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chicago68

Can anyone help?

I was not paying attention when we took delivery of our motorhome. We have a Fiamma F45 wind out awning. I can make a the bits work in the right place, but how far do I wind it out? Are the two scissor action struts supposed to be straight or with a kink in the middle - when the awning is fully wound out the fabric is not rigid - so do I wind it back in a bit?

Advice will be much appreciated.

sallytrafic · Southern Rally Co-ordinator

Yes wind it right out and then back until taut, do you want a scan of the operating instructions if so pm me with your email address and I'll send it.

shedbrewer

[B]hi, re your Fiamma ''sunshade'' ( not awning, as you will pay extra on some major sites, but not for a sunshade,,,,) you wind out the sunshade as far as it will go, the struts on the side will not be straight out but have a 'kink' in the middle, when fully wound out, just re-wind until the fabric becomes taut
Jack, Cornwall

JohnsCrossMotorHomes

Rapide561

Hi

I am still having bother with my awning - operator error I hasten to add, but once again, I can't get my legs to open. The awning is probably 5 or 6 metres and would be too heavy in use without the legs on the ground taking the weight.

R

SandJ · Specs DB Admin

GerryD

If you are trying to operate a Fiamma Awning using the supplied instructions then you have no hope. I have just bought a Privacy and dubious quality aside, the instructions are completely unintelligible. If this were a product with any type of British Standard or European Union Statutory Instrument it would not qualify for sale on the basis of the instructions alone.
Good luck, as my opinion of Fiamma quality control has nosedived recently. Costs a lot, not reflected in the product.
Gerry.

gaspode · Moderator

Have to say I agree with you Gerry.

We've never had a Fiamma Awning before, always an Omnistor and never had a problem. I've always for some reason assumed Omnistor to be inferior to a Fiamma, don't know why, perhaps just their publicity is better. Alas no more, after looking closely at the (3 year old) Fiamma I'm not impressed. The first time I wound the awning out after buying the van was at the Newbury show. I tried to connect the centre rafter but found that the little plastic peg the rafter connects to at the van side was missing. Looking at the fitting it was obvious that the peg had just become detached and lost so I needed a new peg. Fortuitously I was at a show - and Fiamma had a stand. Very Happy

Guess what - they told me that the peg wasn't listed as a spare part. Crying or Very sad

I improvised with a screw and when I returned home made a new peg myself - but what a farce - couldn't get a silly little peg that would cost a few pence. Rolling Eyes

The fitting the peg fits into is riveted into the frame so to replace that would mean removing the awning from the van (and anyway they didn't list that as a spare part either).

Anyway, whilst I had the awning out I decided to go over it with a fine tooth comb - and was unimpressed with its construction. Compared to the Omnistors the construction seems flimsy and the locking mechanism doesn't seem very positive, but the main problem was the metal used for the cast bits (hinge fittings etc.). It's base metal, presumably a zinc based alloy which seems to be of very inferior quality, corrosion on the surface and between the joint faces - and this on a 3 year old product. I know the dealer cleaned and lubricated all the joints before the van was delivered so the corrosion present must have developed in only a couple of months - not satisfactory in my reckoning.

I remember someone posting about corrosion in Fiamma security locks a little while ago and wonder if Fiamma have started using an inferior quality zinc alloy that's causing this corrosion problem?