Building another awning

WilliamA

Hi all,
After rousting about for a good awning I decided to build another one instead. I am using the same basic design I used for the one I put on my Little Guy. I have most of the big work completed but there remains a ton of detail to do. Here's the bones all up and functioning. I made a lot of design changes from the first one and will post the details once I get a bit farther along. For some background, you can find my original write-up for the LG awning here:
http://golittleguy.com/forum/#/discussion/5278/my-new-awning

Here are a photo of the new one:
It's 6 wide by 10 long. Sets up in about 2 minutes. It's adjustable for length and angle.

I'll do a write-up soon...
WilliamA

michaelsandovalngc

Looks really good

WilliamA

Hey all,
Well, I got the trailer moved and also did about 90% of the detail work this morning. I had to move the trailer as it was too close to the shed to deploy the awning all the way! I took a bunch of photos and am pleased to report that it's working really nicely. I still need to track down the ratchet mechanism for the roller but will do that this week. The ratchet mechanism is basically a ratcheting 1/2" (9/16"? I don't remember) wrench with the open end cut off and a hole drilled in the handle. I'll do a little write-up when I get that done. That par
t is a bit problematic as in order to cut a good wrench in half, I need a chop saw. Once I cut the end off, it will take some of the temper out of the wrench and allow
me to drill a hole in it for a fastener. It's a long story.)

Anyway, here are a few photos of the finished product. The first 5 photos are the awing deployed in various heights and lengths. Since the awning is 10 feet long and on a roller, it's possible to adjust the pole extensions and awning roller to get an infinite variation on extension and end height. That's handy for when you want a lot of shade, a little shade or to angle it for wind and rain. I did a lot of experiments with the other one I built to be able to deploy it without stakes and guy ropes in the back but unless I planned to make the roller weigh about 300 lbs, it just wasn't stable enough to be comfortable without staking.





Here are a couple of detail photos of the extension poles and fasteners. I have finish work to do but have them cut to length and trimmed with the end caps in for the most part. The extension poles are paint roller extensions. They are the 4-8 foot roller extensions. I had to cut about 3 inches off the bottom and 4 inches off the top. I need to cut another 2" off the top and redrill for the roller so it will sit below the running lights above the door. It's simple in design, but there are many weird dimensions and getting it right the first time has proven to be a fools errand. It's just a matter of trial and error to get it perfect.

This last photo is the awing stowed in its travel position. You can see in this photo that I had not yet cut the extensions to length. I use 3 web-straps with buckles run under the fixed end of the awning to secure it for travel. I used the same system on the other awning and it traveled for thousands of miles without incident. I don't expect to have trouble with this one.

LuckyJ

Nice, would be easy to had small side curtain in there.

WilliamA

I got a ton of detail finished on the awning. There was a lot of small work to do and (after lots of measuring and head-scratching) I was also able to make it self-supporting so I don't need guy-ropes to keep it stable if I don't want to. Here are some detail photos:

Here's the finished product deployed and self-supported. It's very rigid and tight. I'll see how it works in the wind as the summer goes along but I think it will be working just fine.

Here's the ratcheting lock that makes it work. The roller needs a ratchet device of some kind to allow it to deploy and then tighten and hold the awning material. It doesn't get much simpler than this. I might cut the wrench off and pop-rivet it to the arm but for now, it works just fine. It also provides a handy way to crank the awning back in and tighten it. If you look closely you'll notice I've put a nut and washer on to keep the wrench from coming off.

Here is the extension bar I built (one for each side, of course) to keep the awning rigid and tight. The white bar is fiberglass rod with holes drilled in each end, then threaded for 1/4" bolts. I screwed the bolts in and then cut the heads off so it's just a rod end sticking out. They are simple to install. Just extend the awning, insert the two ends into the keeper holes and then tighten the awning back up.

I made small brackets and pop-riveted them to the end of the awning stays.

For the door end, I simply drilled 1/4" holes into the outside edge of the door on both sides.

You'll also notice the pool-noodle I'm using is larger than the original one I had. It's both larger diameter and a foot longer. The original one was only 5 feet long. I picked up two of these today and made them into one 6 feet long. It fits perfectly on the floor inside the galley and the handy hole in the center stores the extension poles for travel. The extension poles are 53" long.

WilliamA

WilliamA

I am soooo happy to report that I spent the day yesterday hanging out on the river chewing the fat with an old friend. Had the awning up all day in breezy weather without guy ropes and had ne'r a flutter. It stayed nice and tight all day. I'm lovin it!

lucky,
I had thought about adding side curtains too. The frame is plenty strong and up to the job, but having also removed my stabilizer jacks, with all that canvas up I'm afraid she'll take off like a J-rig sloop on a down-wind run! That would be awkward. Like the time I went ice fishing with my buddy and we ended up on a 50 mph Nantucket sleighride across the lake in his portable ice shack...

"He said slow down, I see spots
The lines on the road
Just look like dots..."
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen

WilliamA

WilliamA

I have been sort of tripping through the long list of "to-do's" for my posts and one of them was to make a setup demonstration video of the awning. Well, such as it is, here it is:

https://youtu.be/ie-jvKUkGfI

WilliamA

TomD

Ianstag

That is great!! I really like the idea of closing the latches before you close the hatch. I have been tossing around an idea to ventilate the galley area where the Norcold sits to make it more efficient. I want to use a case fan where the vent is under the Norcold, but it still needs a way to draw fresh air. This would do until I get up the courage to put a vent along the rear wall of the galley or find another alternative or decide I just don't need one. So can you close the hatch without putting the awning away?

LuckyJ

@Ianstag said:
That is great!! I really like the idea of closing the latches before you close the hatch. I have been tossing around an idea to ventilate the galley area where the Norcold sits to make it more efficient. I want to use a case fan where the vent is under the Norcold, but it still needs a way to draw fresh air. This would do until I get up the courage to put a vent along the rear wall of the galley or find another alternative or decide I just don't need one. So can you close the hatch without putting the awning away?

The back of the sink cabinet is open to that space in between the bed area and the galley. So I would not be surprised if air could move from front to back and tyen from the cow bells to in the galley. Someone else could confirm or infirmed this theory.

But installing a fan to draw air in the trailer will help dust coming in if you drive in dusty environnemt.

willbingham1

Neat design on galley awning. I can see production starting soon! Interesting idea to add an exhaust fan to galley back particularly if one is using AC exhaust fans in conjunction. I am amazed at how small and out of the way the bottom AC fan is yet still evacuated the cabinet under AC. Something to consider, but just keeping hatch cracked open will help Norcold some, but not while in motion! Bill

Somemedic

Could get a couple of Mimi's wing walls...

WilliamA

@Somemedic said:
Could get a couple of Mimi's wing walls...

I have been toying with the idea of getting some more material and replacing the awning fabric on the rear awning with the same material I used on the side awning. Now that my sewing skills are up to the job, I'd like both to be the same color. It's hard to convince myself to do it as the rear awning is much stiffer material and other than being faded, is in good shape. If I replace the rear awning, I'll make some quarter (not floor length) wings for it. Adding the wings would be the main reason for replacing it, as the current awning material is so stiff it's nearly impossible to sew.

In the meantime, I will be very happy with the design and function of both of them. They both work fantastically well and hold up in near hurricane winds without so much as a flutter. They also can be taken down at a moments notice should that be necessary. I stow the galley awning at bedtime anyway to keep nature, nocturne out of my victuals, but it takes less than a minute in real time so it's not a thing in real time.

Of course, if I do replace the galley fabric, I'll be mulling over the fact that if I'd have known I was going to replace the kitchen canvas anyway, I'd have chosen a different color for the side awning to start with.....

And will the circle
Be unbroken
Bye and bye......
Etc,etc....

WilliamA

WilliamA

Note to self:
Do an update post on the kitchen awning and get new photos for same...

WilliamA

WilliamA

I see that I had a note to update my post with a bit more information so duty calls.

Here is the modified ratchet I hacked to make my awning work.

Glamorous? No. Functional? Absolutely.

I ordered some new awning material for the kitchen awning to replace the current one so that it matches the side awning. I ordered enough material to also make some side wings as well but want to mull it over some before I do the job. I'll get to it. While I have it apart I am going to replace all of the hardware with stainless.

WilliamA