Girard Awning Install
See any differences between the front awning on the left and the front awning on the right?
The one on the left has an awning that was not inserted properly into the guide rail which is why the awning edge is not taut. You can see how taut the edge line is on the right awning.
The lights on the left awning, aside from being a totally different colour and spacing, end almost a foot before the edge. On the right, the lights are uniform, evenly and tightly spaced and end at the edge.
The lights on the left awning are twisted in the lighting rail which is why you can see some lights that are bright and others that appear dim. The lights on the right are consistent as they are not twisted in the lighting rail.
This photo gives you a better sense as to the lighting issue.
There is no way that these lights on the left match the factory lights. They are not even close. One side has a blue colourcast and the lights are loosely spaced and the other side has a white colourcast and the lights are tightly spaced. The lights on the left are twisted in the track which means they point in different directions which gives an unpleasant lighting spread across the coach.
Oh, and the LED strand is too short for the awning on the left. Which is ironic as Girard shipped a replacement awning that was too long and had to be cut back.
To sum up.
Girard awnings can randomly deploy and when they do a random deployment may cause significant damage to your awning. In our case, the dealer experienced the random deployment as they brought our coach into service. The front awning received severe damage and it had to be replaced.
Girard shipped us replacement parts that did not fit and had to be cut to size and they provided replacement lighting that was incompatible with our coach.
It took over six weeks to resolve the issue. We spent almost four weeks stranded at the dealer waiting to find out how this issue was going to be resolved. When Girard, Newmar and the dealer finally agreed on how the issue would be resolved, it took over two weeks to get the parts shipped to the dealer.
We found out about the lighting issue about two hours before we had to leave for our trip south. At that point, I was not going to wait any longer. The dealer did all that they could do and it was not their fault that Girard shipped the incorrect lighting strand.
At least we have awnings that we can use and we can get the lighting resolved later.
The awnings could still randomly deploy. I make sure to unplug them from the 110v outlets before travelling with the coach.
Weather permitting, make a detour on your way to Indio and stop at Newmar. We have always been happy with the service we receive at the factory.
Hi Carol,
We are planning to stop at Newmar on our way back to Canada in April. I expect that they will be able to address the remaining issues with the awning 🙂
How frustrating for you, though I think you’re doing the world a service posting all this information. If anything I hope Girard makes it right with you but at the very least fix their product and process.
A bit annoying for sure. I think Newmar, Girard and the dealer all tried their best to get the issue resolved but there are actually two issues here: the first was to replace the broken awning which was done albeit with a few missteps. The second was to identify and resolve the root cause which has not been done. Whether it is a grounding issue or an issue related to RF interference, the appropriate thing to do would be to notify the owners of these awnings to highlight the issue and to unplug the awnings when not in use until the root cause has been identified and resolved.