replacing window seals

[Keith Oliver]

My 98 Contessa came to me with creepy window seals, from SE-GI. This malady affected most of the coaches in the age range we were looking at, so it was unrealistic to hold out for one without this problem.  The dealer told us (I never believe "dealerspeak") that for $2500.  we could get them fixed.  So now, after thorough research, I decided the best way to do this was to do them myself.  So on the way south, last week, we stopped in Bend, and picked up the kit from Dave Root.  He is a nice guy, and spent 1/2 hour or so going over the methodology with me.  Once we were settled in our rental site, I started on the door.  It took quite a while, the most difficult part being spreading the frame to get the glass out, then back in again.  Next day I tackled the tall skinny window beside the door.  Much easier.  Today the driver's window (3 panes) and the big one back of the one I did yesterday.  That was too much for one day.  The results are good.  the easy part is replacing the seals between the panes, the hard part is keeping the black sh*t off the floor, where it tracks everywhere.  I just spent 1/2 hour with turpentine and a cloth, going at the white carpet (who's stupid idea was it to put white carpet in a motorhome? Did they think I would never go outside and come back in?).  
In my research, I found that the $2500 quote did exist, but that seemed to be a "Rally special" that I couldn't duplicate in any real glass shop.  The next best I could find was about $4000,  so the cost of the materials at $470 seemed pretty reasonable.  The kit from Dave contains all the cutters and rubber gloves, as well as the glass cleaner, black sh*t and new seals.
I will get the two that are still out of the coach, back in tomorrow, then leave the rest for a few days, while excursions take precedence.

[Keith Oliver]

This Beaver has 20 panes of SE-GI double pane windows.  3 were not afflicted with the creep. 2 were not serious.  The remaining 15 are now fixed!  I have enough of the replacement spacer to do the 2 that may get worse, but I likely don't have enough for the other 3.  I also ran out of the black sh*t and had to get another tube sent from Bend, as I couldn't find any supplier locally, or on line. I didn't resort to going to a glass shop and begging them to get me one, but that is another possibility, if I get around to doing the other 2 windows.  
Boy, does that change the look of this Beaver!  Mostly from the inside, but also, for anyone coming to the door, they would have seen the worst of the creep, as the worst windows were the door, the tall one beside the door, and the two lower windows by the driver, followed closely by the small one over the sink and the big one behind the passenger seat.  Getting all those in the main cabin done has taken several years off the apparent age of this Beaver.
Not a terribly difficult task, as long as you are prepared to put in the time.  It was taking me about an hour for each pane, to do the seals, plus another hour getting each window out of the coach, the two panes out of the frame, and all back in again.  Add still more time to getting the valances and shades off and back on again.  All in, for the 15 panes that I fixed, at least 30 hours, maybe as much as 40 hours.  I wouldn't want to do it in high humidity, or in a dusty place.  I would need a shop to work in, if I were in a more restrictive park, or a less private site.  Here the humidity has been less than 50% at all times, and as low as 17%.  The spacer has dessicant in it, so will absorb any slight amount of moisture from the ambient air between the panes of glass, but I wouldn't want to stress it by, eg, working at home in BC, where humidity as low as 50% is a rarity.

[harry kew]

where abouts in Bend did you get the material for you windows. Would like to see it sometime we live in kamloops.

[Keith Oliver]

Harry:
Our Beaver is now in Southern California, where I did the repairs in low humidity.  If you are heading south this winter, let me know your itinerary.  We are planning to leave the coach south when we head home for Christmas, and return south for February and March.  We have no plans to travel to Kamloops this year or next, but if you want to see the coach in Coquitlam on our return from Cal in April, let me know.

The materials are from Dave Root, in Bend Oregon.  I found him at this website:  http://www.daverootrvglassrepair.com/ and decided to stop in on our way south rather than have him ship the seals.

[JimCasazze]

Keith,
How do you get the windows out of the coach?  Can you explain, in brief - what the repair process entails?  I have about 6-7 windows that I was thinking about having repaired here in FL, but if it's not too difficult a job - I'll do it myself.
Jim

[Keith Oliver]

Jim:

Not too difficult.  I bought a couple of window suction cup handles, $15 for a double, $5 for a single, at Harbour Freight, (Princess Auto in Canada). Once everything is undone, with my 97lb wife on the inside, holding one of the handles (just for security) and me on a stepladder on the outside, I was able to lift the windows down without any trouble.
?Did I mention that I broke my arm in Sept. Not displaced, but it does limit my mobility on the rt side.  Even with a broken arm, I was able to do this job without a problem.

steps:
-remove blinds and valances
-remove rubber strip that hides the screws
-remove the screws
-cut away any silicone on the outside
-if the window isn't loose at this point, pry the outside flange away from the outside of the coach.  I used a 1" chisel, tapping it gently between the pieces.
-lift it down
-undo the short (3") strap from across the joint in the frame
-undo the spacer bar between the fixed pane and the slider
-hold the bottom of the frame down with your foot while lifting the top part off of the fixed pane.  This is a big lift, but the frame will bend that far, until the glass is free (both the fixed pane and slider will come out at this point)

If you get to this stage, you will no doubt have the kit from Dave Root, which comes with complete instructions for replacing the seals.  I found the hardest part to be cutting the old seals so the glass pieces would come apart.  It was a lot easier on the windows I had left out in the sun to warm up.  Cleaning the glass up was a snap, as was putting the new seal in.  I followed Dave's advice and bought a battery powered caulking gun, which made getting a smooth fill with the black stuff a lot easier.  The only problem with Dave's process was with the black stuff going off in the tube.  He recommended warming it before use.  I found that it would set up right away and was no good the next day if I did that.  I took to keeping it in the fridge until use, and I had to get him to send me an extra tube.