Outdoor Awnings Or Shutters

30YOM WALKED INTO A METAL AWNING AT A SHOOTING RANGE RESULTING IN A LACERATION TO THE BRIDGE OF HIS NOSE. DX: FACIAL LACERATION

19YOM WITH A LEFT INDEX FINGER INJURY. FINGER WAS HIT BY A END-CAP OF A CAMPER AWNING. A JAGGED OPEN WOUND ON THE DORSUM OF HIS LEFT PROXIMAL INDEX FINGER. DX: FRACTURE INDEX FINGER PROXIMAL PHALANX NONDISPLACED OPEN INITIAL LEFT

77YOM STS WALKED INTO AWNING ON MOTOR HOME 3 WEEKS AGO C/O HEADACHE & FOREHEAD PAIN DX CONCUSSION

76YOM WAS WALKING WHEN HE STRUCK THE FRONT OF HIS HEAD ON THE BOTTOM OF A STORM SHUTTER THAT WAS ROLLED HALFWAY DOWN AND THEN PULLED HIS LEFT SHOULDER DX: ACUTE PAIN OF LEFT SHOULDER; CLOSED HEAD INJURY

78YOM WS FIXING A SHUTTER AT HOME WHEN HE FELL BACKWARDS STRIKING HIS HEAD DX:CONCUSSION

62YOM REPAIRING AN AWNING AT HOME AND THE WIND BLEW IT AND HIT PTS HEAD. DX: SCALP LACERATION

40YOF WAS AN UNRESTRAINED DRIVER OF A CAR WHICH STRUCK MULTIPLE PARKED CARS, A STOP SIGN AND AWNING AFTER SHE HAD BEEN HUFFING. REPORTS LEFT SIDED FACIAL PAIN, LEFT NOSE PAIN AND NECK PAIN. DX: MOTOR VEHICLE COLLISION; NECK PAIN; HEAD PAIN

4YOF COMES TO THE ER WITH FOOT PAIN. THE PARENT STATES THEY ARE INSTALLING PLANTATION SHUTTERS IN THEIR HOME AND THE PATIENT ACCIDENTALLY PULLED ON ONE AND IT FELL ON TOP OF HER LEFT FOOT. EXAM SHOWS TENDERNESS AND ABRASION. X-RAY SHOWS FRACTURE. DX FRACTURE CUNEIFORM CLOSED LEFT

41YOM WAS CLOSING AN AWNING AND GOT HIS LEFT THUMB PINCHED CAUSING A LACERATION TO HIS THUMB. DX: OPEN NONDISPLACED FRACTURE OF DISTAL PHALANX OF LEFT THUMB

80YOM FROM HOME STATES THAT HE WAS DOING HURRICANE SHUTTER WORK AT HOME AND DEVELOPED PAIN IN LEFT SIDE OF LOWER BACK ADMITTED FOR BRADYCARDIA DX: SCIATICA OF LEFT SIDE

89YOM C/O FALL S/P PT STATES HE HAD A MECHANICAL FALL WHILE ATTEMPTING TO CLEAN HIS AWNING WHEN HE TWISTED, CAUSING HIM TO FALL AND LAND ON HIS RIGHT HIP. DX: CLOSED FRACTURE OF RIGHT HIP

64YOF PRESENTS WITH DEFORMITY TO LEFT ARM AS WELL AS ABRASIONS TO LEFT LEG AND SHOULDER AFTER BEING KNOCKED DOWN BY A FALLEN AWNING THAT BLEW DOWN IN THE WIND DX: GROUND LEVEL FALL, RADIUS FRACTURE

Item is a Aleko brand AWCL 10’x8’ motorized retractable awning. The unit has had 3 identical failures over the past year. The awning works normally for 2 to 3 cycles, then without warning when hitting the extend button the awning instantly deploys at unimpeded speed (no gradual extension). The awning came out so fast I was barely able to get my arm up to keep from striking me in the head. The extension arms are under great pressure. The awning extension arms break in the process. The manufacturer just sends more parts. They have all been defective. Again, three identical incidents 1. The original parts 2. First replacement repair. 3. Second replacement repair. I was the operator for all incidents. The awning is installed at my house. This awning is dangerous. Awning come out with enough force to knock someone to the ground. I have multiple failed parts. I am a retired [REDACTED] defect investigator and give you a lot of detailed information and parts.

Catastrophic failure of lateral arm on a motorized SunSetter awning. Failure occurred during closing of the awning. The front bar connector bracket sheared off due to it not being properly secured during manufacture.

A standalone "Sunsetter" motorized awning has a short-circuit grounding problem. When the motor gets wet a ground surge occurs causing the electrical connection to short. This can trip a breaker or Ground Fault interrupter. This occurs even when the motor is not in use only connected to house outlets. In my case I found the outlets in my garage shut down including power to a refrigerator. I assume any motor designated for outdoor use should be waterproof or at least protected from getting wet. Sunsetter ignored my request for an upgrade to solve this problem. If for some reason the circuit breaker does not switch off current could flow and heat up the wiring. I recently got a safety upgrade concerning bungi clips used to hold down the awning cover. The government seemed to find this to be dangerous, but ignored the problem described here.

I bought an outdoor BBQ kitchen from Tropicana Outdoor Living Company and had it installed by their installers. The kitchen top came off its footing with the winds we had two months ago. Luckily I was home to tight it down during the rain storm to prevent it from flying off to my neighbors' yard and possibly causing property damage and/or Injury to personnel. Enclosed are pictures of the top and screws used to attach the footing. I'm no engineer, but the size of the top overhang and footing are bad designs. This product should have never been on the market as designed; I was expecting a stronger footing design. Use of a metal plate with bolts would make a big different in the strength of the footing with a smaller top overhang. Notified the company of the Incident, talked to a person named [REDACTED], he stated that the design was safe and that the company's Installation team simply did not installed It correctly, maybe due to the installation team fatigue. I check with Amerimax engineering for specifications on size of overhang for the amount of spacing between posts for the patio top Installed by Tropicana Outdoor living installers and it specifies it should be no longer than 25% of post spacing (2 feet). Top installed has an overhang of over six feet, way beyond specs provided by Amerimax engineering and presents an extreme safety Issue and should no longer be on the market. Enclosed are Amerlmax engineering specifications. In addition, this company sale their products at home shows throughout Southern California. Yes, I would like to get reimbursed for the faulty product I bought from Tropicana Outdoor living Company, but most important is the unsafe condition that could exist out in the public in Southern California due to design of this product and faulty installation.

While in the closed position, one of the awnings arms snapped launching pieces of plastic/metal. Luckily no-one was outside at the time as someone could have been injured – several pieces were launched and the integrity of the support was lessened. We are concerned that there is a safety hazard. For background - after the installer indicated that the item in question would not be covered under warranty, the manufacturer ultimately decided to cover the cost of the part (not the installation) under said warranty. At that time, I inquired as to the cause of the product failure and if there was any risk of it happening to the other arm. To that, I did not receive a response. We happened to be home at the time of the product breaking. It was rather loud and violent. If someone were outside - even with the awning closed, injuries could have occurred.

Name = [REDACTED] Organization/Affiliation = self Daytime Phone = [REDACTED] E-mail address = [REDACTED] Message = I have recently discovered a potential hazardous condition with the Sunsetter "Oasis" Free Standing Awning. The self contained drive motor is subject to a ground fault if it gets wet. Sunsetter, Inc. is aware of this problem as indicated in its literature. Apparently the thermal sensor which is integral to the motor causes the actual fault. It is not necessary to operate the motor for the fault to occur. It just has to be plugged in to the outlet. This problem eventually goes away after the system dries out. In my case I had the awning plugged into a GFI protected outlet and was not aware that it failed until I noticed an odor coming from my spare refrigerator located in the garage and also connected to the same GFI circuit. This certainly makes for an unreliable circuit since other devices connected to the GFI sourced circuit will be turned off whenever the Awning connection fails. Sunsetter does recommend that their product is connected to a GFI outlet and they don't feel that they have a hazardous design problem. This assumes that the consumer is using an appropriate GFI protected circuit, but of course this cannot be guaranteed and the excited consumer may not have read all the instructions (many of which are found in extraneous fine print) and has plugged the unit into a non-protected circuit. This free standing "Oasis" product is relatively new and does not have the same protections as does the prior wall mounted units. The wall mounted units have a vinyl flap that protects the motor from moisture when the awning is rolled up and when rolled down most water rolls off the end of the awning. The free standing model has no built in vinyl flap and when open or closed is subject to water accumulating in the tubing which contains the motor. The consumer can buy an additional cover for the unit for use when it is unfurled, but this is very inconvenient t