This is my account of De-Fogging the front door window on my 07 Meridian.
I am sue there are folks here who have done it, and did not have the challenges I did.
I look on You Tub for someone taking the door window out of a diesel pusher MH. I was unable to find one so I had to kind of watch the others and then wing it.
My first big mistake was thinking the window was in a frame. No its held in just like the windshield. I found this out after taking off the inside door panel, then removing the frame work screws. Thinking this would remove the window which it did not. After working on prying the window out from the unforgiving urethane window weld. Which in its self was a challenge as I did not want to crack the glass. Tools used was a very sharpe utility knife to cut away the urethane. Once I cut enough urethane I was able to gain access to the under side of the glass and break the seal. After the fact I was told I should have used a guitar string wire or something similar that would have cut right throught the bond.
Second big mistake was thinking I had to clean the inside metal that held the window. Acetone, rubber gloves , and cloth towel became my friends. After reading all the information on putting on a new layer of urethane. I found out urethane likes to stick to old urethane not clean metal. Big mistake I made but the frame was clean and shiny, only to pay the price later on. I should have left a light film of old urethane.
Now to separate the two glass panels with out breaking either of them. At this point one might say find a glass company that will do that. I live in Branson MO, I call every glass company, peron I could find in a 4 hour drive from Branson. No one wants to do that except one company out side of Little Rock AK. So lets get started!
Again the sharp utility knife to start cutting the caulk between the two window panels. I found a better tool for the job at least for me. A carpet knife or linnoleum knife. I was abe to really dig into the area, being very careful not to twist the knife as to break the glass. After many passes I was able to separate, starting at the corners I used wood shims in all corners to apply pressure as I continued to cut away. Again after the fact about the guitar string would have been nice. But the glass did come apart.
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I forgot to mention, its very important before you remove the glass you label the inside and outside of the glass and which is up. I used painters tape, labeled outside up, inside up. With out that I would have been lost.
OK glass is apart, one of the videos I watched said clean the glass and put back together in the house. Reasoning being a more controlled humidity. We were only concerned about cleaning the inside parts of the glass. Using ceramic stove top cleaner/polisher to really make sure all was taken care of. My wife was very meticulous on this part of the project. Once cleaned with the ceramic cleaner she use water to make sure all that product was off the glass then followed through with windex. At this point we felt it important to let the glass really acclimate to the inside temp etc. so we waited a couple days before starting the put together phase.
The windows panels have a 3/16 spacer between them. One of the you tube videos showed a product thats made for it. Its hard two sided sticky foam rubber. The outside is foil lined and has a moisture product imbedded in the foam. Its hard to find but thanks to google and amazon was able to come up with the product. These folks are very proud of their product. The roll is 66' (yep thats right) long. I have about 56' left, I would be willing to sell pro rated to someone who wants to attempt this just pm me.
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When installing this product you want to start somewhere away from the corners. This will enable a better joining fit. Remember to leave about 3/8 inch between edge of glass and spacer. To align the two pieces of glass set the piece of glass with the space on edge or upright. Then take second piece of glass and slowly align and press together. Word of warning do not, do not put your fingers on the inside of either piece of glass. Once together lay down and apply pressure around the spacer to insure a good bond.
Next is joining the wonderful world of silicon caulk. We took painters tape and went around the outside edge of the glass both the inside and outside pieces. This would help in keeping the caulk where it belonged. I found the black 100% silicon to be very soft and some what running. For some reason I had a hard time doing the corners, wanted to make sure all areas were full of cauld. After thought I think a straight edge, instead of finger would have been better to remove excess caulk. My finger pushed in at times where a straight edge would not. After caulk dried we took straight edge razor blade to clean off the excess caulk. Window now ready to!
Remember I said I cleaned the window frame down to the metal. Now I get to experience not only the use but the cost of "pinchweld primer" and 3M is really proud of it $85 for 4oz. I ended up priming the metel frame and upon reading i also had to do the glass edges that the urethane would be in contact with.
Urethane caulk is by far the most expensive caulk I have purchased. My local auto parts store was great in helping me with the process. 3m makes 3 different caulks. The top two come with out tips (go figure) the third comes with tips all for the great price of about $35 a tube. My auto store showed me a product from Transtar for only $25 that does the same thing. I went with Transtar.
You want a very large 1/4 inch at least opening on the tip plus you want to cut a "v" at the end. Reason when laying down the caulk the tip of the V will be the first contact the glass has. You also want to have the tip at a 90 deg. angle to the frame NOT a 45. I purchased two tubes of caulk but only need one. I could have put down a larger bead of caulk than I did. Once the caulk was in its time to set the glass. Its important at this point to ware rubber gloves as the oil from your fingers will hurt the bonding of the urethane. Once the glass is in push hard all around to set the glass.
Next is to replace the rubber gasket. This turned out hard than we thought. The chanel that it sets in has be clean from any and all objects. Replacing the rubber seal was almost as hard as separating the glass.
Project done, window great, would I do it again NO
ps i am not one to post pictures so do not know if they showed up.
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