Repairing Your Oasis Elite Door Awning

Odometer 54446

Ajo, AZ


Good Morning Readers!
Today's blog posting is a technical post for other RVers who may have a Dometic A&E Door Awning on their RV.  Other readers may want to skip onto the next travel blog.

Joan and I have been experiencing problems with the small electrically deployed awning that is situated above the entry door to our Itasca Horizon motorhome.

2002 Itasca Motorhome with Oasis Elite door awning

This small awning has both an electric motor furler and a manual override which will accept a hand crank which is stowed in one of the basement bays.  Not all models came with the manual crank option, as I'll demonstrate in a bit.  When we initially started having problems with the awning, the motor would open the awning a little bit, and then stall.  We just got the hand crank out, and deployed the awning that way.  Same when it came time to retract- the motor just couldn't do it.

Dometic label plate for door awning

For those of you that are still reading, I'll assume that you are here for the technical information on a DIY fix, or to better understand and explain the problem to those that will fix it for you.  The model and serial numbers for the particular awning that I will be referencing are in the photo to the right.  The model/serial number tag is affixed to the inside of the head rail which mounts the awning to the sidewall.  This means if your awning is broken and will not deploy you will need to remove the motor drive (or crank if manual) to allow the awning to deploy to get to the two mounting screws, and to see this number plate.

Fiamma label plate for door awning

There is a second label inside the headrail because Dometic does not make this particular awning.  Dometic resells this product manufactured by Fiamma of Italy.  Also if you noticed the label above lists this product as having been made in October of 2002.  When I contacted Dometic, they referred me to Fiamma, as they no longer stock parts for this unit.  Luckily, Fiamma has a US outlet in Orlando, Florida, and although their web site is abysmal, they do have knowledgeable staff that you can talk to on the phone.  I spoke to Jeff Roberts at (407)672-0091 to find the part I needed and get it shipped to me.

It is possible to work on this unit without first taking it down off the sidewall, but for my purposes I took it down and worked on it while it was resting on a table.  There is a very good video on YouTube posted by RV Geeks showing how to work on the motor unit.  You can check out their video in a pop-up window here (Click Here).  I had one additional defect that the Geeks did not have, meaning I had to disassemble more of the awning, plus it was time for new fabric.  I was able to get the awning to open far enough with the hand crank to allow me to remove the fixing screws that hold the awning in place.

Removing retaining screws from door awning 

One screw is about where my left hand is resting the other is being loosened with my right hand.  These screws go from the aluminum rail into the coach sidewall and their purpose it to keep the awning from sliding fore and aft.

Sheet metal screws anchor awning in mounting rail

The awning assembly is hooked into a track that is mounted on the sidewall and slides forward out of the track. There are two screws that need to be removed that anchor the chassis of the awning in the mounting rail.
Before you can slide the awning out of the mounting rail, you have to deal with the electrical wires that connect to the motor.  In their video the Geeks dug out the caulking and fished the connectors out of the sidewall of the coach.  I cut the wires and installed quick disconnect spade connectors.  Your choice.

After removing the screws and dealing with the motor wires the awning can be removed by sliding it out of the track.  Caution!  The awning is heavier than it looks and quite awkward to do single handed as shown here.  After the photo Joan assisted me in getting the awning off and safely to the ground. (Ladder technique used here is unsafe, and not recommended)

Whole Awning Removed As A Unit

A picnic table worked well as a work table to further disassemble of the awning mechanism.

Removing screws holding motor unit onto awning chassis

I have a long blade Phillips screw driver that helped to remove the two screws that hold the drive unit onto the chassis of the awning.  There is one screw where shown in the picture above, and another that is in the same relative place on the opposite side.  My unit also had an 1/8" pop rivet at the approximate location of my left thumb in the picture above which I drilled out.

Sliding motor unit out of awning chassis

Once those three fasteners are removed the power unit slides off the end of the chassis and the fabric roller tube.  Your unit may or may not look the same as mine does.  My awning has an optional manual crank attachment which is the white and red plastic module sandwiched in between the awning and the motor unit.

Removing the bolts holding unit together

With the motor unit on the work bench take a felt tip marker and draw lines across the attach points from one module to the next to assist with proper alignment during re-assembly.

Once unit is marked begin disassembly by removing the hex head bolts (3) that hold the motor to the planetary gear section.  The planetary gears are the gray metal drum shaped section closest to my pinkie finger in the photo to the right.

Remove the electric drive motor

With the bolts loose pull the motor unit free and set aside.  Next slide the white plastic manual crank assembly off the drive shaft.

Remove the manual crank assembly

Set the manual crank assembly aside

Gently pry loose the gear pack

The planetary drum was stuck and could not be removed by hand on my unit.  If yours is like mine use a pry bar or screwdriver to GENTLY work your way around the circumference of the gear pack until it slides out of the roller tube drive.

Gear pack was gouging the bracket

The picture at right shows a good part of the reason that the planetary unit was stuck.  It had worn a groove from contact with the flange on the metal mounting bracket on the white plastic roller tube guide.  The new part that I ordered had an upgraded bracket that came with it, that should prevent this from happening in the future.

Old Planetary drive with snap ring loose

Finally!  This is the culprit that I have been trying to get to.  This unit has 3 planetary gears inside that are the gear reduction unit that allows the motor to provide enough power to wind in the awning against the springs.  On my awning this unit was jammed and would not turn.  I'll show you why in the next several slides.

In the photo to the right I have already partially removed the snap ring that allows you to disassemble the gear pack and look inside.

Old Planetary with grease removed

In this photo the cover has been removed (as has all the grease) so you can see the planetary gears
inside.  You may or may not want to disassemble your drive unit.  On my awning this gear drive was locked up tight and I wanted to know why.  This 15 year old awning that is rarely ever used is broken, whereas the main awning that is used a lot has no motor drive problems- so I was curious.  If you can hold the exterior of your planetary, and spin the small input shaft with your fingers, making the square recessed drive on the big end turn- you don't have my problem.  If yours is locked up too- you don't have to take it apart - just order a replacement.

The picture above is the old planetary with the gears and shafts removed.  Notice that the holes where the gear shafts were inserted into the back of the bell are egg shaped not round.  This caused the gears to collide with each other and bind up.  Nothing I could do to fix this.

Okay.  I got a hold of Fiamma and ordered up a new planetary (Part # 02598-01) $80 plus shipping at the time of my order.  Now I have a pretty good idea why my part failed prematurely.  The new unit would not turn when I tried to spin the input shaft with my fingers- or when I gently applied a crescent wrench.- Hmmm...  Took off the snap ring and opened up the gear case.

New unit has hard congealed "grease" that had to be chipped out and cleaned with solvent

This is what I found- the "grease" they used to pack the gear cluster had hardened to a plastic consistency.  I'm not kidding here- it had to be chipped out of the unit with a screwdriver and a series of o-ring picks, then cleaned in solvent.

Re-packed with hi-temp bearing grease

Once the unit was spotlessly clean, I repacked with hi-temp bearing grease.  Now the unit works like a dream.  I weighed my options before doing this.  Yes, I could have returned the unit to Fiamma along with my complaint and waited while they shipped a new one.  However I believe they are ALL packed with this hard, congealed, grease- that is most likely why my first unit failed too!  So I bit the bullet and bought $8 worth of hitemp bearing grease and did the work myself.  As time goes on I'll update this blog and let you know how I'm making out with the "improved version"
I did send a text to Jeff at Fiamma along with photos.  Jeff said he'd look at another unit on the shelf and see if it too was jammed with "plastic" grease.









I hinted earlier that there has been a modification to this part.  The new gears came with a re-designed bracket and bushing plate.

New bushing plate (right) comes with replacement gear pack

Remember when I disassembled the motor drive, the old planetary had a groove worn around the drive hub.  Well the new unit comes with a re-designed busing plate.  The original was a single thickness plastic plate, the new one has a 3/8" bearing collar in the center, and the hole is smaller diameter.

New bracket and bearing plate ready for installation

Remove the old mounting bracket from the motor support and install the new pieces shown in the picture above.  Note the orientation of the old bracket and install the new one in same orientation.  To make re-assembly easier, transfer the marks you made earlier with the marking pen from the old bracket to the new motor bracket.

Transfer marks from old bracket to new bracket

You are now ready to re-assemble in the reverse order of disassembly- however, if you like me, are needing replacement fabric on your awning, now is a good time to do that job also.

Removing fabric retaining screws

Replacing Awning Fabric

The screws holding the fabric on the roller tube are buried and hard to find.  About 2-3 inches in from either end is a #1 Phillips head sheet metal screw down in the groove of the roller tube.  Carefully tease out those two screws and then go to the other end of the awning where there are two more screws.

Note: A standard #2 Phillips screwdriver in too big and may destroy the head of the screw

Loosening the nut that holds the end cap on

In the picture to the right, the screw on the outer rail has been removed (red arrow) and I'm getting ready to remove the end cap so I can slide the fabric out of the groove.  The two screws in this end are 1/4" hex head sheet metal screws and much easier to get to, and to remove.

Use a 1/2" (13mm) socket to loosen the pinch bolt on the end cap and gently tap it off the end of the outboard rail.  The nut does not have to be removed- only loosened

Sliding old fabric out of the channels

Once the screws (4 of them) are removed, two from each edge of the awning, and one end cap is removed- simply tug the awning fabric out of the groove in the outer rail on one end and the roller tube on the other.
Reverse these directions for inserting the new fabric.  Spraying silicone spray in the groves before inserting fabric make inserting much easier.

On re-assembly before you re-insert the new awning fabric mark the location of the screw hole where the fabric retaining screw was removed (if you are going to re-use the same screw and hole).
 Make this mark on the metal roller tube adjacent to the groove where it will be visible after the fabric is installed (see photo below).

Fabric retaining screw on roller tube

 After the new fabric has been inserted Re-install the plastic end cap on the outer rail.  Gently tap end cap into place and tighten the 1/2" (13mm) nut.
Next center the fabric in groove side to side, use a drill and a small (1/16") twist bit to put a guide hole into the fabric's rubber spline where your hole mark is.  Using your #1 Phillips screwdriver push the screw into your drilled pilot hole and screw the screw in while rotating the tip up/down & left right in a very small orbit, until you feel the screw tip hit the old hole in the roller tube.  Finish installing the screw until the head is below the lip of the guide in the roller tube but do not tighten to where the head of the screw disappears into the fabric or vinyl spline, or it may pull on through.

Fabric retaining screw on outside rail

Do not install the fabric retaining screws in the outer rail until after you have remounted the awning and hooked up the power leads.  You must adjust the fabric side to side in the outer rail to allow the awning to close properly.  My mechanism was old enough (14yrs) that I also needed to lubricate the joints of the awning "arms".   I used a light spray oil that has Teflon additive in it.   There is a very tight clearance to pocket the outer rail into the sidewall chassis.  Take your time in adjusting the fabric side to side in the outer rail until it closes perfectly.  There is only about 1/8" to 1/4" tolerance.  Just before the outer rail pockets into the sidewall chassis, move it very slowly (light taps on the switch) and constantly check alignment.  If you rush this- some plastic will break!   Once you get the awning to close properly install the two outer rail screws. (blue arrow)  The awning arms bend in a "V" shape as the awning closes up.  The V's point at each other like this (> <) if the two arms are not collapsing at the same rate and the Vs don't line up (as mine didn't) they need to be lubricated as explained above.

The Motor

I did all of this,  (up to the part where the awning actually closes ;->) only to find that my motor was not strong enough to power the awning.  The manual crank worked like a dream- in and out, but the motor -not so much.  So guess what...

Motor unit removed from chassis

I took the awning down and removed the motor (again).
By now I was glad I had opted to install the spade connectors on the power leads.  I reached up and plugged in the motor to test it outside the gear train and awning mechanism.  With the leads connected and the switch on, the motor was stalled.  I could feel it hum, but it would not rotate

Worm gear on motor unit

First I checked to see if there were any obstructions in the worm gear, or if they may have used the same hard "grease" in this area.

The grease seemed entirely appropriate, and everything was well meshed and unbound.  I used a toothpick to redistribute the grease from the corners to the main gear and buttoned that end back up.

Lower bearing mount for motor armature

I took the two long bolts holding the motor together lengthwise out, and gently pried the bottom off.  I think I found the problem alright!

As seen in the picture to the right, the bottom sleeve bearing for the armature is "rusted" onto the armature shaft.  I could not pull it off with my fingers, nor would it come loose with a gentle pull using pliers.

I took a micro torch and heated the bearing up till it would come loose using the pliers and some very gentle persuasion.



I cleaned up the bottom cover with some solvent, then took my needle nose pliers to gently pull the friction ring out of the shaft support hole.  This thin spring ring is supposed to hold the sleeve bearing in place and retains a soft felt washer also.  I cleaned the support hole, and checked to see that I had not badly distorted the spring ring.  I washed the felt washer in solvent, dried it thoroughly.

Motor armature

Using a green polyester scrubbing pad and some WD-40 I polished the armature shaft and the inside surfaces of the sleeve bearing.












I took a dab of bearing grease on my finger and pushed it into the bearing, and applied a light film of grease onto the armature shaft where it rides inside the bearing.

Cleaned up and lubricated armature bearing

Note:  The felt washer indicates to me that the bottom bearing was most likely assembled with light machine oil on the bearing surfaces and soaking the felt washer.  I decided on grease- your choice.

 Next I put the bearing back into the recess in the bottom cover and placed the felt washer on top. Satisfied with the position of the bearing, I pressed the spring washer into the recess to retain the bearing in place.

RTV silicone gasket on bottom cap

I elected to seal the bottom cap on with some silicone gasket material, just in case that seam was where the moisture was getting in.

I reinserted the armature and fit the cap onto the motor housing, re-installed the long bolts, and tested the motor by hooking it back up to the wires  coming out of the coach.

IT WORKS!

By this time I was well practiced at assembling the awning and installing the awning on the motorhome, so that all happened fairly quickly.
Bottom line is that it now works and has a new fabric topper.  Total cost was$145.00.   $95 for the new planetary and $50 for new fabric.

I hope this experience helps at least one other RVer.

If you have any comments or questions, please use the comments section below.



Your Traveling Friends

Jeff and Joan