Dometic manual roller awning lock lever question

[oldcarguy]

Does anyone know if the lock lever on a Dometic manual awning can be re-positioned on its shaft?

With the awning retracted, the lever on our awning either sticks straight out (parallel with the ground) or straight up - it either position, the end of the lever sticks out well past the body of the awning, and wears holes in any cover or tarp we put over the trailer in the winter.

If possible, I'd like to pull the lever off the shaft and rotate it 90 degrees counter-clockwise so it points toward the ground in the in the roll-out position and no longer pokes holes in the cover.

 

[JackandJanet]

OldCar - I'm not having that problem with the awning levers and my trailer cover. Can you post a picture showing how yours are assembled so I can see if yours are different than mine? Alternatively, you could cover them with cloth or foam padding to stop the abrasion.

- Jack

 

[RCREYES]

I believe that you can reclock the lever, but it may be a little tricky. You'll have to either take off or add tension on the spring and lock it in place with some vise grips and then reposition the lever.

 

[JackandJanet]

Ruben's post made me realize I was thinking of the wrong lever, I bet. You are talking about the "Release/Lock" lever on the front of the awning roll, right? Again, mine does not cause any abrasion on my cover. I'll take a picture of mine. My cover blew off during the past storm, because I didn't have it tied down.

- Jack

 

[JackandJanet]

OK here's what mine looks like in both the "Up", locked position and in the "Down" unroll/roll position. I have the cover on with the lever Up, and have had no problems. I don't see how the lever could be easily moved - it appears to be a "press fit" on the shaft it's mounted on, and the shaft end is flared over the lever to keep it in place.

 

[oldcarguy]

I think Ruben's correct and it's probably more work than it's worth.

Can probably cut down a black ABS drain fitting to make a snap-on guard for the lever (body of the fitting about the diameter of the awning, pipe flange covering the lever) a lot easier than taking the awning off and taking the mechanism apart to re-clock the lever.

As long as there's a smooth, large radius surface for the cover to ride on, it shouldn't wear through, especially if a reinforcement panel of tough fabric (like a piece of denim) is sewn on the inside of the cover in that spot.

If it works, I'll take a couple of photos and post 'em for anyone else that has the problem.....

 

[sam-HILO]

Awning rubbing on winter cover

I take some bubble wrap and pad any areas that will rub on the winter cover. The bubble wrap is secured with blue painters tape. Been doing this for many years with no problems. I reuse buble wrap that comes in packages. Slit with an exacto knife to remove for the camping season.

 

[retiredcamper47]

Get a tennis ball, put a slit in it, and place it on the lever.