A common problem with Eriba awnings is rainwater leaking down the front wall. In our case, it was a serious waterfall, especially around the door. The cause: if there isn't enough tension on the beading, there's so much slack that buckets of water can leak. The first solution is to install a rain strip (see: ## under construction). But even then, the water poured into the awning like crazy. The cause: the Dometic Pop Air awning makes the beading in the rail the lowest drainage point in a large water channel.

 

We tried a lot and thought long and hard about it. We couldn't find a satisfactory solution online. But we came up with and improved something that works well so far: a completely dry awning, even in heavy, prolonged rain. What did we try?

We tried a long pole made of connected aluminum tubes. This consists of two awning poles connected by a center piece. See the photo above. The connector is located in the middle and is slid into the two adjustable poles. This creates a strong and light pole of 3.40 meters in total, with two hooks at the ends. The blue markings help to always set it to the correct length. The pole is then placed between the awning and the caravan and secured at the ends with two guy ropes and two pegs. Not too tight (or you will bend it) but firmly between the awning and the caravan.

Hopefully, the photos clarify how the anti-leak pole is positioned between the awning and the caravan. At each end, there's a tensioned rope, pegged into the ground. We also made a bag for it, including the two guy ropes.

Practical experience: it works perfectly during "normal" rain. But... In a really heavy downpour, the water still gets in. So, Plan B is  covering those poles with foam insulation. We found it on a well-known Chinese website. If this doesn't work, we really don't know what will! (Unless you have better suggestions.)

Photo left: the soft foam tubes with 22 and 25 mm inner diameters. You really need Vaseline to slide them onto the poles. Photo right: the complete anti-leakage set including storage bag. The poles are arranged in order from left to right.

 

Comments and questions 

Rene: I think you should share this creative solution on an Eriba forum, because I've never seen it before. We had already resigned ourselves to the fact that our awning would always leak on the beading rail. Thanks! Answer: Good to hear, Irene. You can, of course, post a web link on a forum yourself if you prefer.

inbetweeny_camper: We always had problems with leakage. Thanks! We will try this solution and report back later whether it works! Answer: Please let us know! inbetweeny_camper: Works perfectly! Thank you so much!

Hengelo#Sandra1: As long as an awning is pulled forward quite tightly, there are no leaks: the beading is then really pressed into the rail. But indeed: an Eriba with an awning is often tricky. Thanks for the clear photos!

Aad_@mmerlaan: We've also always had problems with enormous leaks in our awning. It's not Dometic, but I hope we'll get rid of that problem. The photos look promising! Thanks for the inspiration!

Harold: This was the best advice ever. We got sick and tired of looking for a solution... Thanks!

Aad_@mmerlaan: It works so far! Thanks!

Dineke: Maybe it's also a design flaw with Dometic's Pop Air Pro? Answer: Dineke, on a pop-up roof caravan, the awning has to be lifted up from the side. You can't pull it forward to make it watertight. They did come up with that rail strip, but that only helps with water from the caravan roof. The water from the awning still leaks down the caravan wall.