Bailey Unicorn 3 - trouble with awning rail

[oconnj]

Hi folks,

I'm having trouble fitting an awning to my new Unicorn caravan! I've tried lots of silicone spray but with no luck, anyone had the same problem and are there any solutions around?

Thanks,

Jim

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

I would have said to lubricate it, but you say you already have.

Is the opening where you feed it in OK and not squashed?

 

[Sproket]

Can you push it into the awning rail for any distance ? If so it's possible that some sealant is causing the problem, it will need removing.

If you have a length of draft skirt you can use that to check that your awning rail is clear as it's lighter to hold and easier to push through the rail.

 

[Hutch]

Sproket, what a good idea , my friends Valencia had a problem at the back end of the awning rail where a join was, it was full of sealant, lots of scraping to clear it, QC not working well on Fridays?.

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

QC not working well on Fridays?.

Most manufacturers don't seem to have QC on any day. hmy:

 

[oconnj]

Yes, gave it a good dose of silicon spray and also fed the awning from the front of the caravan, (less of a bendy circuit) but only got half way along the rail!

Jim

 

[Hutch]

Does anyone know of an awning rail tool that you can draw along the rail to check / adjust to the correct opening, I have an old bearing scrapper that could be used, with care.
On QC, I collected a new van a few years ago, convinced that everything was ok, only for SWMBO, to find a minute dent in the fridge door, boy was I in the mire until she took the awning rail off coming out of where we store it.
Hutch.

 

[oconnj]

Yes, got half way from the front and also checked the rail for blockages but found none, seems that the awning is binding, the more of the awning is loaded onto the rail,

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

Does anyone know of an awning rail tool that you can draw along the rail to check / adjust to the correct opening,

Plenty on the market click here

 

[Sproket]

Yes, got half way from the front and also checked the rail for blockages but found none, seems that the awning is binding, the more of the awning is loaded onto the rail,

What size / sort of awning are you trying to put in ?

Have you had a good look at the awning bead to make sure it's ok ? ?

 

[Mel]

When we bought our Valencia, we were told by a fellow Valencia owner that having sealant clog the awning rail was a well known issue in Unicorns. He advised stripping it out one self as it invalidated the warranty and required a special Bailey owned tool. We made sure our awning rail was clear on collection.
Mel

 

[Martin24]

Have to agree with Mel, We had our GT65 cleared by the dealer before collection, along with making sure a few other known faults at the time were checked/sorted.

 

[oconnj]

Yes, got half way from the front and also checked the rail for blockages but found none, seems that the awning is binding, the more of the awning is loaded onto the rail,

What size / sort of awning are you trying to put in ?

Have you had a good look at the awning bead to make sure it's ok ? ?

Hi,

It's a full size awning for the size of caravan and it worked fine with my previous Pageant. The difference this time is that the Unicorn rail is a plastic mould, part of the Alu-tech system and not the standard aluminium awning rail.

The awning bead looks OK and I've also tried a length of awning skirting as a test and ended up with the same result!

Jim

 

[Sproket]

If the draught skirt bead won't go through the rail either, from what you have described either the rail is damaged or there is a blockage. If the van is still under warranty i think that the dealer needs to have a look at it whilst you show them the problem hopefully it will be a easy fix but make sure that your test piece goes right through the rail before you take the van back ..

 

[RONALD5555]

Hi, when we bought our Cartagena, I checked the awning rail with one of those yellow protector tapes and found it had a slight blockage in 2 places. I phoned our dealer and he sent someone out to clear it. It was excess sealant inside the rail which he appeared to file down with fine emery paper. I have since had 2 different awnings and a sun canopy in it.