Dometic 9100 Power Awning Spring Tension Adjustment (Guide)
Awnings on your RV and trailer are great. Not only do they provide shade from the sun, and protection against rain, but they also add to your living space. Yet, when something goes wrong, adjusting them can be risky and people have been hurt.
The spring tension is on the non-motor side of the awning assembly. To adjust the spring you should have to disconnect the upper casting to the arm on the non-motor side, then make a few turns to adjust the tension. You should be able to turn either way.
To learn more about this task, just continue to read our article. It explores the topic so you have the best information to help you work on your awning. Take a couple of minutes to see how this information helps you solve your tension problem.
The Dometic 9100 Power Awning Spring Tension
This is a simple device that helps you retract and extend your awning. The motor does not do all the work. The spring is there to help the motor get the awning fabric in or out correctly and without losing any tension on the fabric.
When all goes well, the awning should go out and return without any problem. You just need to push the button in the direction you want it to go and the awning should respond accordingly.
But not everything works in the ideal fashion and you may experience some trouble. To adjust the spring tension, you may need more than two hands helping you, and it may be up to 5 that you need.
But if you know what you are doing, then this task is not that difficult. On the Dometic 9100, there should only be one spring tension to deal with. That makes the task less stressful, to say the least about it.
The design is very and with the alignment indicator handling slight adjustments should not be a problem. But we will get into that in the next section. If you do not know what you are doing, contact a Dometic dealer or awning repairman to help you
Dometic 9100 Power Awning Spring Tension Adjustment
We will start with a warning in this section to show you how risky this adjustment can be. If you make a mistake, and the spring gets away from you, then you could be seriously injured.
It has been reported that many people doing this task have lost fingers when they did it on their own. Make sure you understand the whole process so you can avoid injuring yourself as you work.
The standard procedure is to extend the awning to 2 feet and then stop. Then make sure the awning is centered and the same distance on both sides. If it is out by even 1/2 an inch, you can expect issues to arise.
Then make your turns. Dometic does sell a tool to help you do this adjustment but it can be done using other tools as well. When you make your turns you should be turning the tension in the direction that pulls the fabric back into the wall of the RV.
When you extend the awning the spring will be wound even tighter. If you have further problems the source could be a bad motor or a bad controller. If you still can’t figure it out either ask an experienced person to help or go to a Dometic dealer and see if they are free to help.
How Many Turns For a Dometic 9100 Power Awning Spring?
The following numbers are for when you extend your awning 2 feet out from the coach. This position is supposed to give you some leeway when you work on all parts of the awning.
The number of turns you make will depend on the length of the awning- up to 12 ft long awning = 8 turns; 13-14 ft = 9 turns; 15-16 ft = 10 turns; 16.5 - 18ft. = 12 turns; 19 ft-up = 13 turns.
When it comes to adjustments, the manual was of little to no help at all. It provides no troubleshooting instructions at all when it comes to the spring tension adjustment.
The reason for that lack of help may be due to Dometic’s knowledge that the adjustment can be quite dangerous whether you are experienced at this work or not. They do not want to be liable for any injuries that may occur when you work on your own features on your RVs.
Dometic 9100 Power Awning Problems
The spring tension adjustment may not be the only issue you will have with this model of the awning. One owner reported a problem in the extension process. The awning would go out 6 to 10 inches, then reverse for 1/2 a turn then stop. This is while holding the extend button on.
The owner hit the extend button again then the awning extended properly without any problem. Turns out that the motor and the clutch were bad in this situation.
Then some owners have a problem retracting their awning. The source of this problem is usually a bad connection or a wiring issue inside the motor. Sometimes, it may be the mechanism holding the gear to the shaft.
In this case, the solution may only be to replace the motor. You can try and fix it but there is no guarantee this problem won’t happen again. It seems that Dometic does not have a good motor made for its awning system.
Some Additional Words
This spring tension adjustment is a common problem with the Dometic 9100 awning. But it's a common problem that does not erase the danger or risk that comes with making this adjustment.
In many cases, it is best for most DIY people to call in a professional to handle this simple task. It can turn from simple to complicated when things go bad. Plus, you will need extra pair of hands to help you. That is the best way to do this adjustment.
