Temporary split awning repair

[Haves1979]

Hi, looking for some reassurance, advise please.

Were away on our final day holiday in Cornwall and the wind out awning has just split along the glued seam - 2015 California SE - due to heat.

Ive read through the myriad of posts on the subject and we've removed the fabric and taped along the seam with gorilla tape and them rewound as normal.

All seams well and its slotted into place as you'd expect. This is by no means a long term repair but looking for some reassurance that given the mechanism arms are spring loaded that its safe to travel.

Assume so, however want to check if people think this is secure or if we should consider either using ratchet straps or tape around the body as belt and braces.

Any advise appreciated!

Thanks
Chris

 

[Haves1979]

To answer my own question, the answer is yes and it managed 600 miles without issue.

Now to find a replacement fabric..

 

[acer]

Sorry I missed your original post. Did the seam split entirely, or just at either end? Well done with the temporary fix anyway.

 

[Haves1979]

The seam split about 6 inches initially before we noticed it, and by the time we'd bought some tape it had split about half way along.

We naively thought it would make sense to then split entirely to repair, but as per other posts once the tension is gone its pretty much impossible to repair in situ.

We luckily found the guide from @Smiffy4bikes (life saver!) and found it easier to strip it to tape it up using some tools we borrowed from the campsite. We did find it was a 4 person job to refit with 1 person guiding each end of fabric and two taking the tension off the frame.

We were actually quite lucky as the kids could help, we were able to borrow tools, and had the time to repair. I think in a lot of circumstances I could see this being a breakdown call out otherwise.

It does seem a flaw in the design with so many people having issues not that VW would ever admit it, that said it is a 11 year old van.. I'm now in two minds to either replace the unit or mess about replacing the fabric.

 

[acer]

The seam split about 6 inches initially before we noticed it, and by the time we'd bought some tape it had split about half way along.

We naively thought it would make sense to then split entirely to repair, but as per other posts once the tension is gone its pretty much impossible to repair in situ.

We luckily found the guide from @Smiffy4bikes (life saver!) and found it easier to strip it to tape it up using some tools we borrowed from the campsite. We did find it was a 4 person job to refit with 1 person guiding each end of fabric and two taking the tension off the frame.

We were actually quite lucky as the kids could help, we were able to borrow tools, and had the time to repair. I think in a lot of circumstances I could see this being a breakdown call out otherwise.

It does seem a flaw in the design with so many people having issues not that VW would ever admit it, that said it is a 11 year old van.. I'm now in two minds to either replace the unit or mess about replacing the fabric.

We ‘messed about’ replacing the fabric. Although initially daunting, my memory is that it actually wasn’t too bad, although the details have long left my mind. Some people have successfully stitched. Have you seen those threads (no pun intended)? I think that replacement of the unit might be over the top.

 

[Donuts59]

The exact same thing happened to ours just recently. Ours had already been taped by the previous owner and was impossible to re- tape in situ. We took the large part of fabric off, wound the small part back and forced to mechanism to close then secured it in place with straps. Looks awful. Soon as we have the time and flor space we’ll take it all down and attempt to stitch the fabric back together. £360 odd to replace seems a lot to spend without first attempting to repair. Hoping it will work.

 

[Tom&Gillie]

We had the same and got our local sail place to sew the 2 parts back together which has worked really well. This cost me £50 rather then the 350+ fair a new fabric.

 

[acer]

We paid the £350 on our old van and replaced the material. Had we known about the sail maker trick I expect that we would have done that. The pictures I saw on here did look very neatly done.
Yes, next time we’ll go to the sail maker, opposite the baker, next to florist on the High Street .
Has it lasted a long time yet?