Back in December we were enjoying Ho-Hum RV Park in the panhandle of Florida. On a sunny day, we pulled out the awnings over our windows to provide some shade… but instead of extending normally, with a springy force trying to pull it back closed, the big one on the passenger side suddenly slammed open, and would no longer retract. That isn’t ideal.

The retraction uses some coiled springs inside the tube on the outer edge (“FRTA” stands for Fabric Roller Tube Assembly):

I was able to manually roll it up:

To keep it from unfurling when driving down the road, I restrained it with zip ties, which of course meant we couldn’t use it:

(Not a critical feature, since we could extend our big awning for much the same effect, but still annoying.)

I looked around for parts, since I thought I could repair it myself, but couldn’t find any supplier. But we planned to be in Red Bay, Alabama for some servicing in March, so I asked Happy Host RV Concierge to find someone who could do this repair. They found Vina RV Service Center, and made an appointment for us:

Their waiting room:

Apparently the torsion springs were fine, but they’d come disconnected from the tube, so they had to machine a part to fix that. Good thing I got professionals to do this for us, as I wouldn’t have been able to do that repair myself!

Back at our campsite in Red Bay Acres, the repaired awning:

All better! We don’t use the window awnings often, as we are frequently in places too windy for them, but they are nice to have when it’s sunny and not windy.