Rebuilding the Day/Night shades with Wire

[macmcintire]

Wow! I am way too lazy for this. I just bought new ones when mine broke. They weren't very expensive.

[jage]

The bad news is my wire broke. There is a defect in the grommet inside the top, which was the death of at least two cords and the wire. Going to have to order full replacement shade.

[my3kids]

.. not intending to hijack this useful thread but where would one find/buy these shades? I've been casually looking but never found them.

Thanks,
Ray

[Ford_6L_E350]

A quick web search for 'van window shades RV' came up with:

http://www.discountvantruck.com/rvvanpl ... shades.htm

http://rvandvansurplus.com/pleatedshades.asp#

http://www.blindschalet.com/window-blin ... hades.html

and some on ebay, but you have to need that exact size.

Mike

[boywonder]

Does anybody sell these that have the thermo-formed plastic frame that bolts to the E-series van doors?.....ie plug-n-play?

[Waterski02]

Wondering about the plastic trim as well, I found a manufacturer in Indiana, but couldn't find much more info.

I'll see if I can find the name again.

[JoeyNick]

My side door day/night shade gave up the ghost late last year and I finally got around to fixing it about two months ago using the 50# fishing line. As mentioned, it's pretty easy to do.

For the knots, I tied half a Double Fisherman's loop to the spring at the top and a simple Overhand Knot at the bottom. As a Rope Rescue Technician, the knots were a no brainer for me but others might find it a little more challenging. You could also try using a Figure 8 Follow Through loop.

Double Fisherman's

Figure 8 Follow Through

Overhand Knot

The slide of the shade feels much smoother with the fishing line. Time will tell how well it holds up but it was easy enough to fix that I'm not too concerned. On a side note, I did a load test on the original shade cord to find out how strong it is. It failed at 52# so in that regard the 50# fishing line is comparable.

[skyrat]

I blew out a cord retainer/tensioner on my last trip and am about to rebuild at least one set of blinds. One of the few things on my van that is not just about perfect is that the lightweight day portion of the blinds were not put away correctly years ago. So when I got it the pleats were kind of messed up and they never go back just the right way. I am considering just removing that portion of the blind if I cannot find a way to re-crease them to get the pleats to fold correctly.

Can that portion of the blinds be re-creased to work right?
If removing the day part of the blinds, it looks like I should be able to remove the middle bar and lower day section and replace both with the existing lower bar. I have not removed it to take a look yet, but I will soon.

Anyone done this?
Any Ideas?

[daveb]

I know what you're talking about. I wonder if steaming then folding closed and setting them in warmth to dry would work? Last resort might be an iron on a low setting but I'm just guessing. Have you ever contacted the company itself?

[alta825]

Thanks for the thread Bump. This last week in the San Juans one of my plactic dealys gave up the ghost on the way down Ophir Pass and we just removed the entire day/night shade. Guess I have another To-Do..