Zip Dee awnings

[Sid Tuls]

Have a burn out motor on one of my awnings. My question is how big of a job is it to replace the motor? I have called Zip Dee and they said I needed to remove the motor and get the number off of it and they would send a replacement. Cost of about $675.00 they said it was a big job. Just wondering if someone else has done it and that way I know what to expect. Thanks

[garyde]

Hi Sid. If the motor will come out without removing the whole darn awning from the roof, it should be a hour or so. do you have the Zip Dee awning booklet which shows the installation and maintenance? If not, order it from Zip Dee. It will have a step by step instruction for installation and removal.

[jack14r]

I had one fail and the awning had to come off to get the motor out,I was told that they are on the third generation motor.

[Sid Tuls]

Gary, I did call them and they are going to email me all the information. From what it sounds they have had a lot of problems with their motors.

Jack, I spoke to Rick Thompson and that's what he also said that they were on the third generation motor. You would think that they would of put the motors on the ends of the awnings instead of the centers! That way you at least could get to them instead of having to remove the whole awning. Looks like it's going to be a big job. I will try to take some pictures of the removal and replacement of the awning. Just wondering if the other electric awning has their motors in the same place?

[Steve Bennett]

Sid, we have done it here. It is not that bad, but it does take 2 people because you need to lift the awning out of its mount on the roof. It took us about 2 hours to do. Gary, Sid has the roof top new century awnings not the air/electric like what is on your Liberty.

[Sid Tuls]

Sid, we have done it here. It is not that bad, but it does take 2 people because you need to lift the awning out of its mount on the roof. It took us about 2 hours to do. Gary, Sid has the roof top new century awnings not the air/electric like what is on your Liberty.

Steve, do you do this kind of repair in your facility? If you do when and if you can do it?? I would love to have someone like you do it!! 559-901-6426

[Mark3101]

I am not too happy with Zip Dee awnings. When we got the bus (oct 26, 2009) the dealer had just put in a new motor in the front driver's side awning. Less than 4 times of opening/closing that awning, the motor failed again. In February 2010 I ordered a new motor from them and when it arrived, it was the wrong one. I had given them all the info for the order and they admitted to shipping the wrong one, but would not pay for shipping for the next one. Even though they screwed up, I had to pay another shipping charge. Then when we returned the old motor, Zip Dee would not warranty the motor because it had gotten "wet" according to their "inspection".

They also want a modification made to allow water to get out by drilling the housing when installing the new motor. They have a problem, and it is up to the customer to pay for it.

BTW, Steve is right, it is a two man job. I did mine when Dave from Styleworks RV Repair was here last year. He knew how it all came apart and how to adjust it.

[Sid Tuls]

Thanks Mark, that's what my guy said also! He said they are on there 3rd generation motor. Steve Bennett is checking on some info for me. It's to bad that zip Dee treated you like that, hope they hear about it also.

[Mark3101]

They heard about it, but I don't think they really care. The were pleasant enough on the phone, but I had to call several times over about a 6 week period to find out if they were going to warranty the motor that failed. I asked them how it could have gotten wet since we never used it on our way home, and it sat in the garage since then. It failed in the garage as well. I was showing a friend how they worked and it decided to blow the breaker when trying to retract it. After I explained all this to Zip Dee, they still maintained that it was a water problem. Hmmm....I guess since they are mounted OUTSIDE that may have something do do with that, eh?

In any event, we hardly ever use the damn things anyway. We usually are only someplace for one or two nights and don't need them that much.

[Bill1170]

Mark, this sounds pretty bad on the part of Zip Dee I would not have expected that attitude from them.
Steve have you seen much trouble with these new awnings?