RV Shades

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grashley

grashley

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Joined
May 7, 2015
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Now that I have completed basic classes for understanding my RV here, I would like to enroll in an advanced class on RV shades.

Many of the shades work fine, others, not so much.  These are the Z fold slide on a string, non blackout shades.  It seems the string runs from a bottom point where the string is attached to a tightening / hold thing, into the shade base, then up through the pleats in the shade.

1.  One string is completely loose, but still accessible at the base of the shade.  The hold thing is pictured below.  I can not get the string through it.  Am I missing something or is it broken?

2. Other shades simply do not want to slide.  I am familiar with the old adage - Don't Force it. Get a BIGGER HAMMER, but I am out of hammers  ::)  The wide one at the back of the camper is the worst.

Thanks in advance!

 

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I have almost identical shades. I will tell you that when a bigger hammer is used the shade breaks. Ask me how I know. This may not be a helpful comment but I replaced the two broken ones in the bedroom leaving just one broken one in the living room and the rest barely functioning...I?m working on replacements for those as well. These shades are just not meant to be used frequently.
 
Thanks Annie.  The comment is helpful.  I had not tried the bigger hammer yet.  Afraid to break them  :D  Now I KNOW I would!
 
I have an article about repairing day/night shades but the pdf is too large to upload. Will try to convert to separate jpg pages.
 
Instructions and repair kits are available at dirtyblindman.com
 
If it's the style shade I'm thinking of, that thing at the end of the shade string is used to tighten the strings. Loosen the screw and rotate the knob then retighten the screw. See if that helps. The strings have to be pretty tight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=398wcJoR8ws
 
Rene,
It is the type you are thinking of.  The issue for #1 is the string is out of the thing at the end.  The pic is the thing at the end, and, looking at another blind site I found, mine appears broken.  For the other windows, I will check that.

Scott,
Can you e mail your article to me, please?

If my thing in the pic IS broken, does it need replaced, or is there a cheap home work around?
 
I bought the repair kit with extensive instructions as well as a $30 spool of special nylon cord to rehabilitate the day/night blinds by the dining table in our 2006 Winnebago View. I am a patient, diligent man with enough intelligence to have made it through a masters program with honors and through a fairly long life with no attributable catastrophes. As of now, anyway.

However, following the supposedly specific directions for my blinds, I restrung them carefully, and while they do work now, sort-of, I have to prop them up with a stick if I want full daylight. They won't hold in any position other than down.

Rather than risk a total mental breakdown, I thought it the better part of valor to leave them in their current state. I wish you much better results than I had, and should you discover the secret to making them hold in different positions as they did originally, I would greatly appreciate your sharing that with me. If it's complicated, however, I probably won't bother. I didn't retire to spend my life threading blinds.
 
I got tired of broken strings on shades, so I replaced mine with MCD dual shades.  These are dual roller shades.  One is black mesh so you can see though it during the day but it blocks some sunlight and glare.  The other is a beige or while room-darkening shade.

They are expensive, but I really love mine.  I wish I had spent the money when I first bought my motorhome. You can measure and install yourself, but I chose to have a certified dealer measure and install mine because I am not handy and didn't want the stress. 
 
JudyJB said:
I got tired of broken strings on shades, so I replaced mine with MCD dual shades.  These are dual roller shades.  One is black mesh so you can see though it during the day but it blocks some sunlight and glare.  The other is a beige or while room-darkening shade.
Click to expand...


Funny you mention this - we've been wanting to replace the cheap aluminum mini blinds in our bedroom with something nicer so this post gave me some inspiration to visit the MCD website. I will most likely order just the room darkening ones for the bedroom and if we like them, I'll consider some dual shades for the living area.
 
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