Fiamma F65 rattle

I am not sure if this is the best place to post this but because the bracket set for this awning and the NCV3 are unique I thought it might be best here.

I recently installed a 10'6" F65 on my 144" high top. Everything went well except as noted below. The awning works perfectly. The only things not yet completed are waiting on Fiamma tech support to get back to me. They are: 1) The rear wedge is not installed per the illustrations (it sits well forward of the illustrations in order to be tight and not back next to the sheet metal screw in the rear bracket) and 2) The safety screws (3 sheet metal screws) are not yet installed pending clarification from Fiamma.

The moment I drove the van I noticed something of a "rattle" coming from the roof area over the center to rear half of the vans sliding door. This rattle is a deep tone, like something large is bumping something, as opposed to a rattle such as is produced by the awning's crank handle grips when stowed on its brackets (that is another one I will address). This rattle will occur when going over very modest irregularities in the road and becomes raucous on a bumpy one. I havent tried anything to address it as yet other than to be sure the awning is fully retracted, and everything I installed is tight.

Before I start trying things I thought I would ask if others had experienced something similar and if there is a common "fix".

Thanks.
 

GaryJ

Here since 2006
Walter,

My Fiamma had a rattle that was due to the legs moving inside the case while I drove. A couple of pieces of foam padding took care of it in short order.

Gary
 
Walter,

My Fiamma had a rattle that was due to the legs moving inside the case while I drove. A couple of pieces of foam padding took care of it in short order.

Gary
That is certainly possible with mine as the bottom ends are just laying in there and not clipped to anything or padded. I will add a couple pieces of padding, maybe some foam pipe insulation to the ends and see if that is it. Thanks!
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
That is certainly possible with mine as the bottom ends are just laying in there and not clipped to anything or padded. I will add a couple pieces of padding, maybe some foam pipe insulation to the ends and see if that is it. Thanks!
There is a 'proper' way to store the legs..as per instructions... when done, no rattle... post picture of how you are placing your legs...
 
There are a couple brackets mounted in the outer end plate of the awning that should restrain the legs when they are slipped under them. They are just a tad loose but not enough to allow the legs to make the noise I heard. I inserted a couple 3"x3" scraps of 1/2" medium density foam rubber under and behind each leg at the foot end just before slipping them into the storage place. Took the van for a ride and the rattle I am having remained.

So, taking a look at the awning bits such as the extending arms when they are almost stowed I noticed the "elbow" (toward the center of the awning housing when closed) end is free to move up and down - at least it does when the awning isnt quite fully retracted - and the sound of lifting and dropping it is about what I am hearing from inside. So I put those bits of foam rubber under the elbow end of each arm just as they were about to retract into the housing. When I finished closing the awning a little of each piece of foam was pinched in the bottom seam between the housing and outer end plate. Not bad for a test since I know they will not go anywhere like that. Took another ride and voila! No rattle. That is not a fix but it does give me a good idea where the noise is coming from.
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
There are a couple brackets mounted in the outer end plate of the awning that should restrain the legs when they are slipped under them. They are just a tad loose but not enough to allow the legs to make the noise I heard. I inserted a couple 3"x3" scraps of 1/2" medium density foam rubber under and behind each leg at the foot end just before slipping them into the storage place. Took the van for a ride and the rattle I am having remained.

So, taking a look at the awning bits such as the extending arms when they are almost stowed I noticed the "elbow" (toward the center of the awning housing when closed) end is free to move up and down - at least it does when the awning isnt quite fully retracted - and the sound of lifting and dropping it is about what I am hearing from inside. So I put those bits of foam rubber under the elbow end of each arm just as they were about to retract into the housing. When I finished closing the awning a little of each piece of foam was pinched in the bottom seam between the housing and outer end plate. Not bad for a test since I know they will not go anywhere like that. Took another ride and voila! No rattle. That is not a fix but it does give me a good idea where the noise is coming from.
...the elbows should not rattle/require 'foam/rubber' if the arms are placed via the correct procedure...
 
Maybe you have better "instructions" than I have seen.

What I have is the multi-language Installation and Operation Manual, at: http://www.fiamma.com/download/installation/F65.pdf.

There are no instruction for stowing the legs. The written instruction, on page 9, "Instructions for Use" say to "unscrew the leg knob to slide the leg out of its seat". And it refers to the figure 2 on page 13, which is attached to this post. The leg knob - assuming that means the T knob that sets leg length when down has nothing to do with getting the leg out of its seat. I guess it should be relatively tight when stowed so the sliding part doesnt slide back and forth but no mention is made of that...and FWIW the knob cannot be securely tightened on either on of these legs in the stowed position because the knob position is tangent to the leg, hitting the outer end frame and interfering with full retraction of the legs at the articulating hinges - I have to back them 1/4 turn to make the knob parallel with the leg to stow it properly.

Attached is a picture of one of the legs stowed in the bracket on mine with the foot of the leg being padded with with some of the foam rubber I used. The leg is fully inserted into the bracket.

Upon looking at the relationship of the brackets that restrains each leg and the extending arms as they retract, it does look like each outer arm near the elbow could ride up over the upper tab of the leg stowage bracket (although that tab is pretty short) and perhaps that is intended to prevent the arms from rattling. I will plan to repeat everything with the foam removed and everything clearly stowed as intended to either confirm my rattle or see that it must have been from not having something fully stowed to begin with.
 

Attachments

I just looked at the other leg bracket picture I took and realized that it must be positioned way up the leg compared to the other leg in the previous photo. I assume the bracket should be near the bottom end of the collapsed leg as shown in the previous photo and illustrations and not some significant distance up it. I wonder if this has anything to do with the rattle...
 

Attachments

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
1) From the extrusion and plastic holder in your picture, looks like the New F65's (2012+) is not the same as the older.
2) Take a picture of the middle/center section, where the feet meet.
 

OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
Yes.... This is a new design... It doesn't have a component that locks in the feet, but more importantly, create lateral tension on the arm and then the articulated elbows, and thereby keeping them locked in and rattle free... I'll take a picture tomorrow...
 

NBB

Well-known member
I found I had to loc-tite all of the hardware inside my awning, or it would rather quickly rattle loose.
 
:idunno:

This AM I drove the van with all the foam bits removed, the legs carefully stowed away and having confirmed that the awning was completely closed. Even with my hearing now tuned for this rattle I heard nothing...well maybe I could hear the feet rattle just a bit but anything else not well secured inside the van made more noise.

The only thing related to this I observed is that with the bits of foam removed, the awning could hang a fraction of an inch before being fully closed (where the outer end assembly and the housing close tightly). Twice it stopped at this point and I needed to back it open a half turn or so and close it again and then it was as though something inside needed to shift, then it would completely close. Perhaps my issue when it was rattling was that the awning looked closed but was not quite and one of the arms was free inside to move up and down over bumps. If the upper tab of one of the leg brackets (lets say the one that first contacted a retracting arm) was preventing complete closure - where the arm hit it but didnt ride up over it - that would prevent complete closure and maybe allow the second arm (that isnt quite there yet) to rattle freely against the leg right below it.

Its funny, but not unexpected if my theory is correct, because with the foam bits in there the awning had no trouble closing smoothly and completely each time. Maybe the foam used for the arms - the way I inserted them above the stowed legs - helped the arms ride smoothly up over the upper tab of the leg brackets.
 

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