Sounds like the same windows that are in most new vans I have looked at & don't like the idear. If you need to close a blind to stop the sun or lights then you also stop the air flow, hate to think what you have to do if they go wrong.

JC.

They are the worst windows on the market, I don't know how they can every be considered for any vehicle in Australia, as Di said, they collect insect and stain, they blow out  and rip whenever you get a bit of a breeze, I've had them for 4 years and complained to the manufacture of the camper within weeks, who also wiped his hands of them, not much choice of any other windows that I can see, I'm just stuck with them but I advise anyone who is looking for a van or motorhome with these to look for any other alternative in windows.

 

Kevin- not happy Jan!!!

Thanks for your response Oz Gypsy.  What we have learnt through this experience and many others as we had our "magic bus" built is "don't listen to so called experts"!!!!  Yes indeed the windows are great but as you say the concept was never meant for Australian conditions.  What drew me to the idea in the first place was that we wouldn't need any other type of window furnishing like curtains or blilnds having had venetians in our other bus, which were great, but a nightmare to clean as we do a lot of "off the beaten track" travelling.  So we will continue to look at other alternatives, and currently sliding windows seem to be another option but for now we just have to put up with what we have.  I had a chuckle when you mentioned you'd also been in touch with Dometic and that they were unaware of the problem....I wonder how much longer they can say that before they will seriously need to look at this window type.  They products they use are just to flimsy however I do understand that replacing the screen does help but it won't change the blind component blowing in.  Oh well you live and you learn

Hey Peter pleased to hear that you are happy with your windows and hope it continues that way. 

We have a dometic skylight/hatch and it is absolute garbage. Too clear and lets too much light in not to mention heat. On a hot day the heat coming through the flimsy blind is staggering. Hold my hand two feet under hatch and it's like putting my hand under a grill not to mention the A/C struggles to keep the van cool. Lousy flyscreen comes out of the track as does the blind in the slightest breeze plus the dirt that collects in the blind has put several holes in it.. Tried to get hatch with darker tint .... they don't have one , tried stick on window tint, was told by several tinting places it won't stick to plastic so now we have a towel ontop to keep the heat out and the cool air in. Would like to remove this waste of time and put 4 season hatchs in but the hole in the roof is too large :(
The only plus is that my lady and I can lay in bed at night and look at the stars when the hatch is shut IF we remember to take the towel off.....................

Pinto unfortunately we also have one of those Dometic hatches in the kitchen and I feel your pain, we are in the process of trying different options to keep the heat out, I'll let you know if we come up with a workable solution. We did try one of those windscreen shades last summer but it disintegrated due to the heat!!!!! Thankfully we have a different brand hatch in the bedroom and that works a treat.  It's a shame Dometic appear to have so much market share.  Enjoy the stars

Wow. I do like the look of them. We have cut out the space in the walls in accordance to the sizes of these windows for our bus conversion, but haven't ordered them yet. I have a friend with them and I will go to the local caravan place and have a good look at he them before we go ahead and order them. Thanks for alerting us to the possible problem. If we go ahead with them, then I might see if I can get a guarantee in writing to cover them.
I am just sorry that people like BusMartins have had to go through the pain first!
As for the Dometic skylight. I have the largest available in our caravan and I love it. Yes, the flyscreen might have a small gap if you are not careful but it is easy to avoid and easy to correct. As for the light- yes it is meant to let the light it but if it is too hot or sunny eg when I am trying to read my computer screen, then I just close the cover - no problem. The only thing we generally do is cover the whole hatch on the outside when we are not traveling as my husband thinks the plastic does not have a high UV protection in built (He used to be a plastics manufacturer and I concede to his experienced knowledge! - I just sewed and elastic sided square similar to a fitted bedsheet format but out of a rubber back curtain I picked up from the op shop for $1. Enough there for 3 covers -except I used it in other projects!

We have the same but with a slim venitian blind inside.
Have not had any issues to date..

cheers

Mike

GaryKelly wrote:

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You're all a bit posh. My old '74 Freeway slide-on has an aluminium box-lid as roof hatch with a square of flyscreen underneath that catches falling leaves. Anyone had any experience vacuuming a roof hatch by standing on the roof? I can't figure out how to get the leaves out by any other means.

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 What about a hair dryer Gary, put it on the coolest setting and blow up from inside near the flyscreen, pick a day when there is a breeze so they don't fall back on the flyscreen and will blow away.  

A hair dryer is also a good item to carry as if your clothes get wet on a rainy day you can dry them with it, providing you are on power of course. 

Gary we used to be able to get our screen out by twisting it somehow. Is it securely fitted and not removeable?

Far from a genius Gary (Duh!), if at home and you could get hold of a garden blower that would be good too, or a vac with a reverse function on it (blow and suck)....

Yes, I did see the "panty cupboard" had a chuckle but knew what the poster meant, I can see the keen eye of your past employment coming out to the fore, lol !

Apologies for the OT (off topic) Di (Busmartins)   

-- Edited by Duh on Monday 4th of March 2013 02:16:30 PM

busmartins wrote:

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Michelle I can just about guarantee you will get no guarantee in writing about the windows.  Dometic couldn't care less and the caravan places we've been too know nothing about the issues, they just sell them!!!!  Unless there is a breeze blowing and you have the windows open, they will indeed look beautiful. The smaller windows are fine - eg the two in the bathroom and the small windows over the kitchen benches but the big picture windows down both sides are next to useless.  I believe it is the size of the blind, it's just too flimsy to cope with the overall size of the window. There is a breeze blowing at the moment ( a zephyr really) and the blinds are blowing in now.  So I guess I'll have to shut the windows and put the airconditioning back on.  There are other window options available, unfortunately they may not fit the spaces you've cut out, but to save the heartache and cost, I'd be looking at something else.  Good luck with the conversion, it's a most exciting time, however depending who and how it's done, it can also be a very stressful and testing time.  Enjoy

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 For starters we are going with smaller windows to garner as much cupboard space as possible in many areas.

One idea to help solve your porblem as you certainly would not want to close your window: would it be possible to insert into the chanel some sort of brush type weather seal whenever you  have a bit of a breeeze going to 'reduce' the flimsy screen edges from popping out? it is a nuisance still but better than closing the windows all the time!

Hope it helps you think of alternate solutions.

 

No problems Duh I get off topic all the time.

Unfortunately Duh only money will solve the problem but we're never too old to learn and having this unit has certainly been a learning experience!!!! Sometimes less is more if you get my drift.

Cheers
Di