The day after we arrived at Moreton in Dorset one of the first things that we did was to drive over to Automotive Leisure to pick up our new awning.....
I had arranged a deal with Cameron the sales manager on an ex display Clairval EuroVent Twin Air awning...
Although it was ex display it had only been displayed indoors in the showroom so had never been subjected to any weather of any kind......
The first awning we purchased when we bought the caravan was a Clairval Twin the only difference was that it was a standard model with fibreglass poles..... That awning got destroyed in a storm in the spring of 2018 and we really liked it...
We liked the material it was made from which was a Vinyl / PVC type of material.... This was very hardwearing and was very easy to keep clean with just a wipe over with a damp cloth...
That first awning had lasted for two summers and three winters of continuous use....If if it hadn't been for an error of mine I am pretty sure that it would have lasted far longer...
This new awning is an inflatable version of that first awning......
We like air awnings even though we had a bad experience with the Kampa awning that lasted for only two summers.
The destruction of our first awning was partially down to my error... It was supplied initially with rubber rings which were used to peg the awning down and worked like a damper in strong winds...
As they perished over time I replaced them with the rubber ladder style instead of the plain rubber rings that were supplied initially... This was because I couldn't get hold of any replacements..
This proved to be a huge mistake because the ladder style had almost no stretch in them at all this meant that there was virtually no damping effect whatsoever and the result of that was that all the strain was put on the seams which in the end caused the fabric to rip.....
I won't ever use the ladder style of pegging attachments again......
Anyway we went over to Automotive Leisure took down the awning and packed it into the bag then into the car and after paying for it came back to the site and errected it in the afternoon.
Cameron had allowed us to take it down so that we could understand how it all fitted together which proved to be a good idea due to the instructions being only supplied in French.....
One mistake that we did make due to erring on the cautious side was that we only inflated it to 5.00psi....
That night we had very heavy rain which meant that due to the awning being under inflated water pooled on the roof which eventually caused the awning to collapse.....
We have now corrected that and it is now inflated to 7.5psi which has made all the difference....
So what does our new awning look like? Below is an image taken after we had altered the pressure in the tubes.....
I had arranged a deal with Cameron the sales manager on an ex display Clairval EuroVent Twin Air awning...
Although it was ex display it had only been displayed indoors in the showroom so had never been subjected to any weather of any kind......
The first awning we purchased when we bought the caravan was a Clairval Twin the only difference was that it was a standard model with fibreglass poles..... That awning got destroyed in a storm in the spring of 2018 and we really liked it...
We liked the material it was made from which was a Vinyl / PVC type of material.... This was very hardwearing and was very easy to keep clean with just a wipe over with a damp cloth...
That first awning had lasted for two summers and three winters of continuous use....If if it hadn't been for an error of mine I am pretty sure that it would have lasted far longer...
This new awning is an inflatable version of that first awning......
We like air awnings even though we had a bad experience with the Kampa awning that lasted for only two summers.
The destruction of our first awning was partially down to my error... It was supplied initially with rubber rings which were used to peg the awning down and worked like a damper in strong winds...
As they perished over time I replaced them with the rubber ladder style instead of the plain rubber rings that were supplied initially... This was because I couldn't get hold of any replacements..
This proved to be a huge mistake because the ladder style had almost no stretch in them at all this meant that there was virtually no damping effect whatsoever and the result of that was that all the strain was put on the seams which in the end caused the fabric to rip.....
I won't ever use the ladder style of pegging attachments again......
Anyway we went over to Automotive Leisure took down the awning and packed it into the bag then into the car and after paying for it came back to the site and errected it in the afternoon.
Cameron had allowed us to take it down so that we could understand how it all fitted together which proved to be a good idea due to the instructions being only supplied in French.....
One mistake that we did make due to erring on the cautious side was that we only inflated it to 5.00psi....
That night we had very heavy rain which meant that due to the awning being under inflated water pooled on the roof which eventually caused the awning to collapse.....
We have now corrected that and it is now inflated to 7.5psi which has made all the difference....
So what does our new awning look like? Below is an image taken after we had altered the pressure in the tubes.....
I bet its nice to have the extra space back. I see lots of inflatable awnings around and I imagine that they are so much easier to erect than the pole version. I remember when we had a caravan with a canvas awning just how heavy and how long it took to erect it. That was a two person job, and you prayed for a dry day just before leaving.
ReplyDeleteYes Dave it is good to have the extra space back again. ...It more than doubles our living area......
ReplyDeleteInflatable awnings are easier to erect than pole versions although funnily enough they can actually be heavier.... this is due to the weight of the air beams....
Although they are quicker to put up ....it is the pegging out that takes the time just the same as a standard awning. I would love to be able to save time on that task.....
Looks like a keeper :)
ReplyDeleteTake care, Trevor!
@GreenComotion
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your health scare Chandra.... Great to hear from you again....