A&E Sunchaser (Dometic) Awning Spring Assembly Replacement 

Omg you crack me up. We just worked for 3 hours changing our awning and then found your video. We did just what you did, going clock wise and we're about to give up. COUNTERCLOCKWISE!!!! And the screw! Sometimes it fits Sometimes you gotta screw it bwahaha!!

Nice and informative video Thanks. I learned from another video that when extending your electric canopy you should stop when it is out about two feet. This will allow air to enter the cylinder easier. Then proceed to let the canopy all the way out and you will find it unravels a lot easier. Thanks

Thank you, you have given me some confidence replacing the spring on my Dometic 9100 awning. Great video!!! Loved the humor!!!!! The kids learning a skill!!

Just wanted to thank you for putting the video of my awning spring reset. Last season we came back after our last trip to balsam lake provincial park. Lindsay ontario Canada . We have been camping there since 1992 when our daughter was 2. We have a 27 foot Dutchman trailer .They sure knew how to make garbage let me just say that. Anyway I worked on boner and prowler travel trailers in the 70's as a teenager. anyway we decided that we would buy new awning material after the last camp day 2020. I didn't really know what I was doing but thought it's take off the old slap on the new. And for the most part I was right accept I took the cap off the crank side and unraveling the spring. We had the awning sitting in the rafters in the garage for 9 months. My wife bought new awning material and we had it together in about 1and 1/2 hrs. Taking into consideration I'm barley able to walk and very unstable when upright . All I needed to know witch way and how the spring wound. My wife of 35 years june 28 2021 will be cellebrating at camping as we have for 28 or more years thanks to you. I wound the front side counter clock 11 times and 9 clockwise on the other . I flicked the switch and it went up but needed help . I wound 14 front and 14 clock and when we tryed again it went up like new. Thanx again for showing my how to. Over the 35 years the amount of money we have saved doing our owen repair on cars trucks building fences in a townhouse none had there before to haveing to make a 7foot section of my fence slid out and put aside so i could drag my boat on the trailer I fixed out of parts .Young people please take time to learn handyman work . Not only does it save you money but you know when you do the work you trust the guy. we saved more than 50 to 100,000 fixing and building ourselves .From toilets to getting bicycles from garbage fixing them and giving them to children who wouldn't have one . Woork for yourself save money and don't forget be charitable like this man sharing his knowledge .

I appreciate this video more than you know. I was about to work on adjusting the tension not knowing that it ISN'T a single shaft with one spring. Seeing this saved me a lot of grief. Why it is so hard to find a spring-tightening video for the A&E 8500 is beyond me!

Good video. The best part was the screw up. I watched the video just for that information...which way to wind the springs. Glad you screwed up because it makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one!

Thank you... particularly for having so much fun removing the bolt. Not just me!

My awning tore and when I flipped the switch around and around she went until she stopped. Now I know how to remind it in the right direction as I would have done it backwards

Awesome video! I'm looking to shorten a 12 foot to 8 foot and needed to understand how that spring works. And your humor is spot on hahahah. Thanks a ton!

We all do things backward at times. I probably would have cut it out in editing, lol. I appreciate your honesty in leaving it in. Nice job.

Hey Hillbilly, just finished replacing my awning using your spring assembly video. Everything went on very well and did some minor maintenance on the spring assembly(clean & lubricate). Ty

video was very informative and your humor was awesome. thank you for making the instruction so easy to follow. going to attempt to replace the awning spring assembly later tomorrow following your step by step instruction.

Thank you much for this video it's exactly what I was looking for and now I have the confidence to see why mine is acting up.

Thanks for doing a video on this older model awning (we are replacing the fabric on ours currently). It was instructive to see the same head that we have, and how to remove the bolt holding it to the arm (without having to fear that the spring tension was suddenly going to be released). Great job on showing your 'mistakes' regarding re-tensioning the spring-- that was very helpful. One suggestion - - don't assume your audience has any skills regarding something like drilling out the rivet. We had never done that before, and had to fumble our way through trying to pick the right drill size, and to understand exactly what we were trying to accomplish without screwing something up. Thanks again, and we have liked and subscribed - - we look foreward to seeing more.

Thanks to your video, gave me the confidence to try and fix mine, and it worked, not to mention the 3 to 4 I was quoted to have done by the pros.... well done buddy

Had to do it alone? No need to mess around with rivets. I just blasted out a hole and slot on oud endcap and slid the old fabric out and new in. Loaded the spindle on my cart, slid in pre lubed into top roof mount followed with cart as I slid. My first try was 7, Thanks 14 or 15 sounds better, I had NOTHING to work with.

I knew you were going the the wrong way on the rewind the first time you did it but I couldn't tell you. TY

Thank you. I wasn't paying attention and let all the winds out of my spring, so I was wondering how screwed I am.

How do you know how many turns it should be when the spring is broken? How do I know how many to turn it back? Will counting the revolutions when it's unrolling be accurate?

Thanks! You made it look easy. 🤔

Keep up the great work guys you make my day with the humor

Hey thanks for the tutorial helps a lot.

I need to replace my entire 20ft tube. This video is great for the switch end. What does the other end look like? Is it just a cap? Or is there a mechanical assembly on that end as well?

Just what I needed ; thank you ! helper still doesn't look happy !?

Love your humor keep the videos coming!

First time watching. Fun and informative. 😊

Always a pleasure.

Great video!!! Thanks… what if the thing won’t roll out anymore. I hit the arm with something while driving… 🤦🏻‍♀️

Any idea where this replacement for the 8300 can be found?

Loved your video

Thanks for showing the spring winding direction for us nuts who forgot to remember which way it unwound :-/

good one.. I learned what I needed to do

We did this it wont retract up or out

Looking for some insight on my Sunchaser 8200. Awning. Replaced the fabric. In the process I had to take the tension off of both ends. Got the fabric back on the tensioner back in the tube. Seems I can’t get the awning to extend or retract properly. Followed all the directions. Looking for what I may have done wrong in putting it back together Thanks Anthony

What is that part called at 2:44 in your video that your putting the bolt through? I have an older model awning like yours but the part where the rod goes into the arm is broken and the rod just sits freely. Where can I find one of those parts the bolt goes through? Please help?

Thanks again!

Thanks for the video . any idea how to wind the other side (doesn’t have on it to stop )

The "catch" in the "head" is called a "pawl".

Thank you for showing how the torsion springs are removed from the tube of the awning. I have an older (about 2000 vintage) 14' A&E Dometic model 700 or 710 Two Step awning on my motorhome that is extremely hard to roll out from the closed position, and the right end ratchet does not click and does not lock. According to Dometic customer service this awning and replacement parts are no longer available and it is obsolete. A local old time RV repair man thinks the torsion spring is probably broken. I think this awning has two torsion springs and maybe the left side is wound super tight so the awning stays closed without the lock working on the right end of the tube. My question is : could the head of a new awning roller assembly fit into the top of the old Two Step arms. That way I would only have to buy a new roller system - not included the expensive arms. Also, searching on E-Bay I found a smaller clip like spring and the circular gear to repair the ratchet parts on newer models of Dometic awnings. I wondered if either of these pieces that fit new awnings would work on mine.

We have the same on, but when we unraveled it, it just kept going and going, and my husband broke his finger from doing that so how do we know how many turns to turn it again when we didn’t get a chance to count when it unwinded we put the new onion on and returned it 17 times Lisa we thought we counted and now it won’t retract roll down or roll up on us at all. Is there any guidance you could help us?

Thank you, how do we do the fabric on this model? It looks like the fabric is fed through the pipe?

Humor was good great detail

My endcap broke off the arm on the other side. Can you tell me how to replace the endcap on the other side?

Hi hillbilly, i came across a nice used awning for my camper if i want it. the problem is that its about 2 feet too long for my camper... so my question is can the roller tube be cut down the 2 feet too fit my camper? any information on this would be greatly appreciated. and thanks in advance.

I didn’t see where you showed how to replace the spring. That’s the whole reason we’re trying to fix this. Will it be obvious when we get it apart?

Dear sir I am having trouble I helped my friend put a awning on and it’s got the 2 rivet deal like the sun chaser but it want retract at all now I did have to take the caps off I really need some advice I sure would appreciate it Bobby Patterson ky thank have good day

Hi there. We messed up. We forgot to mark the orientation of the end caps. Do you have any suggestions?

Its All good about the wrong way winding lol > My Question is does the Other side wind up the Opposite direction ??

Thanks for your videos sir. I got a question, do you have a torsion spring and cap Right side for Dometic 8300 Awning that you want to sell?

Is it the same for the other side? The side with the switch is fine but the other side locks up and doesn’t let me pull the awning all the way.

How do you loosen the tension on the torgue spring

Thank you Sir. I have a question. I have the exact same awning and need to adjust the tension. I saw how you did it. I’m concerned that when I unbolt the bolt from the arm, it will unwind uncontrollably. But didn’t happen to yours. Should I be concerned?

Can this still be done if the awning is stuck in the closed position?

HILLBILLY , U GOT THAT CORRECT AT LEAST. TURN THIS WAY, NO!!!! I MEAN THAT WAY... WAS SO CONFUSED.. HUMOROUS YOUR NOT!!

How do you rewind the spring on other end

I need that replacement part. Where did you purchase it?

Do you need to replace the left hand assembly too? My spring failed and the awning opened on the highway during high winds. Looking at ordering parts for this job, but all videos only show the right hand spring torsion assembly being replaced.

So the side your working on locks via the ratchet up down switch. How did you lock opposite side or if you didn't might you know how. These are flat caps (I have the same ones) and most videos show a slightly coned cap with a hole to insert a pin thru shaft. Thanks

BTW I SUBSCRIBED TO YOUR CHANNEL.

Can you change the awning fabric the same way?

Can I ask what size rivets those are? I have the exact same awning and I have to replace the fabric. I can't find the rivet size anywhere!

I have the some awning, how can I add tension to make it retract better?

Where has Cameron been I haven't seen him in your videos in quite a while now

2019 I had a very bad leak into the trailer .The 2002 dutchman 27ft trailer we had to call someone to look at what was allowing the water from the A/C only to leak into trailer . He went on top and he caucked around the A/C unit for $300 cd dollars . it worked for the first 2weeks. Then the leak returned . We finished the season with buckets. It only leaked only when the we used it. Before 2020 camping I convinced my wife I would l look at it.. I took the ac apart and found that a bolt head had warn through the rubber roof and wicked through the wood . I cleaned everything up from the $300 fix and redid couvering the hole with rubber roof goo. It hasn't leaked all winter and I'm confident it won't leak for as long as I own it. I wasn't able to video I may have pics on my samsung maga phone if I can get any pics that would help I would be happy to put them online .As I said doing things yourself is the best feeling ever . Thanx again to Hillbilly RV and people like him . BTW my wife would research online and show me the video just like finding Hillbilly RV.Good luck all .

Question, Where did you buy your awning parts from? No web site description. Also noted you replaced your water heater? Is it possible to use an electric heater out on the market compared @ 907.00?

Does only the side with the lock have to be tightened? Or does the other side spring have to be tightened as well? Thanks!

Good job!!Humor---???

What size rivets?

I have the same one and the lock will not move how could I free the lock or do I need to replace the head if so where do I buy it from

Hillbilly RV, I have a Sunchaser Dometic 834BX20.401, the catch lever works but no tension anymore, I think the spring end broke. I’m having a hard time finding a used replacement. Do you have one for me or know who does? Zip 98366 Thanks, Cory

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