TerraLiner:12 m Globally Mobile Beach House/Class-A Crossover w 6x6 Hybrid Drivetrain

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5. How Is Lippert's “Solera” Awning Different?


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Just recently, in response to the clear demand for a “better engineered” awning, Lippert Components created the “Solera” awning, which is supposedly a much better-engineered awning than any previously – see http://lci1.com/solera-power-awning , http://lci1.com/solera-manual-awning , http://store.lci1.com/awning , http://store.lci1.com/products?___store=english&cat=66 , http://www.classicpressroom.com/pre...components-recognized-for-quality-design.html , http://www.rvbusiness.com/2013/05/lipperts-solera-awnings-used-on-65-brands/ , http://www.rvbusiness.com/2012/10/lipperts-awnings-well-received-in-marketplace/ , and http://www.classicpressroom.com/pre...components-recognized-for-quality-design.html :


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Honestly, aside for the fact that the awning has a manual over-ride, and that it can dump water on either side, I can't really see how it's all that different from the standard “elbow arm” awning. Here are some videos:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-hanEDaQ_s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPNBxDtH3Wg&index=1&list=PLI4rGxxtbl1zGwy1Mj6WjYnBJTQKnmB4K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhdACKiQkuc&index=3&list=PLI4rGxxtbl1zGwy1Mj6WjYnBJTQKnmB4K
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oSFym-rayU&index=2&list=PLI4rGxxtbl1zGwy1Mj6WjYnBJTQKnmB4K


And see the playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI4rGxxtbl1zGwy1Mj6WjYnBJTQKnmB4K .



The manual override will certainly be of concern to an expedition motorhome like the TerraLiner, because one wouldn't want to get stuck somewhere with the awnings open, unable to close them as a storm approaches.

But if anyone can explain to me what more there is to the Solera other than the features I've already explained, please post! Otherwise, the Solera strikes me as just a very nicely designed and well-engineered version of the standard “elbow arm” awning. It certainly looks much more “robust” and solid than many awnings. Lipppert Components has a good reputation, and has does offer quite a few innovatively engineered products. But the Solera seems an “evolutionary” improvement over previous “elbow arm” designs, and not a “revolutionary” departure. So the same concern about wind damage would still seem to apply.


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6. Types of Awnings: the “Scissors” Awning


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Next, we come to the “Scissors” type of power awning (I don't know what else to call it&#8230, which seems to be an engineering variant of the “elbow” design:


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However, if it is a variant of the elbow design, one can imagine that the elbow design might be superior, because the elbow design does not seem to require that any parts that actually move up and down the rail into which the struts insert when retracted. Watch the Dometic videos again, and notice how everything just “rotates”:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb4I1duNFG4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XsmSLrKO78


The “elbow” mechanism is a very clever design in which all pieces simply pivot, except for the hydraulic bit that pushes the whole assembly in/out. Whereas in the images of the scissors-type awnings posted above, I can't imagine how the scissors would compress without having to move along the rail fixed to the motorhome.

I tried searching the web for videos or diagrams that might explain the scissors design, but came up short. So if anyone has some idea as to how these work, or better yet, if anyone knows of a video that shows clearly how they work, please post!!

From the perspective of the TerraLiner, the problem still remains: what happens when there's some significant wind, but one wants leave the awning open to generate power?


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7. Types of Awnings: Premium “Cantilevered” Lateral-Arm Awnings


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Next up are the “premium” awnings that are at the top of the price range, and that have “lateral” (cross-wise) folding arms:


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Here are some good videos from Dometic that demonstrate how this technology works in motorhome applications:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-ep4j8tKIU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7NglYHGyWg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYF6Uz5NJjo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FgV79_fTRg


Sure, the first two are a bit “cheesy”, but they were clearly made by Europeans, for a European audience and “European sensibility”…..emoticon I actually kinda like them! For the Dometic “Premium” cantilevered awning, see http://www2.dometic.com/enuk/Europe...tic-Premium-Awning-for-roof-top-installation/ , http://za.waeco.com/products/6414.php ,
http://assets.waeco.com/_pdf/awnings_matrix_2012_en.pdf , and http://www.dometic.com/QBank/EPiSer...ometic-Camper-and-Van-Products-2013_28267.pdf .


Looking at these, I can't for the life of me understand how these laterally extending arms can support all that weight. This seems like “extreme cantilevering”, and the stress at the pivots immediately beside the vehicle must be immense. The technology seems to come from the world of awnings made for residential use:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftbIy3hTyug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WF_iN_W57Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq5wdHmXWl4 ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrOrcsFE41s


So if wind was a problem for the previous awnings discussed, it would seem even more of problem for this cantilevered design.


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Perhaps in anticipation of consumer skepticism, either Dometic or its affiliates have produced a number of videos that show exactly how these awnings respond to extreme wind conditions up to 90 kph. The videos are a blast to watch, even if you're not that “into” awnings:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-Xks-GmbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vE-8-aU3cM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1__99AuhT4Q


The last video, although long, is worth watching in full, because it shows a stress-test of the Dometic “cantilevered” awning that combines both water (100 liters per minute) plus wind (80 kph).

We Europeans really can engineer incredible automotive products, can't we!



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8. The Kind of Side-Awning the TerraLiner Needs


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Although the technology in these cantilevered products is certainly impressive, the TerraLiner doesn't really need side-awnings that can flap about and not get damaged when winds are 80 kph. When the wind is that bad, the awnings should be retracted. Rather, what the TerraLiner needs is awnings that can remain open, and stay relatively stable and “flat” at lower windspeeds, in the neighborhood of 40 kph, for extended periods without suffering any structural damage.

One time-honored solution is to simply fix poles to the corners of the awning:


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Notice how almost all of these are awnings of the “cantilever” type.



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And if that is not enough, there's tying down the corners with ropes and tent pegs:


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9. The Value of Two Drop-Down Decks: Stabilizing Both Side-Awnings in Moderate Winds


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But by now the structural possibilities suggested by the Paradise Motorhomes drop-down deck must be apparent. Paired with the right awning, that drop-down deck can form a stable, secure platform on which poles could be manually placed, that connect vertically to the awning, and that help stabilize it in moderate-to-medium speed winds:


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So far, I've only been designing the TerraLiner with just one drop-down deck, as per the Paradise Motorhomes expedition vehicle shown. But as I began to think through the “energy value” of awnings, it occurred to me that having awnings on either side that could be easily stabilized in significant winds, would confer a major “energy benefit” to the TerraLiner.

So in the last few weeks it has been “back to the drawing board”, as they say. For academic purposes one version of the design is now finished. But once one begins to really think things through in “real world” technical detail, the design process actually becomes even more interesting, not less. Or that's proving to be the case, at least for me.


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10. The Best Possible Awning Technology: Airstream?


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So it seems that a cantilevered awning structurally stabilized at the corners by vertical poles might work. But is there still an even better technology available, one that might provide an even more stable structural “frame” for the awning above?

To me, it does seem that there is: the new “Zip Dee” power awning for the airstream trailer. Most images of Airstream trailers with awnings depict the older, manual model, a V-shaped design exactly like the traditional manual awning type discussed at the very beginning of this section on awnings:


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The video tutorials of how to set up this traditional Airstream awning are every bit as painful to watch as those shown above (see post # xxxx, at xxxxx ):



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLsKflCqhkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-RUBfyRvkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_OY6VQuZnI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBIPa_jasBw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YahBQmaizeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oen4LlGBu-M




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11. The Airstream / Zip-Dee Power Awning


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But very recently Zip-Dee, the manufacturer that has been making awnings for Airstream since the 1960's, came out with a “power version” of this awning that seems to combine the very best features of the “lateral arm” design, with the V-shaped structural stability of the traditional manual awning – see http://awningsbyzipdee.com/60401/116412.html , http://awningsbyzipdee.com/2773/index.html , http://awningsbyzipdee.com/60401/index.html , and
http://www.colonialairstream.com/airstream-power-awning.html .

There are only a few photos of the web of this new kind of Airstream power awning. I was able to find only five:

Five images


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