdiagnosing and replacing something that wasn’t the problem. I actually have a few different test lights made up, that pull a variety of amps.
A clamp on amp meter is also super handy. I find myself using it to check brake magnets, verifying output of solar panels and all sorts of stuff.
Great video!!
Thanks for watching, hopefully this kind of thing can help somebody.
@@mountainsintomemories it definitely will.
Any chance you could provide me a photo of the wiring on the back of the switch? I belive I may have crossed up some wires when trying to troubleshoot my switch. Thanks so much if you’re able to.
@@jameseavey648 I don’t have that camper anymore. I’d just flip them around and see if it works, or just start touching wires together to see what happens. That’s what I did to figure out the switch was the problem, when I touched the wires together the motor worked.
To verify that the switch is bad, you can bypass the switch, by removing the two leads and touching them together.
That’s what I ended up doing to finally discover the bad switch. Thanks for commenting though, it might help someone else!
I have more than 2 wires, which two should I put together??
I just started touching wires, it's not a high voltage thing, so I wasn't worried about it.
Most likely the poor connection was causing excessively high amperage draw which could cause the switch to overheat and fail. That’s just what I saw a lot of when I worked in the auto industry. Also you could have checked the resistance in the switch with a multimeter.
That’s highly likely, as it was pretty loose.
I have a Solera awning, on a Cherokee wolf pup.
It was extending slowly, and when I retracted the awning in, it blows a fuse . Disconnected the rocker switch from the wall and found a loose white wire. It sparked and blew the fuse . I ordered a new wiring harness with a new awning switch.. a Lippert . It has the red and black crossover wires in the switch so I no longer need to worry about those two connections.
From the New Electric switch it has a red wire, a blue wire, a black wire, and a white wire…
Coming out of my Tt wall , I have two split wires to connect to those four wires on the electric switch two solid white wires that are split with a white wire with a green stripe.
I have checked with the voltage meter and I do have power coming to the switch . But when I hit the extend button, it doesn’t blow a fuse, but when I go to retract, it blows a fuse every time.. so at this time I have a white wire going to the black wire I have a white striped wire going to the blue wire. I have a solid white wire going to the white wire on the switch. and the last one the red wire from the switch, I have the white wire with a green stripe connected.
Is that correct? I know that RV electrical systems are different and I cannot find a correct diagram to actually tell me what is what. After I can figure this out, I’m going to mount it back into the wall go check power to the motor but if anybody can help me to let me know if I have this wired correctly I would sure appreciate it
I’m not sure about the wiring, but it sounds like something is either shorted or drawing too much power when you try to retract the awning.
Thank you! Where did you get the switch?
I got it from our local RV dealership “East Coast RV”
Thanks for this. Having the same issue. Fully retracted. Want to replace the switch, which you kinda just skipped over. Which one did you buy?
I took my old switch to an RV dealership and asked for a new one. It’s really easy to change out, just unplug the wires and rewire the same way. Take pictures of old one before removing.
@@mountainsintomemories okay thank you. I just ordered one in Amazon for $13. Looks exactly the same. You may have just saved me $300 easy. I can hit the switch now and I hear it going to the fuse panel, just no motion. So looks to be the exact same issue. I'll let you know Tuesday when the switch arrives. Thanks again. Was real close to taking a shot at the motor.
@@jasonharms8697 yup, it definitely makes sense to try the 13$ switch first. Also, good to have a spare if that’s not the issue.
@@mountainsintomemories sooooo...it didn't work. Looks like I have to try a new motor. But yeah, now I have a backup switch. I'm guessing this motor is the 9200...just wish there was a Chinese knockoff out there for $100...
@@mountainsintomemories so, ended up taking the motor apart as a last ditch effort. Saw a bunch of scoring on the stator and brush assemblies. Guessing there was a lot of resistance, I took the brush assemblies out and fine grit sanded them down to get the black crust off. Put it all back together...and sure enough, that was it. Works like a charm now. The motor just somehow got overworked in its two years of life and just needed a cleaning.
To test for an electrical problem I always test in this sequence: source, circuit, load.
Instead of testing amperage, test for voltage drop with load. Testing for voltage without testing for voltage drop with a load will / can give false results.
To test a component, be it a connection, wire, switch, etc, test voltage first on the source side of the component first. (The source in this case is the battery). Place meter on battery side of switch and activate. If voltage stays within acceptable range, source and circuit up to this component is ok. Then place meter on load side of switch, activate load and check for voltage drop. If voltage drop not acceptable, switch is bad.
Work your way through the entire system until you find the issue.
A voltage drop outside the parameters of a motors specifications, will cause the motor damage and can burn it up. For lights, they only go dim.
Hope this helps.
Wish I could send you a picture tell me if I can fix and maybe how
Try email or IG messenger, both are listed on the channel
would possibly be interested in buying your motor! i can't find one for sale anywhere...
I still have it, shoot me an email: thehomesteadandtherv@gmail.com
@@mountainsintomemories email sent thank you!
What switch are you referring to, the fixed/wired awning switch, 3310455.062 good video
Yes, the wired awning switch. Thanks for watching, hope it helps in some way!
Would motor still run and awning not retract?
Mine ran to make it go out, but not in. If the motor is spinning, but awning is staying out, the it’s some sort of physical connection problem.
Gears looked good.
There’s nothing like RV AWNING PROBS! Especially when I am stationary...and glad you’re human..TRY being a single old woman with electrically challenged History ...I do not understand amps volts...etc! I have been zapped too many times! My awning flew off during a wind storm ...a friend was staying there and didn’t know how to bring it in with dead battery! It is out of my budget to take it in ...I don’t own a truck! I live in mine since the Valley Fire 7 yrs ago! It’s the roof over my head, and Forest River 2017 wolfpup p toy hauler...stupid floor plan!
I don’t completely understand electronics yet, but definitely trying to learn. I’ve been zapped a couple times over the years as well.
A new awning would be pricey no matter how you go about it, and I wouldn’t put money into a rv I didn’t like.
The awning itself is fine, sill on the roller, but it’s stored under the RV ...not like there is anywhere else to put it. When I called around, it’s a $500 minimum service call...BS! I love lived in Northern California’s Triangle long enough to feel a scam ...and that caused my red flags to fly. I’ve been taken to the bank more than once by the swindlers ...and they all hang out at the tribal casino after a hard days’ worth of grifting! I absolutely enjoy watching them lose! 😂