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Post by Graham on Jul 28, 2008 19:25:39 GMT
Well we've finally taken the plunge and bought a Movelite square, it came on Friday so we took it with us for the weekend to try it out.
We went to a Caravan Club CL between Boston and Skegness, it was a lovely lawned site and we were the only people there so we didn't have an audience as we stood scratching our heads trying to put it up for the first time. I am happy to report that it took an hour but when it was finally up we were very impressed with it. I am sure next time we will bring the time down.
It's got doors on all sides with a fly screen on one of the side doors, the front door can be rolled up or pegged out as a canopy and all the windows have attached blinds that can be rolled down and fixed with velcro.
It stayed up all weekend and we drove off and left in on site with no problems.
Many thanks to Doug and others who have given advice about the awnings it was a big help in us making our choice. As Doug has said the only thing that you have to watch is when you open the sliding door it can catch the awning and rip it, luckily we remembered and avoided it. I'll post a picture later.
Graham
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Post by snobbyafghan on Jul 28, 2008 19:50:05 GMT
An hour to put it up..!!! Shame on you... ;D Actually, I cheated and tried mine out at home before using it for real - it was time well spent. I couldn't believe that you were really supposed to bend those poles so ruthlessly to get them in place.
How did you get on with the fitting the driveaway kit webbing into the Fiamma awning rail? That was the thing that gave me most trouble initially and also on site when it came adrift during the gales in Dorset a week or so ago. I had to borrow a step-ladder from the friendly warden (after signing the Health and Safety book..!) to fix it.
Doug
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Post by Graham on Jul 28, 2008 19:58:55 GMT
 Here's a pic as promised. Doug - we haven't actually got the fixing kit yet, they emailed and said it was delayed and would follow this week, but there were some straps that we threw over the van and pegged down the other side to secure them, they seemed to work fine. Graham |
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Post by Graham on Jul 31, 2008 16:57:31 GMT
Well we got our fixing kit today and opened it to have a look, seemed like a breeze.....just a simple matter of feeding it into the awning channel on the fiamma......how wrong we were. Goodness knows how you managed it Doug we have had 2 hours of pulling, pushing, squirting WD40 into the channel, rubbing vaseline on the piping, rubbing washing up liquid on the piping, we even soaked it in boiling water to make it more pliable, all to no avail, we have had to give up! We are off to South Wales tomorrow for a week so will have to make do with the straps over the van, we can't think of anything else to do.  Seems like we wasted £14.99, I think I will email the company and tell them but we can't really send it back as its in a bit of a state now with the vaseline, washing up liquid, wd40 etc. Graham |
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Post by viv on Jul 31, 2008 17:34:44 GMT
Hi
We have the Movelite small version and we just throw two guy ropes over front of van to secure. Simple also to undo so we can drive off and leave the awning if we need to. Worth a comment to the supplier about the ease of use after all it is a drive away awning and so should be easy enough to use.
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Post by snobbyafghan on Aug 1, 2008 9:43:50 GMT
Graham
At least that proves it wasn't just me...!
My remedy was to abandon any though of feeding it into the rail - as you found out, that just aint possible. I laid it alongside the rail and then poked it in, inch by inch, with a screwdriver. It was essential to use a ladder to get level with rail - otherwise I couldn't have used enough pressure. Once it was in, I squeezed the open end of the rail with some pliers. This end did come out once when we were on site in strong winds and I had to borrow the warden's stepladders to effect repairs.
Whether all this effort is worth it bearing in mind you are quite happy with the straps over the van technique, I don't know..
Doug
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Post by Graham on Aug 6, 2008 19:21:34 GMT
Cheers Doug, we seem to manage quite well with the straps over the van but I object to having spent £15 on something that's not fit for purpose!
We are on site at the moment, managed to get wifi for £5 per day, we have used the awning for 3 days at Rhandirmwyn with no problems but haven't bothered where we are now which is Forest of Dean.
We are going to contact the company when we get back and see what they have to say, we will let you know the outcome.
Apart from the problems with the fixing kit we are quite happy with the awning.
Graham
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Post by snobbyafghan on Aug 7, 2008 8:54:35 GMT
Graham
Once you get the damned thing in the rail is is admirably fit for purpose. What it's not fit for is being fitted (if you see what I mean).
;D
Doug
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