Awning channel strength?

[Eldorado]

Cant seem to find an answer to this on Google - my concern is how strong the awning channel is, what it can cope with and what might cause it harm

I assume the channels are glued and screwed in to place, but worry in bad weather they may cause structural damage / leaks because they are at the edge of the main structure

For context we are looking at off season camping and, right now, like the Isabella Winter Porch awning for something compact and robust

 

[Mr Plodd]

They are designed for that sort of use, and have been for many years. I think you perceive a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[Dustydog]

I’m more cautious. It depends on the type of awning and general condition of the caravan awning rail.
Neither of our Isabella full and porch awnings caused any issues. We still use the porch one 390.
Ten years ago we went for a Kampa Rallye Air 390 .Very heavy , included all the doors in the initial erection. Hard to describe by the way if attached and tensioned put more strain on the awning rail than the Izzy. A year later we had water ingress through the awning rail.
Coincidence? The Jury’s out . We binned the Kampa, fixed the seals and no further problems. Others may never experience the same .

One of our long term Forumites posted this 14 years ago. Well worth a read! He knows who he is😉

Posted February 20, 2011
We are very regular awning users rarely being without one and over 30 years experience with them and their effect on our vans.

Undoubtedly an awning puts stress on the awning rail.
Where the awning rail is held on the van side with horizontal screws that are therefore in tension and the rail is being pulled off then this weakens the seal and screw grip. Been there and had to reset the rail.
Where as more commonly done on continental van's the awning rail is attached to the front, roof and rear so the screws and forces on the rail are in shear this copes very very much better. Had that sort and no problems at all.
Where the awning rail is bonded in the van side as our new Hymer this appears very capable.
Where its as Alu-Tech formed within the corner extrusion this must be as capable as it gets in handling the forces and associated leaking.

Never had and will never have roller canopy of either the awning mounted type or cassette type so no direct experience, however those attached to the awning rail must find the same rail fixing weaknesses and strengths as conventional awnings do.

 

[RogerL]

They are designed for that sort of use, and have been for many years. I think you perceive a problem that doesn't exist.

Some caravans have leaked and needed the nearside awning rail resealing - usually put down to using an awning in windy conditions.

The awning rail has plenty of strength it's the fixings to the caravan body than can give grief.

 

[ProfJohnL]

From new the caravan should be designed to be able to take the stress and strains of using a awning, but as ever with UK caravan manufacturers. Even the best assembled caravan awning rail fixings will be weakened by the use of an awning so almost all will have a grater potential to fail with use and age. It should be one of the caravans features that is checked periodically and repaired or resealed when movement is noted.

Unfortunately there is no way anyone can predict how long a rail will remain fully serviceable because the UK caravan industry is so haphazard about the the way they manage the assembly of their caravans they do not exercise enough control over the placement of glue and sealants when constructing the caravan to guarantee long life performance even to the next caravan on the production line.

Basically caravan reliability is like a lottery.

 

[Buckman]

We have had a Dorema awing up in really violent storms with high winds and not issue as the awning was pegged down using all the normal pegs. In addition, we used storm straps etc.