Foggy Driver Side Window on 2003 Itasca 34HD

[Blkbart]

Hello, needing help on options for repair or replacement of driver side front window 2003 Itasca 34HD. It's a rectangular window and it has begun to fog up. The top of the window has a fixed piece of glass that goes across the entire window. The window glass below it slides open on the left side of the window, the right side is fixed and the one that has fogged. Measuring from the outside lip on the window it's 43.5" tall and 44.5" wide. What resources do I have to get it fixed or replaced? TIA

 

[be happy]

There are a lot of videos on utube about this issue. The best is to watch and watch again. With that said a couple years ago I had to defog the door window. That only required taking out the glass from the frame. If I remember correctly all of the other coach windows the whole frame has to come out. This way you will beable to remove the glass you need to repair.
For me it was a long slow process to defog. The separating of the glass was the hardest, as did not want to break one of the pains.
You may find someone where you live to do the work. Where I live nobody will do that work, thus I did it myself. Not a diy I would want to do again however. The best tools I found to separate the glass was a sharp utility knife, a linoleum knife and a couple of shims.

 

[Morich]

I find several options and none of them are good!
The problemis that glass was put together as two parts or sheets opf glass sand wiched together and now air and moisture have crept in between the two sheets. No practiocal way to get the air/moisture out, without getting the glass out of the frame. And when you do get it out, it is really more practical to just replace the glass, rather than fight to repair it.
My problem was a broken front glass as It is special glass for aut use and shatters when it gets nicked instead of breaking into sharp peices which would cut us in a wreck.
Glass option was near $700 to replace frame and all a few years back.
Being tight and the RV being older than I wanted to invest that much in one window, I found I could bend the metal edge holding the glass in place, renove and replace the glass and then bend the metal back to "pretty close" that fits the age/condition of the rest fo the RV! At that time, I cut the cost to something less than $100 to have the correct glass made and cut to shape. As far as I know, nobody ever spotted or questioned the finished job!
I like to keep it new as long as possible but I also have to look at practical. Is having the whole window new, assuming it is possible to get a whole frame and window, worth it or is a lesser option the better choice.
First, I would get a check on parts available and pricing to replace the whole window, then guessing it is near $1000, I would move to looking at lower cost options on an RV of that age.

 

[HiBanky]

I see there is a beer in the cup holder. Are your windows really fogged up, or have you been drinking and driving?

Too add to Morich's good advice I offer this:

I had the same fogged up windows in my coach. The door window was the worst, so I attempted to do that one on my own. After two attempts to polish the etched glass, I gave up and took it to a place in Tampa, FL. They fixed several of the fogged windows and did a beautiful job. This place disassembles the two paned windows, clean up the etched glass if possible all while you stay in their parking lot with full hookups. As I recall, they charged $350 per window more if the glass needed replacing. A couple of years later I had a shop in Tucson Arizona replace some other windows. Their method was to remove the two-pane glass and replace them with tinted/ laminated safety glass. They did it on site, covered the openings, and took the glass with them. I liked this method better, but it was more expensive.

 

[Blkbart]

I see there is a beer in the cup holder. Are your windows really fogged up, or have you been drinking and driving?

Too add to Morich's good advice I offer this:

I had the same fogged up windows in my coach. The door window was the worst, so I attempted to do that one on my own. After two attempts to polish the etched glass, I gave up and took it to a place in Tampa, FL. They fixed several of the fogged windows and did a beautiful job. This place disassembles the two paned windows, clean up the etched glass if possible all while you stay in their parking lot with full hookups. As I recall, they charged $350 per window more if the glass needed replacing. A couple of years later I had a shop in Tucson Arizona replace some other windows. Their method was to remove the two-pane glass and replace them with tinted/ laminated safety glass. They did it on site, covered the openings, and took the glass with them. I liked this method better, but it was more expensive.

Ha Ha, That's a Henry Weinhard's root beer bottle. Ever-time I drive while drinking one I get paranoid on getting pulled over! Good eye!

 

[Blkbart]

I find several options and none of them are good!
The problemis that glass was put together as two parts or sheets opf glass sand wiched together and now air and moisture have crept in between the two sheets. No practiocal way to get the air/moisture out, without getting the glass out of the frame. And when you do get it out, it is really more practical to just replace the glass, rather than fight to repair it.
My problem was a broken front glass as It is special glass for aut use and shatters when it gets nicked instead of breaking into sharp peices which would cut us in a wreck.
Glass option was near $700 to replace frame and all a few years back.
Being tight and the RV being older than I wanted to invest that much in one window, I found I could bend the metal edge holding the glass in place, renove and replace the glass and then bend the metal back to "pretty close" that fits the age/condition of the rest fo the RV! At that time, I cut the cost to something less than $100 to have the correct glass made and cut to shape. As far as I know, nobody ever spotted or questioned the finished job!
I like to keep it new as long as possible but I also have to look at practical. Is having the whole window new, assuming it is possible to get a whole frame and window, worth it or is a lesser option the better choice.
First, I would get a check on parts available and pricing to replace the whole window, then guessing it is near $1000, I would move to looking at lower cost options on an RV of that age.

Fortunately mine's only foggy, not broken! It's a 2003 but the coach is excellent and it owes me nothing. Thanks for your input!

 

[Blkbart]

There are a lot of videos on utube about this issue. The best is to watch and watch again. With that said a couple years ago I had to defog the door window. That only required taking out the glass from the frame. If I remember correctly all of the other coach windows the whole frame has to come out. This way you will beable to remove the glass you need to repair.
For me it was a long slow process to defog. The separating of the glass was the hardest, as did not want to break one of the pains.
You may find someone where you live to do the work. Where I live nobody will do that work, thus I did it myself. Not a diy I would want to do again however. The best tools I found to separate the glass was a sharp utility knife, a linoleum knife and a couple of shims.

Thank you so much for the reply! I'm going to pull it out and find someone in So Call who's familiar with doing the repair. You guys are awesome! THANK YOU! Already looked at the Youtube videos.

 

[Blkbart]

There are a lot of videos on utube about this issue. The best is to watch and watch again. With that said a couple years ago I had to defog the door window. That only required taking out the glass from the frame. If I remember correctly all of the other coach windows the whole frame has to come out. This way you will beable to remove the glass you need to repair.
For me it was a long slow process to defog. The separating of the glass was the hardest, as did not want to break one of the pains.
You may find someone where you live to do the work. Where I live nobody will do that work, thus I did it myself. Not a diy I would want to do again however. The best tools I found to separate the glass was a sharp utility knife, a linoleum knife and a couple of shims.

THANK YOU!

 

[DancinCampers]

RVFogDoctor in Searcy, AR did all our windows.

 

[EverettO]

This is the video to watch. Kevin's stuff is incredible!

 

[Bobn1957]

View attachment 2470333View attachment 2470334View attachment 2470335Hello, needing help on options for repair or replacement of driver side front window 2003 Itasca 34HD. It's a rectangular window and it has begun to fog up. The top of the window has a fixed piece of glass that goes across the entire window. The window glass below it slides open on the left side of the window, the right side is fixed and the one that has fogged. Measuring from the outside lip on the window it's 43.5" tall and 44.5" wide. What resources do I have to get it fixed or replaced? TIA

I have several windows on my coach that are fogged up due to the seal failing (double-glazed), I am considering replacing the glass with 1/2 inch polycarbonate that has an anti-UV layer!

 

[EverettO]

That's creative! I wonder how that would do with noise and heat transmission.

 

[Bobn1957]

That's creative! I wonder how that would do with noise and heat transmission.

I think the R-value is similar, and the sound transmission might be a little louder!

 

[EverettO]

Keep us posted. This is fascinating.

 

[HiBanky]

Thank you so much for the reply! I'm going to pull it out and find someone in So Call who's familiar with doing the repair. You guys are awesome! THANK YOU! Already looked at the Youtube videos.

Just to put some more perspective on it, here is a little chart.

 

[Bobn1957]

Just to put some more perspective on it, here is a little chart.

View attachment 2474453

How can 1/2 inch polycarbonate be rated as poor under "Security," as it is pretty much bulletproof for handgun ammunition?

 

[HiBanky]

How can 1/2 inch polycarbonate be rated as poor under "Security," as it is pretty much bulletproof for handgun ammunition?

I have confused plexiglass with your polycarbonate option or better known as Lexan. They are vastly different. Lexan is 250 times stronger than Plexiglass. One should rate Lexan better than poor, but you can still easily drill a hole in it and cut it with saw. So maybe compared to safety glass it should be rated fair. By safety glass I mean windshield glass. I sand by my assessment of plexiglass.

Polycarbonate is probably a reasonable choice given its strength and resistance to scratching. I can't say for certain about yours but the windows in my coach are 7/16" (0.437) thick not 1/2". You may want double check that.