wrecked my 4m fiamma awning...

[Guest JudgeMental]

had it fixed the other week when I visited Belgian dealer. A new one was not necessary, they changed the long wide white front plate (which had buckled) and either the arm or a leg, and a seal. labour was 75 Euro, VAT @21% TOTAL 200 Euro.

 

a lot cheaper then a new one. will remember in future to put it away....

[handyman]

as said earlier, watch out for helicopters. One landed next to our van in seefeld. From the start i have put awning away every night and when we are not there............I'm just paranoid about breaking it. (lol) and i guess the helicopter would have sent it flying

 

 

Judge, whats the website for you belgian dealer?

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

http://www.lambrechtmotorhomes.be/nl/startnl.htm

[Brian Kirby]

Won't help Eddie I know, but I heard a very similar story from a chap I met a few weeks back.  He was in Spain when they were hit by a sudden violent gale.  He had a Fiamma plus safari room, but the wind was so strong it snapped what sounded like the same plastic element that failed in Eddie's awning, and then used the end of the leg to pretty much shred everything around it!  This did make me wonder at the wisdom of safari rooms, which do make reeling in the awning that bit more difficult.  I think canvas (or acrylic or whatever) extensions to motorhomes are perhaps best free standing, with wind-outs really reserved for use as sunshades, fair weather shelters, and general bird poo catchers!

If it helps anyone in their choice, the Omnistore (now owned by Thule of Sweden) user instructions say  "In windy or rainy conditions: - lower one side of the awning in such a way that the water can run down the fabric. - install a tension rafer. - put the support arms into the brackets on the vehicle wall or fix them with pegs to the ground and install a hold down kit"

My comments on this are a) the first item is explicit acceptance that their product may be used in rain, and seems common sense, b) the tension rafter is probably a good idea in rain to restrict ponding on a large awning, but I wouldn't want to rely too much on it in wind, c) the standard Omnistor vehicle wall brackets are plastic, and would need to be mounted to a solid point on the vehicle wall - not always practical/easy, d) pegging to the ground works, but only to prevent wind lifting the awning and shifting the legs, it does not prevent wind balooning the fabric upwards, e) because of the spring tensioner the hold down kit does not prevent gusts balooning up the fabric. 

The problem with both d) and e) is that if the wind is strong enough to lift the awning, but the awning is restrained, the wind lifts the fabric and, as the legs can't follow, the balooning fabric causes the side arms to crank back and then snap open again when the gust subsides.  This movement can be quite violent and it is this cranking back and forth that the tension rafter will resist.  However, my conclusion is that at wind strengths sufficient to start lifting the awning by any amount, it is best wound back. 

It is possible to partially retract an Omnistor, leaving less fabric asting as a sail, and in moderate wind this can eliminate the flaps and rattles that result if the awning is left fully extended.  If wet and windy, this can be sufficient to give a sheltered dry patch by the door.  Otherwise, unless you know the local conditions are reliably calm and settled, wind them in whenever out, and at night. 

Coastal and mountainous regions often have winds that blow up from nowhere, even in settled conditions, sometimes only for a couple of hours, and frequently around sunset/sunrise.  For example, anywhere down the Rhone valley in France, roughly south of Valence and down to the Med, but also extending along the coast to the East as far as Cannes, the Mistral is a major hazard and blows up quite suddenly, without any warning, and usually brings sudden violent gusts out of a totally innocent looking cloudless blue sky.

I think the only helpful advice has to - be if unsure reel it in!

[handyman]

JudgeMental - 2007-11-03 3:24 PM

 

 

http://www.lambrechtmotorhomes.be/nl/startnl.htm

 

cheers for that, will keep it in mind in 4 years when we change our euramobil for a bigger one B-) ........seeing as you had a good experiance with this company

 

 

Come to think of it, should there not be a sticky of recommended european suppliers, i would assume that this is the biggest worry when buying abroad.

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

The new low profile "terrestra" is a lovely van....

[Keith T]

Until, our present motorhome, I've always had Fiamma, beleiving they were the better product. However, some 3yrs ago now, I guess, we had a strong wind suddenly get up when we were on a site along the River Vienne, nr Limoges, and for once we'd gone out without putting the awning strap over. When we cam we back we found the roof part collapsed by the side of the van - no damage to the van though, as the awning had merely rested on the picnic table and chair, but it had left the side stays firmly pegged into the ground, and taken the top front frame off at the plastic rivets......

......Fortunately we were able to wind the whole thing back in OK, and got it repaired when we returned home. It had however twisted the box somewhat, and evenutally we had it replaced.

Our new motorhome -Burstner - has a factory fitted Omnistor, and so far I have to say I think the construction is stronger, and the operation far simpler. Although only 3.5m we always have the centre bar in place, and as we bought the rain-blocker sides, which we sometimes use, also also use the sprung poles at each end - this stablises the whole construction in windy conditions, and stopps the normal 'concertina' effect of the wind-out mechanism. Additionally, we always now use the tie-down kit.

It doesn't rattle around as much as the Fiamma one did, but I would still take it in if windy considionts - it only takes a couple of minutes after all.

[Usinmyknaus]

Somewhat shocked by how flimsy the Fiamma 45 appears in actual use, as compared to how it looked indoors at the London show where I decided to have one installed on delivery of the new van, I became very cautious and only rolled the thing out when I was actually at the van and in very low wind conditions, with good anchorage. I wondered if I was being OTT.

 

In the Rhone Alps two months ago the English owners of a two-week old motorhome, on their first overseas trip, were three pitches from me and had the dreadful experience of a sudden gust of wind lifting their Fiamma F45 (identical to mine). It went straight back over the van, was torn completely out of the side wall, ripping various-sized holes through the wall and creasing the panel as it went, bounced off the roof, spiralled across the site road and landed inches from a German couple sitting outside their caravan. The Ace was severely damaged and the awning destroyed.

 

In my experience so far this make and model of awning is practically useless and mainly just dead weight to carry around. I would never buy one again but would take a free-standing canvas Gazebo instead.

 

Bob

[Brian Kirby]

Bob

I think that scale of damage would have resulted with any make of awning.  I don't think it is fair to blame that on Fiamma, the fault really lay with the novice motorhomers, enthusiastically aided by fickle weather.  Omnistors may have some stronger bits than Fiammas, but a wind that could wrap the one round a motorhome, would be equally likely to wrap the other.

Rotten luck for the owners, but a good illustration of why it is unwise to leave roll outs extended in areas where one doesn't know local weather patterns.

[Fetch Carry]

Usinmyknaus - 2007-11-05 10:50 AM

 

Somewhat shocked by how flimsy the Fiamma 45 appears in actual use, as compared to how it looked indoors at the London show where I decided to have one installed on delivery of the new van, I became very cautious and only rolled the thing out when I was actually at the van and in very low wind conditions, with good anchorage. I wondered if I was being OTT.

 

In the Rhone Alps two months ago the English owners of a two-week old motorhome, on their first overseas trip, were three pitches from me and had the dreadful experience of a sudden gust of wind lifting their Fiamma F45 (identical to mine). It went straight back over the van, was torn completely out of the side wall, ripping various-sized holes through the wall and creasing the panel as it went, bounced off the roof, spiralled across the site road and landed inches from a German couple sitting outside their caravan. The Ace was severely damaged and the awning destroyed.

 

In my experience so far this make and model of awning is practically useless and mainly just dead weight to carry around. I would never buy one again but would take a free-standing canvas Gazebo instead.

 

Bob

A lot of campsites are now banning freestanding Gazebos due to the damage they can do when they blow around a site and hit others vans and property

[Usinmyknaus]

Hello Brian,

 

Fair comment as always. Perhaps I should have said I would not leave any of this type of awning unattended.

 

The damage that was done to the unfortunate van was truly horrendous and I dread to think what it cost to put right.

 

I doubt whether an insurance claim would have been entertained because when I bought the local paper that evening, I found Meteo France had forecast gusts to 48 kmh (30 mph) so an "aftercast" by the insurer may have given them the opportunity to say the owner was culpable.

 

During 20 years of flying I have learned never to put complete trust in any weather forecast and to err always on the side of caution. I would say the mean wind speed at the time of the incident was around 20mph but I believe the gust which did the damage was significantly in excess of 30 mph and was a one off for that afternoon and very localised. Very bad luck for the Newbies involved.

 

Bob