Awning centre tensioner

Ram raider wrote:Hi all was looking to get a centre awning tensioner for the wind out awning on our Kemerton xl Thule omnister wind out awning does any body know if they come in different sizes not sure cheers

If you look on-line you will see they come in different sizes:

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The awning size is on a label on the inward facing surface of the roll out outer awning bar.

On advice from Thule I bought one to go centrally on my 6200 awning which certainly tensioned it.  For this a plastic socket has to be stuck onto the PVC support bar that runs along the awning roll on the van side.  When I did this and tensioned the rafter, it made the support bar twist jamming and damaging the awning.  This may have been because the awning hadn't been assembled properly in the factory.  However, it put my awning out of action for a year until a new 6300 awning was fitted under warranty with a stronger metal support bar.  Had I bought two G2 rafters and fitted one to each end of the awning where there are already sockets, I wouldn't have had this problem.  You can also use Thule fabric clamps with two rafters. If only one central rafter is used you have to drill and fit a socket to the centre of the outer awning bar which isn't as easy as it sounds as its pretty tough metal.  I then discovered the socket fouled on the folding rafter bar knuckle joints when the awning was rolled in.  The solution was to move the folding rafters outwards so there was more space for the socket but I chose to remove the socket which was just as well as I was subsequently told by Thule that moving the factory fitted rafters needs a lot of care and patience.  All in all it was a bit of a disaster but at least I got the later 6300 out of it which has tension arms fitted to the folding rafters and so doesn't need the G2 rafter system.

It will be interesting to hear if any other members have experience of fitting one central G2 tension rafter.

Its probably 12 years since I needed to contact them but I recommend Rose Awnings [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for both advice and supply.

Because of the time span I can't be certain of my memory but.... On taking delivery of my new van in 2011 there was an expanding pole left under the bed in the van. The dealer couldn't tell me what it was for, we suspected the awning but it didn't fit anywhere and was too short in any case so I left it with him.

In Austria the next summer we had a lot of heavy rain at tea time each day. The 4m long awning was permanently out with storm ties and Lillypad leisure side and front wind blockers. The rain gathered in the centre and had to be pushed out to prevent structural damage. (I had a friend with an Ameythyst and a long awning that suffered severe structural damage from 'ponding' and I witnessed the same on a Burstner in Germany)

On return I contacted Rose Awnings and they advised that any awning longer than 3m should have a central rafter. My awning model number was still legible at the time so they supplied the correct sized rafter and a set of fittings. A plastic cup was screwed to the inner face of the outer awning bar and a hole drilled in the centre of the awning case to accept a 10mm dia metal pin that was fitted to one end of the rafter.

To fit the rafter, the awning was wound out fully, the rafter fitted and then the awning would back in about 10cm to tension the rafter. The awning was sloped either front to back or vice versa to allow water to run off and I had no problems with that installation during the further 11 years I had that van.

I can recommend Rose Awnings.  I collected the folding rafter braces for my 6300 replacement awning from them in Poole.  It sounds as though Peter Brown's fitting of the inner end of the tension pole was different to mine.  Although I only used the G2 rafter for a short time, it certainly reduced the flapping and would have helped stop the rainwater from pooling.  Two poles would have been even better.  The problems I had with one pole may have been unique to my awning.  The rafter braces I have now are very effective.

Ours is a Fiamma awning so not sure if this applies to your Thule but we bought a straight centre tensioner when we first owned our Pollensa - it's telescopic so can work at different extensions as we don't always pull the awning out to full extent.

However, one thing we did find was that it flapped a bit in the breeze* and also still allowed water to pool even with one leg lower than the other.

We recently changed this to the curved version and that works much better:

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It does come with adaptors so can be used with other makes.

*Note that even though we have tie down straps and pegs, we never leave the awning out in anything more than a breeze and we also never leave it out overnight or when away from the van in case the wind gets up.

A curved rafter like the Fiamma was shown as an extra for my original 6200 awning but it was no longer available and had been replaced by the straight G2 rafter.  I understood the curved rafter achieved its effect by pressing up on the awning fabric.  The G2 rafter has a spring but only to help fit it in its sockets.  When the awning is rolled in, the G2 rafter compresses to a stop so it becomes a rigid bar under compression.