Solera Awning Motor Does Not Fully Close the Awning

Question:

First of all I want to commend all the fine people at etrailer for fantastic service ! Ive purchased a few products from you for myself and truly appreciate the prompt professional service. Im a heavy equipment mechanic with thirty plus years of wrenching. For the past fifteen years Ive worked for the Colorado Department Of Transportation in Durango Colorado maintaining the equipment that keeps our mountain passes open. That being said, Momma and I finally purchased a new toy hauler In 2017 that incorporates a solera power awning. There wasnt enough room to fully extend and retract it at the dealership when my picky self was testing it out. Long story short, it has never retracted without some manual help from day one. I took the camper back to have some issues taken care of under warranty . Well , the tech said it was a low voltage issue. Wrong answer ! Ive already checked all that out with my trusty multimeter. After calling him out, he informed me that Solera had an upgrade motor due to this issue which of course, they cant provide me. If I purchase the motor from you, is it going to work properly? Thanks for your time.

asked by: Lance H

Expert Reply:

We greatly appreciate your business and your kind words. Thank you!

First, I would say before doing anything else take a look at the amperage, not the voltage, that is getting to the motor. It is possible that there is enough voltage but if there is something wrong with the battery the motor may not be getting the current it needs to operate. In that case it could just be a bad battery which you could test at a auto parts store.

If it turns out that the battery is not the issue we do have replacement parts for Solera awnings. The motor is # LC266149 but I can't say for sure if this is the same motor you already have or not. There should be a sticker with information on the motor itself. If you can tell me that information I can compare it to the available replacement motor. But from what I know there is only this one replacement motor available.

It could also be a mechanical issue with one or more awning component such as the roller tube or the inner gears for the motor. If those are gummed up with crud and/or corrosion then I can see how it may struggle to do its job.

expert reply by: Michael H