How to Install a Cable Guide or Side Retention Blind
Awnly supplies only — installation, the choice of fixings and your measurements are the purchaser's responsibility. Where this guide and the manufacturer's manual supplied with your product differ, follow the manual.
Part of the Awnly installation guides. Shop: Alpha Cable Guide Straight Drop · Alpha SRS Side Retention Blind.
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1 · Which system have you got?
Answer first: look at what runs down the side. Two thin wires means cable guide. A channel with a spline in it means deep channel. A channel with a zip in a second, floating channel inside it means side retention.
All three are built on the same roller blind — same tube, same brackets, same headbox, same operating options. What differs is entirely the sides, and that changes the install time, the price, the tolerance you have to work to, and how the blind behaves in wind.
| System | What runs down the side | What it restrains |
|---|---|---|
|
Cable guide also "wire guide" |
Two tensioned stainless wires | The ends of the bottom rail only |
| Deep channel | A one-piece channel with the fabric's spline running inside it | The fabric edge, full drop |
| Side retention (SRS) | A two-part channel with a floating guide inside it, carrying a zip welded to the fabric | The fabric edge, full drop, with adjustment |
Why the "floating" part matters
On a side retention system the guide that actually holds the zip is not fixed to the wall — it sits loose inside the fixed outer channel and is screwed to it, cut-out by cut-out, after the blind is hung and running. That is the whole design idea: you set the guide to where the fabric actually wants to run, rather than forcing the fabric to follow a channel you fixed to an imperfect wall.
It also means the fitting sequence is not optional. Fix the guide before the blind is in and running and you have thrown away the one thing that makes the system work.
Published guidance for one side retention system allows reveal mounting on openings up to 20 mm out of square. That is a lot of latitude compared with a track-guided blind, and it comes directly from the floating guide. It is not permission to stop checking, but it does mean an imperfect opening is not automatically a problem.
2 · What each system actually holds
Answer first: a cable guide restrains the bottom rail. A channel system restrains the fabric. Those are different products sold under similar names.
On a cable guide blind, a floating end cap on each end of the bottom rail is threaded onto a tensioned wire. The rail cannot swing sideways, and it stays located through its whole travel. But the fabric between the two wires has nothing holding it — under wind it bellies out exactly as a plain straight drop would. What you have bought is a straight drop with a very well-behaved bottom rail.
On a deep channel or side retention blind, a spline or zip welded into the fabric edge runs inside a channel for the full drop. The fabric itself is held. That is a genuinely different structural proposition, and it is why these systems cost more and take longer.
This surprised us, so we checked it twice. One Australian manufacturer publishes the same EN 13561 rating — up to Class 2, about 29 to 38 km/h — for its cable guide system and its side retention system, and for its plain straight drop and pivot arm besides. Despite the side retention system capturing the fabric edge and the cable guide not, the published class is identical.
Do not read that as "they perform the same". Read it as the class being a range-wide declaration rather than a per-system test result. If you need to explain to a customer why the side retention system costs more, the honest answer is about how it behaves and what it seals — light gaps, flutter, edge blow-out — not about a higher published number, because there isn't one.
Worth knowing: we also found a third-party consumer brochure quoting a higher class for "Alpha Awnings" generically. It conflicts with the manufacturer's own website, and we could not resolve which product it refers to. Quote the manufacturer's own current page, not a brochure.
So which do you specify?
Cable guide when…
The look matters most, the opening is sheltered, and the customer wants the slimmest possible sides with no bulky channel. It is the neatest of the three by a distance.
Deep channel when…
You want the fabric held and the wall is straight and true enough to fix a one-piece channel to without a fight.
Side retention when…
You want the fabric held, light gaps closed and edge flutter gone — and the opening is not perfectly square, which is where the floating guide earns its money.
3 · Sizes, measuring and the allowance nobody expects
| Crank or motorised | Internal cord winch | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum width | 5000 mm | 3500 mm |
| Maximum drop | 4000 mm | 2900 mm |
| Minimum drop | 300 mm | 300 mm |
| Maximum area | 16 m² | 10 m² |
| Minimum width — cable guide | 1000 mm | |
| Minimum width — side retention | 1200 mm | |
Measuring
Face fix takes the overall size with no deduction. Reveal and top fix take the smallest opening size, with the factory taking a small deduction on the drop — commonly 2 mm — and a manufacturing tolerance of about ±2 mm applies either way. If hold-down straps are being fitted, allow a minimum of 100 mm extra on the drop for them.
For a face fix onto full brick or brick veneer, you need solid masonry beyond the opening on each side for the channel or bracket to land on. One manufacturer publishes these additions to the opening size:
- Cable guide: + 300 mm
- Deep channel: + 165 mm
- Side retention: + 150 mm
The cable guide needs the most, not the least. That runs against everyone's intuition, because it is the slimmest-looking system — but the wire brackets have to sit clear of the opening at top and bottom, and the bottom bracket needs somewhere solid on the ground or wall to land. Check this before you promise a customer that a cable guide will suit a narrow pier.
Where the head can go
4 · Fixings and substrate
Answer first: identify the substrate with a test hole, and note that the fixings are usually not in the box.
One manufacturer states it plainly: installation fixings are not supplied with the awning, and each installation should be assessed case by case. That means the single most safety-critical component in the job is the one you chose yourself in the aisle at the hardware store. Choose it deliberately.
| Use | Published fastener |
|---|---|
| Side fixing channels | Countersunk 10g × 50 mm, stainless |
| Face fixing channels | Wafer or button head 8g × 50 mm; or expansion anchor 6 × 30 mm into masonry |
| Universal brackets | Roofing hex head 12g × 50 mm; or expansion anchor 8 × 50 mm into masonry |
| Cable guide bottom bracket | Countersunk 10g × 50 mm stainless; or countersunk 4.5 × 30 mm stainless into masonry |
| Brick or concrete generally | Masonry plug, 50 mm length |
"The brackets must be fixed solidly to a substantial surface. Hollow bricks or foam products are not suitable. Brick veneer surfaces require at least two courses of brickwork above the bracket and two courses below."
Aerated concrete panels are not covered at all by the manuals we reviewed. If that is what you have, get advice rather than guessing.
For a deep channel, published guidance is to secure the back channel to the fixing surface every 700 mm. For a side retention system, the floating guide is fixed at every factory cut-out, and the spacing is therefore set by the channel rather than by you. On any blind over 3500 mm wide, add an extra fixing through the centre of the headbox back panel.
Pre-1990s fibre cement sheeting may contain asbestos, and a channel runs the full height of an opening — so you are drilling a lot of holes, not one. If you are not certain what a sheet material is, have it identified first. Check for concealed cable and pipe as well; a full-height channel crosses whatever is in the wall.
5 · Installing a cable guide blind
Answer first: thread the floating end caps onto the wires before you hang the blind. Almost every cable guide job that goes wrong goes wrong here.
Fix the head, then set out the bottom brackets from it
Install the headbox or open brackets and level them. Then, using a string line or laser run off the edge of the blind bracket or the side of the headbox — not off the wall or the post face — mark where each bottom cable bracket goes. The wire has to be plumb relative to the blind, not relative to the building.
Fit the bottom brackets and barrels
Strip the assembly down: remove the clip from the barrel, unscrew the tension pin from the bottom of the wire, take the barrel out. Fix the bracket, then reinsert the barrel with its lip facing toward the fabric and refit the clip.
Connect the wire at the bottom, then thread the end cap on
Pass the tension pin through the barrel and screw it into the bottom of the wire — three or four turns to secure — and fit the lock nut. Then unwind the wire and feed the floating end cap onto it now. It cannot be added later without undoing an end.
Lock the wire at the top and tension it
Feed the wire up through the top cable bracket, pull it tight by hand, and lock the grub screw with a 4 mm Allen key. Then go back to the bottom and tension it: hold the wire with one pair of pliers so it cannot spin, and turn the tension pin with a second pair. Do one side, then the other, then re-check both.
We looked. No manufacturer we could find publishes a tension in newtons, a torque, or a turn count for these wires. It is a feel judgement: taut enough that the wire does not deflect noticeably under a firm sideways push, not so tight that you are bowing the brackets. If in doubt, err toward less — an over-tensioned wire pulls brackets out of line and strips the pin thread.
Hang the blind, then connect the end caps
Install the roller tube. Then lower the blind to a height you can reach from the ground, tilt it, and insert the floating end cap into the bottom rail. Repeat on the other side. Run it through the full travel and watch the rail stay square.
Stainless wire under sustained tension creeps. A cable guide blind that was perfect on handover can have a slightly loose rail in a year or two, and the fix is thirty seconds with two pairs of pliers. Put it on the annual check list rather than treating it as a fault.
6 · Installing a side retention blind
Answer first: the blind goes in first and runs first. The floating guide is fixed last, to where the fabric actually wants to run.
Open the channel and take the floating guide out
The channel arrives fully assembled — back channel, floating guide, front cover, end caps. Slide the front cover a short distance toward the middle and lift it off. Then lift the floating guide slightly, tilt its bottom toward the middle, and draw it out bottom-end first.
Fix the head and the outer channels
Install and level the headbox back plate, then fix the outer side channels. For a face install, use a spirit level to get each channel vertical and square to the headbox. For a reveal install, fix directly to the substrate — this system tolerates a reveal up to about 20 mm out of square, which is what the floating guide is for.
Hang the fabric roll and feed the zips
Install the roll into the headbox and secure it with the safety pin. Lower the bottom rail — at least 100 mm, or about half the drop. Insert the zip into the floating guide on each side, slide the guide up onto its top end cap locator post and screw it in, with the bottom sitting on the vertical fins of the bottom end cap.
The factory leaves a 30 to 40 mm tail of zip beyond the fabric. It looks like an offcut. It is not. It makes the guide easier to feed on, and it stops the zip running out of the top of the guide if the blind is ever over-raised. When the blind is down, the tail simply collapses into the bottom of the channel.
Run it, then centre and balance it
Fully lower and raise the blind two or three times to let the floating guides find their alignment. Centre the skin, check it is balanced, then tighten the top end cap locating nut — a 7 mm spanner is typically needed.
Fix the floating guide, one side at a time
Lower the skin to the bottom of the side channel and pick a side to do first. Starting at the bottom cut-out, drill a 2.5 mm pilot hole through the grey floating guide and the first layer of the side channel — you will feel the bit break through — and drive the supplied screw. Work upward, cut-out by cut-out.
Two details from the manufacturer that are easy to skip and expensive to undo:
- Set the driver torque low to begin with and raise it only if screws are not seating. These are small screws into aluminium.
- Drill with medium pressure. Lean on it and you go straight through the back of the channel.
On the second side, raise the blind to bring the bottom rail to the next cut-out and apply light tension — but the manufacturer is explicit: do not raise the blind while a screw is actually going in.
Test, and adjust the catch points
Run the blind through its full travel. Where it is tight or catches, the fix is to move the floating guide in or out at the nearest cut-out — which means drilling a fresh pilot hole slightly above or below the original and re-fixing there. That is the manufacturer's own remedy, not a bodge.
If the skin is not rolling square, adjust the top end cap locating nut rather than chasing it at the channel.
Fit the front covers
Raise the skin to within about 100 mm of the top end cap, align each cover flush with the outer face of the channel, slide it into position and fix through the top and bottom end caps.
7 · The Light Lift spring option
A spring balance inside the tube, so the blind can be moved to any position by hand. It is also the part of these systems most likely to hurt you.
Light Lift replaces the crank or cord with a pre-tensioned spring assembly inside the roller tube. The blind is then raised and lowered by moving the bottom rail by hand, and it stays where you leave it. Spring assemblies come in several lengths, and the correct one — plus the number of pre-tension turns — is read off a chart plotting the width against the drop. Published charts for one system run from around 7 turns at the smallest sizes up to around 19 at the largest, with a shaded zone marking combinations that are outside the system's limits altogether.
- "Do not exceed recommended number of pre-tension turns." This appears in capitals in the manual. The chart is the specification, not a starting point.
- Position the tube with the pawl at the top so the spring tensions properly.
- Ensure the pawl is locked off before the spring assembly goes onto the bracket.
- Keep a firm hold on the winding tool throughout, keep your body out of its path, and have your second person steady the assembly.
If the size falls in the "outside of limitations" zone of the chart, the answer is a different operating option — not more turns.
8 · How much wind will it take?
Answer first: the published figure is up to Class 2 under the European standard — about 29 to 38 km/h, and it is the same figure for the cable guide as for the side retention system.
There is no Australian product standard that assigns these blinds a wind class. The figure above is a manufacturer's declaration against a European standard, published on their product pages, and expressly qualified as "up to" Class 2, "depending on model no. and size", and conditional on the blind being built and installed with their components to their specification.
Physically, capturing the fabric edge for the full drop is obviously better than holding only the bottom rail. But the published class does not say so, and you should not imply that it does. What the side retention system genuinely delivers over a cable guide is a closed edge: no light gaps, no flutter, no fabric blow-out at the sides. That is a real, demonstrable benefit and it does not require inventing a wind figure.
What to tell the customer
Do
- Retract in strong wind. Every manual says this and none of them qualifies it by system.
- Watch the fabric while retracting — stop immediately if it catches or creases.
- Have the cable tension checked annually.
Don't
- Rely on an automatic wind sensor. Manufacturers state plainly that automatic retraction is not fail-safe and should not be relied on to react quickly to gusts.
- Leave a motorised blind unattended for long periods when weather is about.
- Assume a channel system is a wall.
9 · Fault finding
An honest note first: the manufacturer manuals for these systems contain no troubleshooting section at all. What follows separates what they do say from what is experience.
| Symptom | Usual cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Side retention blind tight or catching at a point in its travel | The floating guide is fixed slightly too far in or out at that cut-out | Published remedy: drill a fresh pilot hole just above or below the original at that cut-out and re-fix, moving the guide in or out |
| Skin not rolling square | Top end cap locating nut not set | Published remedy: adjust the top end cap locating nut |
| Zip has come out of the top of the guide | The blind was over-raised — and the zip tail was probably trimmed off on install | Design intent: the uncut 30–40 mm tail exists to prevent exactly this. Refeeding usually means taking the channel apart |
| Fabric not rolling straight, or resistance felt | Obstruction or creasing | Published instruction: stop immediately rather than forcing it |
| Cable guide bottom rail swinging or loose | Wire tension has dropped — stainless creeps under sustained load | Re-tension at the bottom pins, both sides, then re-check |
| Cable guide brackets pulled out of line | Over-tensioned wire | Back the tension off and check the bracket fixings before re-tensioning |
| Floating end cap has come off the wire | The rail has been forced, or the cap was never fully seated | Re-seat it. If it recurs, check the wire tension and the rail's travel limits |
| Screw drilled through the back of the channel | Too much pressure on the pilot drill | Prevention only. Medium pressure, low torque, feel for the first layer |
10 · Care and maintenance
We searched the installation manual and the manufacturer's own website for a maintenance section, a cleaning method or a named channel lubricant for these systems, and found none. That is worth saying plainly rather than filling the gap with advice borrowed from a different manufacturer's product.
What the manual does say is that some fabric behaviour — creasing, puckering, and stretching under tension — is considered normal rather than a defect. Beyond that, the sensible general practice for any outdoor blind applies: rinse with clean water rather than a pressure washer, never roll the blind up wet, keep the channels clear of leaf litter and grit, and check fixings after severe weather.
| Task | Suggested interval |
|---|---|
| Rinse the fabric and clear the channels of debris | Every few months, more often under trees |
| Check cable tension and re-tension if needed | Annually |
| Check channel and bracket fixings | Annually, and after severe weather |
| Check the zip is running cleanly its full length | Annually |
Some channel systems want a silicone spray and some want nothing at all, and using the wrong thing on a zip is worse than using nothing. Since the manual is silent, ask the supplier what they recommend for their own channel rather than reaching for whatever is in the van.
11 · Approvals, electrical work and when to stop
Do I need council approval?
For a domestic guided blind fitted to an existing structure, usually not — but confirm rather than assume. The answer changes if the blind forms part of a new or enlarged roofed structure, if the installation is large, commercial or faces a public space, or if the property is strata or community title, where the owners corporation commonly has its own approval process for anything that changes the appearance of a building.
Electrical work
Running new cable, installing an outlet, trimming and fitting a plug to a motor lead, or wiring a motor or switch into the fixed wiring is licensed electrical work in every Australian state and territory. There is no DIY exemption. New or altered outdoor circuits also require residual current protection under the wiring rules.
Coastal installations
Cable guide systems are the ones to think hardest about here, because the wire is a working structural component in permanent tension. Specify 316 marine grade stainless rather than 304 near the coast, and expect the annual tension check to matter more.
- The substrate is hollow brick, render over foam, aerated concrete, or something you cannot identify.
- The wall is brick veneer and you cannot get two courses above and below the bracket.
- There is not enough solid masonry beside the opening for the allowance the system needs — 300 mm for a cable guide is a lot of pier.
- The bottom cable brackets have nowhere structural to land.
- A Light Lift spring needs tensioning and you do not have the chart.
- The size falls in the "outside of limitations" zone of the spring chart.
- You are working above ground level or without safe access — remember a channel means drilling the full height of the opening.
- Anything needs to be hardwired.
12 · Common questions
What is the difference between a cable guide and a side retention blind?
A cable guide holds only the ends of the bottom rail, on two tensioned stainless wires — the fabric edges are free. A side retention system holds the fabric edge itself, via a zip welded into it running inside a channel for the full drop. The cable guide is slimmer, cheaper and faster to install; the side retention system closes the sides properly.
Is a side retention blind the same as a Ziptrak?
Mechanically it is the same family of idea — a welded fabric edge captured in a channel for the full drop. The detail differs: a side retention system uses a zip inside a floating guide within a two-part channel, which is what lets it absorb an opening that is out of square. Whether one outperforms the other in wind is not something the published figures answer, and we would not claim it either way.
Which one should I choose?
Cable guide for the slimmest look on a sheltered opening. Deep channel or side retention when you want the fabric held and the sides closed. Side retention specifically when the opening is not square, because the floating guide is designed for exactly that.
How wide can these blinds be?
Up to about 5000 mm with a crank or motor, or 3500 mm with an internal cord winch, subject also to a maximum area — commonly 16 m² and 10 m² respectively. Minimum widths are around 1000 mm for a cable guide and 1200 mm for a side retention system.
How much solid wall do I need beside the opening?
More than you would think, and most for the slimmest-looking system. One manufacturer publishes, for a face fix onto full brick or brick veneer, an allowance beyond the opening of 300 mm for a cable guide, 165 mm for a deep channel and 150 mm for a side retention system. Check the pier before you quote.
How tight should the guide wires be?
There is no published figure — no tension, no torque, no turn count. Tension by feel with two pairs of pliers until the wire does not deflect noticeably under a firm push, and no further. Over-tensioning pulls brackets out of line and strips the tension pin thread.
Why must I not cut the zip tail off?
The 30 to 40 mm of zip beyond the fabric makes the floating guide easier to feed on, and it stops the zip running out of the top of the guide if the blind is ever over-raised. When the blind is down the tail just collapses into the bottom of the channel. Trim it and you have removed a safety margin you cannot put back.
How much wind will they take?
The published figure is up to Class 2 under EN 13561 — about 29 to 38 km/h — and notably it is the same for the cable guide and the side retention system, despite the very different fabric restraint. There is no Australian product standard assigning these blinds a wind class. Retract them in strong wind.
About the figures in this guide. Sizes, component dimensions, pilot hole sizes, masonry allowances, fastener types and spring chart ranges are drawn from Australian manufacturer documentation current at the date of review. They are given so you can sanity-check a job and understand why the rules exist — they are not a specification, and they vary between manufacturers, systems and product generations. The installation manual supplied with your blind takes precedence over anything here.
On wind figures. The Class 2 / 29–38 km/h figure is one manufacturer's published declaration against the European standard EN 13561, expressly qualified as "up to" and "depending on model no. and size". We checked the cable guide and side retention product pages separately and both quote the same class. A third-party consumer brochure quotes a higher class generically for the same brand; it conflicts with the manufacturer's own pages and we could not resolve it, so we have not relied on it.
On what is missing. The manufacturer documentation we reviewed contains no troubleshooting section and no maintenance or lubrication guidance for these systems, and publishes no numeric tension figure for the guide wires. Where this guide fills those gaps it says so, and marks the advice as ours rather than the manufacturer's.
Sources consulted include the Alpha Awning Series installation and measuring guidelines (Hunter Douglas Australia), including the side retention system section; Alpha and Turnils product pages for cable guide and side retention systems; Australian awning component documentation; and Australian work health and safety guidance on managing the risk of falls. This guide is published by Awnly and is not a manufacturer publication.
Reviewed August 2026. Product specifications change — if you are reading this well after that date, check current figures with your supplier.
Take this guide onto the job
The full illustrated guide as a printable PDF — 16 pages, every diagram included. Free, no email required.
Shop the products in this guide: Alpha Cable Guide Straight Drop · Alpha SRS Side Retention Blind.
Related guides: Ziptrak® blinds · Straight drop awnings · All installation guides.
Not sure which product suits your space? Read Picking the Right Blind or Awning or ask us — we reply within one business day.