Somfy Sunea 550R2 CMO RTS Awning Motor Sizing Guide

Awning installers reach for the Sunea 550R2 CMO when the fabric runs wide and the customer wants a hand crank to fall back on. Somfy rates this motor at 50 Nm, near the top of the LT50 range. That covers most cassette and semi-cassette awnings sold in North America.

Somfy assigns it reference 1118210 and the full designation Sunea RTS CMO 550R2 with 18" Fast Connector. Two measurements decide whether it drops into your assembly. Tube inside diameter comes first. The head-end bracket comes second, and it derails more orders than torque ever does.

Tube diameter decides this motor before torque does

Somfy publishes a minimum tube inside diameter of 1.85 in for the 550R2, with a motor body external diameter of 1.77 in. Measure the inside of your roller tube before you order. A tube under 1.85 in will not accept the motor once the crown sits on the head, and torque headroom does nothing to solve that.

Awning tubes in this class run 60 mm or 70 mm octagonal, or 78 mm round, or a 2.5 in round profile on American hardware. Somfy builds a matched crown and drive set for each. Measure across the flats on an octagonal tube, never corner to corner, or you will order a set one size too large.

Awnings the Sunea 550R2 CMO drives

Somfy lists one application for this reference: awnings. Cassette and semi-cassette awnings sit inside its brief, and so does an open-roller retractable with heavy fabric. The 50 Nm rating gives folding arms enough force to break a stiff awning out of a cold cassette, with reserve left for fabric that has taken on rain weight.

Somfy builds the CMO override into the head. The crank engages a gear train that turns the tube by hand, so a power cut never strands an extended awning overnight. Restaurant terraces and retail patios buy this motor for that feature on its own.

Somfy also gives the 550R2 automatic limit adjustment. The motor resets its stop points as the fabric settles and stretches through its first seasons, which spares the installer a return visit to re-teach the limits. The soft-close function eases the final stretch of retraction and reduces the shock load that folding arms put through their elbow joints. Electronic obstacle detection halts travel when something blocks the path.

Verified Somfy specifications

Somfy publishes the following figures for reference 1118210 in its US electronic catalog.

One correction against the current product listing. The store spec table prints a Star head for this motor. Somfy publishes CMO. Order the bracket against the CMO head, covered in the next section, and treat the listing figure as the outlier.

The bracket and crown sets that match this head

A CMO head carries the override gearbox, and that gearbox needs a bracket cut for it. The Somfy Motor Bracket for Sunea CMO RTS US (9015802) holds this head on North American awning frames. A standard LT50 star head bracket will not capture it. That single mismatch accounts for a real share of returned hardware, and it costs a site visit to discover.

Somfy also publishes a metric Sunea RTS CMO universal bracket for tube assemblies built on European hardware. Check the awning frame's mounting pattern and hole spacing before you choose between the two. The override crank has to clear the bracket face, so dry-fit the head before you commit the lag bolts.

Crown and drive selection for the tube you have

The crown centers the motor body inside the tube. The drive transmits torque from the motor shaft to the tube wall. Somfy sells them as a matched pair for each tube profile, and mixing profiles across the two parts leaves the motor spinning inside a tube that never moves.

A 2.5 in round tube takes the Somfy LT50 2.5" Crown (9707026) with the Somfy LT50 2.5" Hard Clip Drive (9206019). The hard clip drive snaps onto the motor shaft and holds its position while you slide the assembly into the tube, which turns a two-person job into a one-person job.

Octagonal tubes take a different set. Somfy stocks LT50 crown and drive sets in 60 mm and 70 mm octagonal, plus a 78 mm round set for European awning tubes. Confirm the drive pin seats without play. Any slop at the drive shows up later as a knock at the start of every travel.

RTS pairing and everyday control

Somfy builds the RTS receiver into the 550R2, so the motor needs no external receiver box and no interface. Pair it to any RTS transmitter. The Somfy Telis 1 Channel RTS Patio Remote (1810643) suits a single awning, and Somfy builds the Telis Patio housing to live outdoors near the awning it drives.

Somfy publishes a 656.2 ft open-field range on 433.420 MHz, with 12 channels and rolling-code security across 16 million combinations. Masonry walls and a metal cassette cut that number, though a patio install almost never tests the limit.

Programming follows the standard RTS sequence. Power the motor, press the programming button on a paired transmitter, then set the upper and lower limits from the remote. Somfy holds the limits and the transmitter pairing in motor memory through a power loss, so a storm outage will not send you back up the ladder.

Install notes worth checking twice

The 18 in fast connector lead ends in a Somfy connector rather than bare leads. Confirm the connector on the motor you receive against the power lead you plan to use, and order the matching cordset if the two differ. Somfy sells several lead styles across the 500 series, and the connector shell tells you which one you have.

Somfy rates the 550R2 at IP 44, which suits a motor living inside a cassette or under an awning hood. Keep the connector out of standing water and dress the lead so it drips away from the head. The published operating range runs from -4 °F to 158 °F, wide enough for a covered patio through a northern winter.

Sound sits at 55 dB. An awning motor runs outdoors for under a minute per cycle, so that figure carries far less weight here than it does on an interior Sonesse behind a client's desk. Power draw reaches 240 W at 2.1 A during travel and drops to zero at rest, which keeps a multi-awning patio inside a single circuit.

Order the Somfy Motor Sunea 550R2 CMO RTS 120V (1118210) with the CMO bracket and the crown and drive set that matches your tube, and the assembly arrives complete. Add the Telis Patio remote if the awning has no transmitter on site yet.

Frequently asked questions

What tube size does the Somfy Sunea 550R2 CMO fit?

Somfy publishes a minimum tube inside diameter of 1.85 in, with a motor body external diameter of 1.77 in. Any awning tube measuring less than 1.85 in inside will not take the motor. Match the crown and drive set to the tube profile, whether that is 60 mm octagonal, 70 mm octagonal, 78 mm round, or 2.5 in round.

Does the Sunea 550R2 CMO need a separate RTS receiver?

No. Somfy builds the Radio Technology Somfy receiver into the motor head, so the 550R2 pairs straight to a Situo or Telis RTS transmitter with no external box. The motor runs on 433.420 MHz with rolling-code security and holds its pairing through a power outage.

Which bracket fits the Sunea CMO head?

Somfy builds a dedicated bracket for the CMO head, reference 9015802 for North American frames, plus a metric universal version for European hardware. A standard LT50 star head bracket will not hold a CMO head, because the override gearbox changes the head profile. Confirm the crank clears the bracket face during dry fit.

How much torque does the Sunea 550R2 deliver?

Somfy rates the 550R2 at 50 Nm with a travel speed of 14 rpm. That pairing suits wide cassette and semi-cassette awnings where folding arms need force to break the fabric out of a cold housing. The motor draws 240 W at 2.1 A on a 120V, 60 Hz supply during travel.

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