personal experience wanted

G

gworobec

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Several of us have the OmniStor which is from Carefree. Not sure if it is
the same. It has no external arms. Everything folds up inside. Certainly not
as WINDPROOF as the older outside arm styles. I use straps on the corners
attached to the GMC bumpers to keep mine from flipping over the roof in a
high wind.

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 23' Glacier

----- Original Message -----
From:
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 5:45 PM
Subject: [gmclist] personal experience wanted

> Net:
> Has anyone out there had experience with the Horizon Awning,

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Net:
Has anyone out there had experience with the Horizon Awning, by A & E? This
is the "case" awning the cranks out with the support arms. I have one
available, supposed to be great for our curved sides. The vertical supports fold up
inside and leaves nothing hanging. Anyone with experience with this model???
TIA.
Dean Hanson


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Hanson9 writes...

> Net:
> Has anyone out there had experience with the Horizon Awning, by A & E? This
> is the "case" awning the cranks out with the support arms. I have one
> available, supposed to be great for our curved sides. The vertical supports fold up
> inside and leaves nothing hanging. Anyone with experience with this model???
> TIA.

I have a standard box awning on my coach. You need a vertical mounting
surface for the case, but these can be fabricated from aluminum plate
and attached to the coach. Those attachments need special care to
avoid leaks and to have the required strength. I need to redo mine.

This pic of Jim Bounds leaning on my bicycle shows the rear of the
awning (upper right corner). You can see the silhouette of the rear
L-bracket when it crosses the gap down to the drip rail. The L bracket
has a flange that bolts to the coach through the drip rail, and the
back part lays on the roof and screws to the roof skin.

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=14044

Here's a picture (from the week we bought the coach) that shows the
awning:

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=5247

And here's a pic with the awning deployed. One end is lowered to drain
rainwater. The awning has to be deployed very high to prevent the door
from running into the internal awning supports. But I don't have to
worry about my door wearing a groove into the awning material like
most folks do.

http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=19242

Rick "preferring the looks of the Omnistor but not the price" Denney

'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia

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Gary Worobec writes...

> Several of us have the OmniStor which is from Carefree. Not sure if it is
> the same. It has no external arms. Everything folds up inside. Certainly not
> as WINDPROOF as the older outside arm styles. I use straps on the corners
> attached to the GMC bumpers to keep mine from flipping over the roof in a
> high wind.

The Omnistor doesn't have fold-out legs? My standard box awning won't
even sit high enough to clear the door without them. Ken Henderson's
Omnistor had legs that he arranged vertically, and stakes them to the
ground. Mine slip into mounts on the side of the coach, but with mine
you do have to remember they are there to avoid surprises.

Rick "whack!" Denney

'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia

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Rick,
You can use the spindly OmniStor legs vertically or attach to plastic
brackets at the beltline.

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 23' Glacier

>
> The Omnistor doesn't have fold-out legs? My standard box awning won't
> even sit high enough to clear the door without them. Ken Henderson's
> Omnistor had legs that he arranged vertically, and stakes them to the
> ground. Mine slip into mounts on the side of the coach, but with mine
> you do have to remember they are there to avoid surprises.
>
> Rick "whack!" Denney
>
> '73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
> Northern Virginia
>
>
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Gary,

I always place the spindly Omnistor legs in the vertical position:
Otherwise I'm always running into them, not to mention that on the 23', the
entry door hits the forward leg. I've found those legs to be surprisingly
strong and the plastic latches on them a lot more effective than they seem.

Since at least 1996 (when I got caught awning-out in 70 mph winds) I've
religiously tied my awnings down with auger anchors placed at 45* from the
outer corners. Even with those ropes very taut the leg latches don't slip.
At Nashville last month we had a couple of days of heavy rain and high
winds. My awning stayed erected with no problems.

Because of the Omnistor's propensity for holding water, I use two arched
"rafters" from Camping World. They HAVE stretched the fabric, but since I
always use them, it doesn't really matter. With them, trapped water is not
a problem -- at least on the 23'.

While Omnistor is quite explicit that theirs is a sun shade, not a rain
shelter, there are no leaks through the fabric on mine.

Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
www.gmcwipersetc.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Worobec [mailto:gtw5]

> You can use the spindly OmniStor legs vertically or attach to
> plastic brackets at the beltline.

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Ken, I think Steve Ferguson can give you some insights into his experience
with OmniStor and the latches. They are good in keeping the legs from
collapsing but not so good when the wind gets under the canopy.

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 23' Glacier

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Henderson"
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 10:44 AM
Subject: RE: [gmclist] personal experience wanted

> Gary,
>
> I always place the spindly Omnistor legs in the vertical position:
> Otherwise I'm always running into them, not to mention that on the 23',
> the
> entry door hits the forward leg. I've found those legs to be surprisingly
> strong and the plastic latches on them a lot more effective than they
> seem.
>
>
> Since at least 1996 (when I got caught awning-out in 70 mph winds) I've
> religiously tied my awnings down with auger anchors placed at 45* from the
> outer corners. Even with those ropes very taut the leg latches don't
> slip.
> At Nashville last month we had a couple of days of heavy rain and high
> winds. My awning stayed erected with no problems.
>
> Because of the Omnistor's propensity for holding water, I use two arched
> "rafters" from Camping World. They HAVE stretched the fabric, but since I
> always use them, it doesn't really matter. With them, trapped water is
> not
> a problem -- at least on the 23'.
>
> While Omnistor is quite explicit that theirs is a sun shade, not a rain
> shelter, there are no leaks through the fabric on mine.
>
> Ken Henderson
> Americus, GA
> 76 X-Birchaven
> 76 X-Palm Beach
> www.gmcwipersetc.com
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gary Worobec [mailto:gtw5]
>
>> You can use the spindly OmniStor legs vertically or attach to
>> plastic brackets at the beltline.
>
>
> To unsubscribe or change your settings -
> http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
> Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html

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The OmniStor has a full length aluminum extrusion about 6" wide. It is
fastened through the aluminum roof stringers with drilled and tapped 1/4" SS
screws. Once the extrusion is on you simply hoist the awning up and clip it
on. It then has a series of lock screws that are tighened to secure it. It's
a pretty neat installation. If I lift the awning high enough the door will
clear. In normal operation the door opens 90 degrees and rests against the
upper leg which is fine as I can bungee the door open. I really like the
OmniStor. Very easy to operate. I've had several slab sided RV's and used
Carefree and A+E. They are real rugged and much better in the wind but would
be ugly on GMC. We dry camp in the desert a lot and you will get the odd
brisk dust devil that comes up so we are very mindful of the OmniStor when
it is deployed. We always used a strap from the corners of the OmniStor to
smalls holes drilled in the ends of the bumpers to pull the corners tight.
This really helps. And we always roll it up at night or when we are riding
and away from the coach.

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 23' Glacier
----- Original Message -----
From:
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: [gmclist] personal experience wanted

>
> How did you mount it to the coach? Does it stay clear of the door when
> open?
> Any thoughts other than not windproof?
> Dean
>

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Hanson9 writes...

> Here's another question for those of you with omnistar:
> Does it have any "hard" arms or support pieces that pivot out with the
> awning when you crank it out like the Horizon? I think that would help with the
> wind problem. But again, I am interested in the connection to the coach.

They are the same, from my memory. They have jack-knife arms that are
hinged at both ends and in the middle. The inner hinge on my Horizon
awning is mounted in a spring arrangement to allow some vertical
motion. That allows the wind to move it around without applying all
that wind force to the mountings. I'm assuming the Omnistor is
similarly equipped.

They are NOT strong enough to be self-supporting after deployment.
There is a huge lever arm of the awning on those releatively small
inner hinges. A big gust of wind could put an enormous twisting force
on them. And the spring, which keeps small gusts from working at the
mountings, give big gusts an opportunity to build up a head of steam.

When tied down at the corners, however, the force chances from bending
to shear, which makes all the difference. All so-called legless
awnings I've seen need the corner legs secured as soon as you have
cranking the awning out. What makes the legless is that the legs are
hidden when folded up rather than visible on the side of the coach.

Rick "happy with the cheapo Horizon, though needing to redo the
mounts" Denney

'73 230 Ex-Glacier "Jaws"
Northern Virginia

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In a message dated 11/12/2007 6:40:15 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,

Several of us have the OmniStor which is from Carefree. Not sure if it is
the same. It has no external arms. Everything folds up inside. Certainly not
as WINDPROOF as the older outside arm styles. I use straps on the corners
attached to the GMC bumpers to keep mine from flipping over the roof in a
high wind.

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec

How did you mount it to the coach? Does it stay clear of the door when open?
Any thoughts other than not windproof?
Dean

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Here's another question for those of you with omnistar:
Does it have any "hard" arms or support pieces that pivot out with the
awning when you crank it out like the Horizon? I think that would help with the
wind problem. But again, I am interested in the connection to the coach.
Dean

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Gary,

I don't depend on the legs to resist any upward motion; I have the wall
anchors installed but never use them, nor do I stake the legs. I just use
1/4" nylon rope from the tops of the legs to the auger anchors. I've had no
problem with winds reported at up to 50 mph -- but I sure didn't
intentionally leave it deployed for that! :-)

Ken H.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gary Worobec [mailto:gtw5]

> Ken, I think Steve Ferguson can give you some insights into
> his experience with OmniStor and the latches. They are good
> in keeping the legs from collapsing but not so good when the
> wind gets under the canopy.

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Dean,

It's my understanding that all of Carefree of Colorado's box awnings are
made in Europe by Omnistor. I did not like the appearance vertically
mounted box awnings available from Carefree, A&E, or Fiamma, so contacted
searched the web for something more to my liking.

I found that Omnistor makes a box awning with a teardrop shape which better
fits the contours of our coach. When Carefree wouldn't cooperate with me to
obtain one I planned to import them for a group buy directly from Europe.
Richard Floyd (rgf) saved me from that fate by being more
persistent with Carefree; he is now the exclusive distributor for the
"Omnistor" which we use. You can see my installation at
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=4173 There are several
other albums showing others' installations.

Since both the vertical box awnings from Carefree and our teardrop shaped
ones are from the same manufacturer, I suspect the arms and other mechanisms
are at least very similar, but I have not examined the vertical boxes.

The mounting of the teardrop boxes is entirely different than the box awning
which requires custom bracketry. For the GMC, there is an almost-perfect
mounting bracket available for our Omnistor awnings.

HTH,

Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
www.gmcwipersetc.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Hanson9 [mailto:Hanson9]
>
> How did you mount it to the coach? Does it stay clear of the
> door when open?
> Any thoughts other than not windproof?

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Hi Ken,
How about the Zee Dee's awning? In your opinion which one is the BEST
fit for our GMC?

Thanks,
Feby Judo-Verlinden
76 GMC Edgemonte
Temple City, CA 91780

> Dean,
>
> It's my understanding that all of Carefree of Colorado's box awnings are
> made in Europe by Omnistor. I did not like the appearance vertically
> mounted box awnings available from Carefree, A&E, or Fiamma, so contacted
> searched the web for something more to my liking.
>
> I found that Omnistor makes a box awning with a teardrop shape which better
> fits the contours of our coach. When Carefree wouldn't cooperate with me to
> obtain one I planned to import them for a group buy directly from Europe.
> Richard Floyd (rgf) saved me from that fate by being more
> persistent with Carefree; he is now the exclusive distributor for the
> "Omnistor" which we use. You can see my installation at
> http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/showgallery.php?cat=4173 There are several
> other albums showing others' installations.
>
> Since both the vertical box awnings from Carefree and our teardrop shaped
> ones are from the same manufacturer, I suspect the arms and other mechanisms
> are at least very similar, but I have not examined the vertical boxes.
>
> The mounting of the teardrop boxes is entirely different than the box awning
> which requires custom bracketry. For the GMC, there is an almost-perfect
> mounting bracket available for our Omnistor awnings.
>
> HTH,
>
> Ken Henderson
> Americus, GA
> 76 X-Birchaven
> 76 X-Palm Beach
> www.gmcwipersetc.com
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Hanson9 [mailto:Hanson9]
> >
> > How did you mount it to the coach? Does it stay clear of the
> > door when open?
> > Any thoughts other than not windproof?
>
>
>
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> Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html
>

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Feby,

Sorry, I've never investigated even prices for any of the awnings with arms.
I knew from the first time I ever saw a GMC that I didn't want one with an
awning if it had to have exposed arms.

JMPP (Just My Personal Prejudice) :-)

Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
www.gmcwipersetc.com


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Feby Judo [mailto:feby.judo]

> How about the Zee Dee's awning? In your opinion which one is
> the BEST fit for our GMC?
> Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html

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Rick;
What I am most interested in is the method of attaching the long aluminum
awning tube to the coach. It has to be vertical so did you make special
brackets? How many? Any help here would be appreciated. For the Horizon 14'-6".
Dean hanson

************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com

 
Back to the Omnistor awning. I have recently installed my third one
(and last). Carefree sent me an electric model, the previous two were
manual. No instructions!!
Two wires exit the motor housing on the awning. There is a relay in
the parts box and some kind of black box with a switch on it. Does
anyone who has one of these know how the relay is supposed to be
wired? Also, what is the amperage draw? Is the black box a remote?
Thanks, I hope.

--
Steve Ferguson
'76 EII
Sierra Vista, AZ
Urethane bushing source
www.bdub.net/ferguson/

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Steve,
Here is a pdf with a wiring diagram. Hope you got all of the parts.

http://www.omnistor.com/spare/pdf/instal5002.pdf

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 23' Glacier

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Ferguson"
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 2:05 PM
Subject: Re: [gmclist] personal experience wanted

> Back to the Omnistor awning. I have recently installed my third one
> (and last). Carefree sent me an electric model, the previous two were
> manual. No instructions!!
> Two wires exit the motor housing on the awning. There is a relay in
> the parts box and some kind of black box with a switch on it. Does
> anyone who has one of these know how the relay is supposed to be
> wired? Also, what is the amperage draw? Is the black box a remote?
> Thanks, I hope.
>
> --
> Steve Ferguson
> '76 EII
> Sierra Vista, AZ
> Urethane bushing source
> www.bdub.net/ferguson/
>
> To unsubscribe or change your settings -
> http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
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Hi,
It draws about 6 amps when being rolled up.

Thanks,

Gary and Joanne Worobec
Anza, CA
1973 23' Glacier

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steven Ferguson"
To: "gmclist"
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 2:05 PM
Subject: Re: [gmclist] personal experience wanted

> Back to the Omnistor awning. I have recently installed my third one
> (and last). Carefree sent me an electric model, the previous two were
> manual. No instructions!!
> Two wires exit the motor housing on the awning. There is a relay in
> the parts box and some kind of black box with a switch on it. Does
> anyone who has one of these know how the relay is supposed to be
> wired? Also, what is the amperage draw? Is the black box a remote?
> Thanks, I hope.
>
> --
> Steve Ferguson
> '76 EII
> Sierra Vista, AZ
> Urethane bushing source
> www.bdub.net/ferguson/
>
> To unsubscribe or change your settings -
> http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
> Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html

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Hi Gary, let me try again.... i send email earlier but came back
undeliverable. Sorry I'm one of the newby so not so good with this
gmclist yet.

Do you have this Onmistor awning with the electric motor for your GMC?
Can you buy it here in the US or do you have to order it from Europe?
which model is appropriate for GMC (the curve etc)- because from
talking to Jim K. and other netter they prefer Zee Dee because it is
curved nicely for the GMC. But I really like the electric motor to
open/close the awning. So if you can let me know about this electric
awning I appreciate it very much. My sister is coming from Holland
next month (12/12/07) so if I have to buy it from Europe I planned to
let her get it for me from Holland.

Thanks for the info.

Feby
Temple City Ca
76 GMC Edgemonte

> Hi,
> It draws about 6 amps when being rolled up.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Gary and Joanne Worobec
> Anza, CA
> 1973 23' Glacier
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven Ferguson"
> To: "gmclist"
> Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 2:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [gmclist] personal experience wanted
>
>
>
> > Back to the Omnistor awning. I have recently installed my third one
> > (and last). Carefree sent me an electric model, the previous two were
> > manual. No instructions!!
> > Two wires exit the motor housing on the awning. There is a relay in
> > the parts box and some kind of black box with a switch on it. Does
> > anyone who has one of these know how the relay is supposed to be
> > wired? Also, what is the amperage draw? Is the black box a remote?
> > Thanks, I hope.
> >
> > --
> > Steve Ferguson
> > '76 EII
> > Sierra Vista, AZ
> > Urethane bushing source
> > www.bdub.net/ferguson/
> >
> > To unsubscribe or change your settings -
> > http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
> > Donate to support GMCnet - http://www.gmcnet.org/support.html
>
>
> To unsubscribe or change your settings - http://www.gmcnet.org/settings.htm
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>

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