Carefree Colorado Eclipse Awning

[astmi]

I am looking for used parts such as an awning end cap for a Carefree Colorado Eclipse. The end cap is the part between the motor and the roller. It transmits the movement from the motor to the roller. My problem is that the hole in which the motor shaft enters is not perfectly round. The shaft turns loose in the hole.

I contacted Carefree. I have to buy the entire motor assembly when I just need the end cap.

Any idea where I could find such a part.

Thanks

Andre

[hermanmullins]

I am looking for used parts such as an awning end cap for a Carefree Colorado Eclipse. The end cap is the part between the motor and the roller. It transmits the mivement from the motor to the roller. My problem is that the hole in which the motor shaft enters is not perfectly round. The shaft turns loose in the hole.

I contacted Carefree. I have to buy the entire motor assembly when I just need the end cap.

Any idea where I could find such a part.

Thanks

Andre

Andre,

Welcome to the Forum.

Google RV Salvage. There are salvage yards all over the USA and there may be one in your area. You may have to buy the complete roller assy. to get the end cap. One place may have a roller that is damaged and the end cap is good. Look on line, phone them up and check them out.

Good Luck.

[tbutler]

You can also use the search tool in the menu line at the top of this page. Enter "salvage" and change the area to search to "this forum." There have been a number of discussions and there are plenty of sources listed. I recently posted an answer to a query about step parts and put several of the references on that post. That discussion should come up at the top of your list when you do a search.

[john_harris]

Had same issue while on the road. Not wanting to buy whole motor, I ended up filing the end cap to create a flat groove that aligned with the flat part of the shaft. Then I inserted a flat aluminum wedge cut from a piece of alum bar purchased at Lowes for $3. Total cost of fix was less than $30 including the files and hack saw. Much less than the cost of new motor.

[boguslaw]

I know this topic is a year old now but I had the same problem-- on 3 motors! It took the third one to finally get me to look at what failed, when it happened on the road and the awning started to open on its own. After our trip I brought the motor home(was replaced at a shop) and I had one of the original ones in the garage. After investigating, I realized there was nothing wrong with the motor or any of the gearing, just the problem you described-- the final output shaft is slipping in the drive hub. The shaft has a flat spot machined into it but the hub fits loose on it, allowing it to turn sometimes, because the hub is made of some kind of soft metal that yields, and presto! the awning will start to open when driving.

Not a comfortable experience, side of the road, trying to wrap it back up and duct tape the thing together until it could be fixed. Working on a ladder, on the side of the freeway.

I emailed Carefree just today to see if later versions(like the one I currently have installed) are any different. They said they made a design change in July 2008 that added a second flat spot on the shaft. My second motor replacement was in 2010 so I guess Holland Motors used an obsolete part for the replacement. I didn't verify the design of the one installed last month.

I did a simple repair on my "spares" as John Harris describes. It took about 15 minutes to file a slightly bigger slot in the hub to allow fitting a piece of metal. I used a jigsaw blade for the right width and I liked the hardness.

Jim Boguslaw