Dometic Awning Beeping and clicking

  The Dometic Power Awning Pro on our 2019 model 3100 started beeping and "clicking" with slight movement where the sensor meets the arm up top. It is very cold here (10 dgs last night and getting colder) which makes me reluctant to start trying to open stuff up etc. Awning acts like it wants to move. A couple online posts suggested it was the cold weather. Did not have this issue last winter. If I cannot "fix" it in this cold weather am concerned it could get worse over time.

  Also saw an older online ref to a separate box down below but the Dometic Customer Service is apparently closed for the holidays.

  Should I try to open the black sensor box on the awning strut to check the battery and/or the sensor dial?

Thanks,

Hank in cold, snowy and windy Custer SD

Hank, first of all, you live in one of our favorite areas of the good old USA. I would not try to force the awning. It could very well be the cold weather. I traveled the Dakotas for 38 years out of Sioux Falls and have seen many strange happenings because of cold weather. I mean SD cold weather! If you aren't going to need it, I would wait for warmer days. I don't think the problem will get worse while you wait.  Chuck

Hank,

Not sure why you'd want to open the awning in the winter.  We're it my RV, I would wait until it warned up in the spring and check it/repair it then.

  Problem solved. Weather finally warmed up to 25 degrees and wind died down. I gently popped the cover on the sensor box at the top, pulled out the battery pack/circuit board, put 2 fresh AAA batteries in and reinstalled. The beeping stopped but unit was still trying to move with that clacking sound. I extended awning about a foot and rolled it back up...no beeping and no movement. I guess the wind sensor needed to reset.. Old batteries looked like generic knockoffs. They might have been the originals from late 2018. I never ran into this issue with the Dometic/A&E awning on our big DP.

  Now I just to have change a strut to let my awning deploy properly..

Hank Whitney
Custer SD
7 degrees and lots of snow still on the ground

The electric awning requires AAA batteries to operate?

  This particular Dometic awning has a motion sensor in a black rectangular box attached to the top of the arm by entry door. My previous Dometic models did not have that arrangement. Inside the box are a circuit board and 2 AAA batteries. The batteries apparently let the sensor talk to the main awning motor. The beeping sound I was getting was a low battery alert. Why the awning wanted to also move (the clacking sound) is not clear to me but related to the battery issue. Even Dometic service was not sure. Their troubleshooting guide does not speak to that issue, just the batteries.

  This Dometic model is a lighter duty version of the larger 9100/91XX series found on the larger MH's. Not sure how long they have been used on the PC's. I see ref's to other awning brands in posts by owners of units older than ours.

Hank

Interesting.