I had the caravan away over the weekend and had the door locked in the open position when a really strong gust of wind blew the caravan door shut with an almighty slam. To cut a long story short the caravan door window fell out leaving behing a bed of sealant, Does anyone know what i need to secure the window again and do i need to take the existing sealant off. Is this a DIY job or would i be better to leave it in somewhere? Would appreciate any help at all.
Your description of events is a bit confusing. It sounds as though the window seal has blown out, but the window is not attached to this, but attached to a rail above this. If the rail has pulled out then it will probably have either ripped the screws out of the frame or pulled them through the holes of the rail. Either way, the screws will need to be removed and new ones fitted. These may not hold very well in the frame, especially if the old ones pulled out of the frame. In this case, you will need to drill fresh holes in the rail between the existing holes and fit fresh screws through these. The rail will need to be sealed as this is the main seal that stops water ingress.
The secondary seal is primarily a draught seal, but does offer some protection to the caravan fram as well as it covers the exposed surfaces.These are normally held on a bead of sealer and are stapled to the frame before being locked inplace with a plastic insert and finally the catches are screwed into the frame through this rubber.
It's dificult to tell what has blown out from your description, either the rail has come off (in which case, the window catches would probably have held the window in place) or has the draught seal come away due to the window being blown open and pulling the catches out of the frame, forcing the seal out. In which case I woiuld expect the window to be hanging from the rail, but unable to stay closed.
Fortunately, there is not much on a caravan that cannot be fixed with a modecum of DIY skills and the right attitude of mind. Most caravan repairs look a lot bigger than they actually are. If you can fit a new kitchen, you can nigh on build a caravan from scratch.
I was thinking of one of the caravan (opening) windows. I can't say I have ever taken one out of a door (primarily because I have never had a caravan with a window in the door) But I would imagine it would refit by pushing the window and rubber against the hole and peeling the rubber back in through the hole. Personally, I would clean the bulk of sealant off and replace it. You can buy it on a roll which is not quite as messy as the tubes, but still pretty messy. The other option would be clean the sealant off, refit the window without any sealant then peel the rubbver back enough to get the nozzle of a mastic tube in and inject some mastic in after fitting from both sides. This probably won't be quite as messy as trying to fit the rubber over the sealant.
Hi Gary, Check round the door window seal,make sure the lips are on both the inner and outer parts of seal are not damaged, check the door window apertures, hight and width,do same with the fallen out window( to check that window has not been replaced at some time with one that is a little smaller), If wrong size you may have to get new one or make the door aperture a little smaller for it to fit. Yes, clean the old sealer off and clean with white spirits(best for the job),run new sealer round the door aperture outside edges, get some strong twine rap round the seal (the inner door part,leave a foot or so hanging),put twine though the aperture,lubricate the lip of seal,with some olive oil, (the lip that will be inside van),offer the window to door,push it in till outer lip is flush with door, then pull on twine to bring out any of the lip that is caught, hope that makes sense. have done this and it works well,others on here may have other ways of doing this. good luck.
------------- If everything runs smoothly then I must have done something wrong
If in Doubt Check it Out.
Jhsw, thanks for the reply, but i think were still not on the right path, the caravan door window does'nt have any lips, it appears to be stuck to the door just with sealant and nothing else, i dont want to use silicone or anything like that, will try and post pic tomorrow to see if i can make the situation a bit clearer, its just knowing what type of sealant to use
Take a look at these pictures http://www.girvan.f2s.com/23.html , the important bit is shown in the lower pictures , it's the rubber key strip , you may have one on your door window rubber , with the key strip out you should be able to refit the window , then refit the key strip . If you use white spirit to clean off the old mastic make sure you clean again with methylated spirit to remove any residue left by the white spirit .
atb
Wizard
Sealant wise i'd go for Tigerseal as i feel Sikaflex is getting to expensive .
Thanks for all the tips guys, managed to remove the old sealant with a knife and a small chisel, what a time consuming job! Looks like its gonna be stuck on with tigerseal as it comes highly recommended. Thanks again for your tips and ideas.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Caravan window fallen out
