Replaced the cords in yet another Day/Night shade

[SargeW]

While opening the curb side shade last night another cord failed and made the blind inoperable. After the last repair on the hall shade I bought a spare set of cords. When I took it apart it was the same story, the plastic groummets in the rail seperating the light and heavy material were put in wrong. The groummets are always placed with the rounded shoulder portion facing upwards. Since the cord runs straight thru the groummet at that point and doesn't turn sharply until the bottom side of the rail, the jagged edge on the aluminum rail always cuts through the cord.

This is the 4th shade to be either fixed or replaced due to snapped cords. The first 2 I made Winnie replace under warranty. I don't know who is manufacturing these shades, but they have to be costing Winnie a bunch in replacements. You would think someone would pay attention to that issue.

Sarge

[SargeW]

While opening the curb side shade last night another cord failed and made the blind inoperable. After the last repair on the hall shade I bought a spare set of cords. When I took it apart it was the same story, the plastic groummets in the rail seperating the light and heavy material were put in wrong. The groummets are always placed with the rounded shoulder portion facing upwards. Since the cord runs straight thru the groummet at that point and doesn't turn sharply until the bottom side of the rail, the jagged edge on the aluminum rail always cuts through the cord.

This is the 4th shade to be either fixed or replaced due to snapped cords. The first 2 I made Winnie replace under warranty. I don't know who is manufacturing these shades, but they have to be costing Winnie a bunch in replacements. You would think someone would pay attention to that issue.

Sarge

[NeilV]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by SargeW:
While opening the curb side shade last night another cord failed and made the blind inoperable. After the last repair on the hall shade I bought a spare set of cords. When I took it apart it was the same story, the plastic groummets in the rail seperating the light and heavy material were put in wrong. The groummets are always placed with the rounded shoulder portion facing upwards. Since the cord runs straight thru the groummet at that point and doesn't turn sharply until the bottom side of the rail, the jagged edge on the aluminum rail always cuts through the cord.

This is the 4th shade to be either fixed or replaced due to snapped cords. The first 2 I made Winnie replace under warranty. I don't know who is manufacturing these shades, but they have to be costing Winnie a bunch in replacements. You would think someone would pay attention to that issue.

Sarge </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

As far as I understand it Winnie assembles the shades themselves. They probably had a new hire who did not pay attention and started putting the grommets in backwards for a while.

The progression of man is idiot which is the mentality of an infant or toddler and someone who requires constant supervision to imbecile, someone who can be left unsupervised for short periods of time such as a child to moron, a person who is an adult or approaching adulthood and can be left unsupervised for extended periods of time. Unfortunately some people do not progress as quickly so they get mixed up in the work force and they put an idiot or imbecile in a position that really requires a moron and then you have your day/night shade problem.

I was so proud when my children progressed from idiots to imbeciles and am happy to say they have now progressed to the status of morons. I still keep a watchfull eye on them to make sure though. ;&gt;

[John_Canfield]

I don't know what the deal is with the shades because we have had FOUR strings fail in two years. The report I hear is the ferrule where the string makes a 90 degree turn isn't smooth and eventually the string chafes through. Smoothing the rough edges on the ferrule and going to a larger diameter string seem to help.

I certainly hope Winnie has decided the failure rate on these blinds is way too high and has improved the design.

I'm pretty sure Winnie builds the blinds. If the problem is a new hire on the blind assembly line, they must have an exceptional turn-over rate or the person isn't quite getting the process down.

[SargeW]

That's the story with me too John, 4 failures in less than a year and a half. All because the the grommetts were inserted upside down allowing the cords to drag against sharp metal edges. Once upon a time, American Ingenuity would have solved that issue. Now it just gets passed on to the next substandard employee.....

[Rich K]

FYI, whatever is confounding the D/N shade assembly at Winnebago has been going on at least since 2003. All of the grommets in my '03 Journey were inserted in reverse also. I finally fixed the last two shades a couple of months ago.

[SargeW]

That is the part that confounds me. A pretty simple fix would save a LOT of money in providing free shades (as they did for me twice) and customer satisfaction.

[Nonno]

Had 2 go on me today. Is there a specific replacement cord that has to be used? Any tips on how to replace it?

[indiana journey]

Go to Winnebago Service tips to find out how to replace your strings in your blinds.

[Rich K]

I went to Joanne Fabrics and bought the thickest braided drapery cord they sell- around .19/ft. With the grommets in correctly, this cord has been holding up so far.

[Beabop]

We had the bedroom and dinette replaced by Winnie, we had them restrung(after they broke again) plus 2 more by someone in a park who filed the rough edges off and put heavy duty cord in. So good so far. Strange we had an 00 Adv for 4 years and never had a single one break.

[SargeW]

Bob, do a search on the forums, there have been several really great threads by members posted that give lots of time saving tips on restringing the shades. It really is pretty simple now.

Sarge

[CC38EL]

After the 3rd cord failure, I replaced the day/night shades with light blocking roller shades of high quality. We rarely use the day portion of the shades, so our primary concern was keeping eyes and lights out of our coach at night.

When this roller shade fails, it pops out and gets replaced for less than $15. I plan on doing this to all the windows as they fail in the future.

Regards,

[TXiceman]

I honestly do not understand why the problems wit the day night shades. We have had them on several RVs and never a problem. The 5er was a 1995 Avion which we still have and it has never had a broken cord on the day-night shades.

Could it possibly be something in the way the shades are being handled. They were not meant for grandkids or children to yank about.

Or have the manufacturers really gotten cheap on the way the things are built.....that could never happen...

Ken

[ruppr]

Got me Ken, Our 2001 Sundancer didn't loose a shade in 4 years. Our 2005 Suncruiser has lost 3 in 2 years. (One was in the bedroom and probably used less than 3 dozen times.

I concur that the plastic grommets in mine are put in wrong in the middle of the shade (for proper protection){in my mind} as others have stated, but technically-- if installed the way (apparently) we feel they should be, they could be prone to falling out of the hole if they ever got loose. On the bedroom blind that just broke, both had pulled though the holes due to the size of hole drilled in the aluminum rail.

Go figure-----

Best,

[NoMoreAZ]

Number 4 shade assembly snapped a cord last week. First two were in our 05 Adventurer, latest is at the eating area in the Horizon. Yes, shades must be handled gently, slooow up and slooow down, don't push in, don't pull out. I check the gromments to see if they are misformed or such, but install them as they were originally. I do take the assembly completly apart,re-drill the holes if needed, use files, rasps, etc. to make all surfaces as smooth as possible, then reassemble. Looks like bad drilling procedure for the holes. The remnants of plastic are just as bad as the metal burrs left from the drilling. Looks like the holes are driled with no backing, e.g. no block of wood underneath, to make a smooth edge on exit from the material. On these wide four individual cord shades, always seems to either of the two inner cords that go.

[bobpie]

Oh my, mine are original, no problems yet, what a break, no pun intended. The more I read, the more I like my 01. Or a Travel Supreme!

[Nonno]

I guess it could be worse. Normally when something breaks on the MH you can't use it until it's fixed. At least this can still serve it's main purpose.

Wonder if this is time to break out the duct tape

[Zimectrin]

This has been posted before but is worthy of review.

We have found the best string for "re-stringing" the day night shades to be a Trolling Line that we obtained at Sportsmans Warehouse.

I am sure it can be found elsewhere also.

Dacron Trolling Line made by Gudebrok of Potttown, PA.

Cost is pennies per yard. Comes in three weights. 30, 50, 80 lb test.

We found the 50 to be the best.

Here is a color diagram of the sting path for a typical day/night shade.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...L/d52e3c54.jpg

Doing a 'find' on Day Night Shade will also show some threads that have the image.

While the task requires some time and effort it is a satisfying experience.

Have fun and enjoy the challange. It will keep you and yours busy for a couple of hours.

[mickey53usa]

Great post - thanks for the diagram. Going to attempt my first restring this weekend. DW had to have the valances reupholstered, during the reinstall found the string on one ready to break by the spool.