A caravan awning is one of the most important elements to your Caravan when you are planning to park up and relax in that perfect spot. You always need to make sure you have a good source of shade for the sun and something to extend your dry area in the rain. One of the most common issues with the awning is Slacking sides which then causes drooping of the material and a lop sided awning. This can be caused by too much tension, an awning that is too big for your caravan or misplacement of the awning on your caravan. The best way to avoid this issue is to set your caravan up and asses the awning before you intend to go away. Try working on the tension of your poles first – too tight can do the opposite to what you think so if you visually see an issue , loosen the tension and re asses. If you can’t seem to fix the issue with the tension you may need to asses the size and fit of your awning to your Caravan. A good rule is to ensure that there is at least 12cm in distance from the lower panel of the awning to the ground. This allows the rubber to be fully utilised.
Sometimes there can be greater issues than this which will require you to have a few things on hand. So what are the 4 basic repair tools/items you should keep handy when travelling?
Clear awning repair tape
Extra awning material
Water Resistant Caravan Glue
Water based cleaning solution
Each of these items are super handy to have in your Caravan to make things a little easier when things go wrong in remote places. The next common issue with Caravan awnings is of course, a tear or rip. It’s important that before you commence the repair that you give it a good wash down with a water based cleaning solution. This will help you to get a much better seal with the repair tape once the surface is prepared. If the whole is quite large you may want to cut some spare material to cover the whole entirely and seal it with awning repair tape on top of the hole. If the rip is small you will most likely be able to get away with just using the Repair tape itself. Most awning repair tape have a strong adhesive layer which allows for a highly cohesive layer.
A few simple tricks to make sure your next trip is stress free. Stay tuned for more Caravan Repair tips to come.
