Hi we are on a seasonal pitch for the first year. We have a full awning withsteel poles and have steel verandah poles in too aalso storm straps . We did this as we are not there all the time and wanted to make sure it was as safe as possible. Its a camptech eleganza seasonal awning so was bought for this purpose se we could leave up for the season. Our site is open till end oct and reopens in march. We have heard differing views take it down leave it up so we are a bit confused to say the least . Any views or any one had any experience with leaving awni gs up or glad they were took down . Can it damage awning rail leaving up in winet frost snow ect .... thanks maggi
Without doubt take it down for the winter A must have, for a seasonal pitch is an extra pole attached to each roof pole where it fixes to the side of the caravan.
Problem no 1, in high winds, roof poles fall down were they contact the van,they fall inwards and then batter the side of the van doing loads of damage.
Problem no 2 , the canvas becomes slack and rain water collects on the roof until the weight of the water bends the poles and the awning collapses. awning tie downs will not stop this happening.
i managed to find a spare set of awning poles and used them to add extra roof poles and uprights, placing an extra upright to each roof pole were it attaches to the side of the caravan.
Roof Poles can now not fall at awning rail side of awning.
I also added some cross bracing the awning will now rip before it collapses.
All this could sound over the top but consider the damage a collapsed awning can do to your caravan.
Each season there has been at least one awning collapses on the site i go to and each time it happens the owners have added these extra poles.
It works out very expensive to buy these poles new, app £18 each so look out for a second hand set.
Post last edited on 04/09/2015 08:22:41
Post last edited on 04/09/2015 08:24:34
------------- alpiner
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I would never consider leaving an awning up on an unattended van for the winter. We tour rather than stay on seasonal pitches and have on 2 occasions had to get up at night to take down our Kampa 200 porch due to high winds.
We have just returned from a week away and the caravan next to us was damaged when strong winds developed and their awning became loose and finally began to drop poles against the caravan, and this is only summer (apparently).
Yes, snow is a problem. Take it down. We were camping in a tent and had lots of snow (at Easter!). I was up three times in the night clearing it off the tent. Several awnings on unattended seasonal pitches collapsed despite the best efforts of the staff. Our friends alloy tent poles were buckled by the snow on their tent.
Your awning may be an all season type, but that's not really a winter awning, winter awnings are made from different materials, I have a 3.2 metre porch specifically for winter, made from heavy pvc, with more poles than you will have on your full awning! They are designed different so snow won't sit on the roof ect.
Mines a hypercamp java 2 from obelink . co.uk.
I can't leave mine up during the 2 month the site closes but if I could I would.
We had a Eurovent Montreaux all season awning that according to the spiel was designed for the French alps in winter. Made of very heavy PVC it was fantastic but I still took it down in October as the site wouldn't allow it to be up any longer. A superb awning though, but difficult to find. I bought mine from Jeff Bowen Awnings, online and 3 year ago it cost just over £100 for a size 1025 + large bedroom annex, which I considered value for money.