We recently downsized from our massive Vango Colorado to a Coleman Mackenzie Cabin 6L. I spent a lot of time noseying at other people's tents before deciding on this one, and it's just perfect for my needs... but I can't get the tension right on the front section, however hard I try. Whenever it rains (and there's been a lot of that since we got it), water pools on the roof. As you can see from pics, I've added extra guy ropes to give the front section some much needed support (the guys on the tent material, especially the top ones, just seem to create channels for the water to pool, unless you leave them fairly loose). I've played with all the tensioners on the frame and base. But looking at the pics, it seems to me the problem may be that the front frame sits slightly higher than the middle one? But maybe I'm imagining it. Any suggestions as to how I could solve it? Anything obvious I'm doing wrong? Or is it just poor design?
Looking nice and dry when first pitched [/IMG]
Much less happy after a downpour
I've got it pitched in the front garden now, and still playing around with the tension, trying to get it right...
Always difficult to tell from photos but I am wondering if the poles are the same length. Should the front one be in the middle for example? Or...does the front frame need to slope forwards slightly by taking the feet back by a few inches and tensioning the front guy ropes to tighten the roof.
Having said that, I have had two Coleman tents and they don't seem to pull as taut as other tents I have had and they do tend to sag a little when wet then tighten up again when dried out. See my profile pic taken on a dry but breezy day.
Hi looks to me that part of the problem is the large gap between the first and second poles which looks a lot longer than I would normally expect to see, causing the material to sag in the middle. Unless I'm missing something there doesn't appear anything
------------- Experience enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Everything has been said before, but since nobody ever listens we have to keep going back and saying it all over again and again and again
Arsenaldes, I also think that the first roof section is too long, but I really hoped that Coleman would have enough experience to know how far they could push it, and there might be something I was doing wrong.
Bob61, I think the poles are all the same length and it is an optical illusion, but I tried your idea to tilt the front ones back a little at the base. It did make a slight difference, but put a visible strain on the upper parts of the pole, which I have tight guys attached to, to try and keep the front section out. Without the extra guys I attached to the front frame, there is no way to get any decent tension.
I'm going to contact Coleman - as it stands, this tent is not fit for purpose. The weight of water pooling on the roof caused it to dip down onto the front sleeping pod last trip, meaning that condensation wicked onto the ceiling. So disappointed, as I thought I'd chosen really well.
Compared to other 4-section metal-poled tunnel tents (Outwell Montana 6, Vango Maritsa etc...), the Mackenzie Cabin does appear to have a significantly longer front tunnel section.
I have a similarly sized front section on my tent. I have noticed it is never as tight as the rest of the tent, but it doesn't sag too badly (see pic).
The front gets tighter the further out you can peg it. The pic above has the guy at about 45 degrees, it was tighter the next time I put it up when I had a lot of space in front of the tent to peg it out.
On your third picture it looks like the guys are at a steep angle. At an angle less than 45 degrees, more than half of the force from the guy will be pulling down on the pole, rather than pulling it out to tighten it.
Hi we have the cabin xl tent but with the extension . It looks like the front corner guys are at the wrong angle I think they should come out 45% from the corner . as Jason says put them further out .
You do seem to have an awful lot of guys sticking straight out front. This means you will behead yourself if you walk out of the front door and not notice them. I would certainly try pegging them further outwards away from the door although those two vent guys are in an awful position. Not a very well designed tent.
My tent has a central guy attached to the middle of the front pole but once the tent is erected the front pole stays upright just with the two side guys. I then roll up the middle guy out of the way and only use it in windy conditions. I mainly use the middle guy just for pulling the front pole upright when erecting.
My last tent was a Coleman Da Gama 6 which I was very pleased with but I decided to downsize to a Coleman Lakeside 4 deluxe and wish I hadn't. I have to say it is pretty poor quality although adequate for the time being. I used to recommend Coleman but I wouldn't now.
You might not get much joy from Coleman. When I emailed them once asking a question they suggested I contacted the person I bought the tent from!
The trouble is that once you have had problems with a tent it never feels right again and you will always be disappointed with it. I will be selling mine and buying something else when I get chance. You might end up doing the same.
Thanks for the suggestions! JasonandClare, the angle of the guys was constrained by the integrated wind break, but I've removed that, and put as much distance as I can between the front and middle section, and made the guys longer.
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There is an improvement, but it looks like guy rope central, and you are absolutely correct, Bob61, there are way too many ropes at the front, making the front door unusable unless you go straight forward, however the guys that come with the tend are attached to the material, and there is no way you could put this much strain on them without damaging the tent. Also, if you pull these tight, it just creates channels of tension in the roof.
Although the right hand side of the roof looks better now, the left is still dodgy, and if I go inside the tent, the roof is clearly not taut, and flaps in the wind. There seems to be too much material - I really couldn't pull the front poles out any further without risking damage.
Having looked at your latest photograph I am wondering if those guys attached to the flysheet next to the front legs shouldn't come out sideways behind the leg. You can normally tell at what angle a guy rope goes by taking hold of the triangular guy attachment flap and positioning it so that it is coming directly out from the flysheet rather than folded one way or the other. They are usually sewn in at the angle the guy should be, if that makes sense.
Thanks for the link to the video, Maddie. I did watch it when I first got the tent, but hadn't since. It was very informative, not least of all because their demo tent, in most of the shots is set up much worse than my own, with plenty of flappy sections! I also noticed that they moved the front guy lines, depending on what angle the shot was, so you didn't get the impression that they are in your way when you go out the front door (which they are. The side door ones are too...)
Now I am convinced that the problem is indeed poor design. Don't think they make this tent any more, which figures. It's a shame, because the flexibility of the inside is just brilliant, and apart from the tension issue, it is a doddle to pitch.
I admit, I do suffer a bit from OCD when it comes to tensioning the tent properly, and I'm always walking round making adjustments during our trips, but this one has got me beat
Quote: Originally posted by Tomrabbit on 16/9/2015I admit, I do suffer a bit from OCD when it comes to tensioning the tent properly, and I'm always walking round making adjustments during our trips, but this one has got me beat
I feel your pain! I am a little OCD with getting the guy lines and the flysheet tensioning right as well which is why it takes me 2 hours to get set up. However, once done I do tend to forget it and relax...difficult with a lake on the roof though!
I note, in your garden at least, you have managed to get the roof reasonably taut. Quite often it can be the slope of the pitch which causes problems even though it looks fairly flat. There is one pitch at my favourite campsite which I avoid using because I can never get the tent right when pitched on it.
Likewise, as mentioned, it can be a simple thing like not having the guy ropes long enough or at the wrong angle.
Incidentally, don't forget that even though it is the front section of roof causing problems the tensioning of the rear pole and guys will also have some effect on it.
Hopefully you will have better luck on your next trip.
Well the emergency fix if it's raining and a puddle is forming on the roof is to get your hands on an expanding pole or suitable height king pole or even a long garden cane, put a plastic beaker over each end (to protect groundsheet and flysheet) and prop the centre of the roof up a bit.
As to pitching it's quite common to get the roof and sides skew-wiff on a campsite because very few pitches are perfectly flat. You want the tent to be hog backed though ie higher in the middle so my suggestion is to look really carefully at the pitch and try to get the cabin level with the awning downhill. You can drive yourself nuts with trying to get a tent showroom perfect though and much of the time it simply won't be possible. So aim for functionally good and leave the OCD at home. You are on holiday after all!
I agree with Val, had this problem with water pooling in the middle, got a king pole, took the spike off the top,and put a tennis ball on top of the pole, at the bottom I just used a small place mat. I stuffed the tennis ball with sponge. This solved the problem of pooling.
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Topic: Help! Can`t get this tent pitched right!
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