So driving home today after our first big trip and looking in the mirror, noticed one of the side windows flapping in the breeze. Thinking we had inadvertently forgotten to lock shut the window we pulled into the first lay by. Jumping into the van the window was shut and locked but on checking outside it appears the outer acrylic pane has separated from the inner pane.
A quick repair with gaffer tape got us back on the road but has anyone come across this before and any suggestions on the best way to rejoin the two panes.
Use acrylic adhesive. You can get it from Amazon suppliers. Clean surfaces with meths, apply adhesive with small brush. Clamp together with bulldog clips while drying.
Hi all, just repaired(today)the three front windows on my 2004 Coachman Pastiche. Apparently this is a common problem on older windows with a printed border.
I used Bondrite S1220 adhesive at £22 per tube delivered and it seems to have done the job. Google it and several suggestion of alternative adhesives are available but I chose this one as it has been used by others with success.
I had to completely split the two smaller ones as they had only partially delaminated and I wanted to bond all the way round, no sense in doing a bit today and then have to do the rest of the window later. As for the large central window, it just fell apart when I opened it.
I used 4" spring clamps and found Bunnings was the cheapest place , a pack of mixed sizes for £1. Get 6 packs as you will need to clamp the window at lots of points around the edge.
I did mine in situ as no matter what position I put the window in I could not get it off the van.
A final word of warning, be careful of the edges of the inner pane, they are really sharp, believe me it hurts.
Allow about 2 hours per window this gives time to clean between the panels, dry completely before applying the adhesive, and then at least 1.5 hours for the adhesive to cure. Whilst it is curing, don't support with the window stays, use a piece of wood or the like. If you use the stays you could end up with stress cracks around the point where they attach to the window( I found out with the first one but didn't make the same mistake again).
Sorry this has gone on a bit but if this works long term, and I don't see why not, this will have saved me about £1000 and I am no worse off than when I started.
Give it a go.
Hi all, just repaired(today)the three front windows on my 2004 Coachman Pastiche. Apparently this is a common problem on older windows with a printed border.
It's only a common problem if the owners never open their caravan windows. The root cause of window delamination is due to the fact that the outside temperature changes daily to which the plastic acrylic windows need to expand and contract respectively. What happens is that the inner section of the window sticks to the sealing rubber whilst the out window tries to expand and contract with the altering temperatures which is then restricted by the inner half so something has to give which is the bonding that holds the two halves of the window together.
The solution is to occassionally open every window and polish the perimeter where the window seals against the rubber which will stop it from sticking. This will allow the complete window to expand and retract at the same rate thus eliminating any delamination. I do mine twice a year, at the beginning and at the end of the season.
It's a good tip and can save you hundreds of pounds in the long term by not having to repair or replace delaminated acrylic windows.
i`ll be doing mine now after reading your post Wardlows. ive found out that upvc pipe cement does the job perfectly and i already have a tub of that from work.. Sorted :)
wardlows has never been back since that post, so you could be out of luck with a reply.
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I have just repaired a delaminated bathroom window on my Elddis 482 caravan. I used a glue titled “sticks like s**t” off amazon. A tube costs about £8. I bought a dozen plastic clamps for about the same money from the same place. I put the outer piece outside down on a cloth so it would not get scratched. Put one bead of adhesive where the inner window sits with the nozzle suppled and put the inner window in place. I squashed both together manually then clamped the whole thing together with the clamps. Left it 24 hours and refitted the window. You need to be aware that it is easy to fit the inner window upside down so make sure it is the right way up before you fit the piece.
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Topic: Window separation.
via mobile 16/6/2019 at 8:08pm
