Mike P Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 The offside habitation window on my Autotrail Cheyenne 630LB has started to leak through the top of the frame seal, fortunately the water has not penetrated the wall but seems to run across the top of the frame and drip onto the blind. to investigate further I need to remove the blind/flyscreen cassette but there is no obvious mode of fixing.Just before I start to attempt to prise off parts of the plastic frame I wonder if anyone else has attempted this and can offer advice. I've emailed Autotrail Technical but based on previous performance I'm not holding my breath! Mike P Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Sorry Mike, but this is not the answer to your question. However, you are not alone in having windows that leak in this way. Have a look at the last post (or near the last post) on the "Oh Heki" string. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 I don't know which make/type of windows Auto-Trail will have fitted to your motorhome, but I suspect they are Dometic/Seitz products and, if so, this link may help. http://www.leisurespares.co.uk/stock/Seitz/windows/ You've said that the blind/flyscreen cassette has "...no obvious mode of fixing", which suggests that the windows are of the two-part type where the window's outer frame is clamped to the vehicle's bodywork by long screws inserted through the window's inner frame. There's an example of the type (a Seitz S4) shown on this link http://www.leisurespares.co.uk/files/repair_s4-top_hung_window.pdf Once the window has been installed, the heads of the clamping-screws are hidden by plastic 'caps' inserted into the inner frame. These caps - if inserted carefully - may not be very evident if you don't know about them - look for near-invisible small-diameter 'rings' regularly spaced around the face of blind/flyscreen cassette. Removal of the caps is covered in the first paragraph of Page 5 of the link I just gave, but removing them without damaging them may prove difficult/impossible. An earlier discussion here http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=25482&posts=11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike P Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 Derek, many thanks, just the info I needed, much appreciated. Mike P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Mike If a two-part window starts to leak, the 'professional' approach will normally be to remove the window from the leisure-vehicle and remake the seal between the rear face of window's outer frame and the vehicle's bodywork. However, before going down that route you may want to consider just sealing around the joint between the outer frame and the bodywork, and see if that cures the leak. My Herald motorhome had two-part Seitz windows and one began to leak through the top of the frame/bodywork joint some months after I had purchased the vehicle. I cleaned the joint very carefully all round the window, put masking-tape on the frame and bodywork each side of the joint, and then squeezed good quality transparent silicone sealant into the joint, removing the masking tape as soon as possible afterwards. Nowadays I'd probably use Fernox LS-X http://www.fernox.com/files/Fernox/Content/PDF/English/LS-X.pdf (that's widely available) rather than silicone, but the silicone worked fine and the window never leaked during the remaining several years I owned the Herald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted November 21, 2012 Share Posted November 21, 2012 Vernox Leak Seal LX widely available from most sheds and plumbing supply outlets or Dow Corning Aqua Seal as used to make glass fish tanks are the only two silicon products that will work. They are pure silicon rubber with good adhesive properties. All the rest have a very high proportion of fillers in them and are designed for sealing the tops of baths to walls etc. There was a brief period when AutoTrail had problems with naff windows. In 2011 when we bought ours they changed to a new all metal window frame which solved the problem overnight. I don't know when they started to use the previous naff windows but if your unit is pre 2011 then the actual window is likely to be the problem. They tended to distort all over the place and break the seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 We had this problem as well with our 2008 AutoTrail Cheyenne in two windows on the offside. The factory redid the seals when we took it in for service and the problem with our van was because the wedges under the window had moved, I suspect they were not fitted properly during manufacture but cant confirm whether I am right or not. The wedges were refitted to "lift the window" which means the top of the window is very firmly wedged under the window cut-out in the body panel which forms a good seal. No problems since then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 Don't believe it for one minute.....can't happen.....to .a fine British built camper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted November 24, 2012 Share Posted November 24, 2012 I mean my camper is GERMAN right? a euramobil and leaks like a sieve...only to be expected I guess cose it's GERMAN....but the finest UK manufacturer? never! Now if it was a FInch that would be different....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 Judgemental You are a real (it's not nice to insult people)! This person who raised this query is after advice to solve a problem do you think you are helping them by posting innane comments. By the way a "(it's not nice to insult people)" is a "w*****" who doesn't move his hand. Does that fit the bill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-11-24 6:46 PM I mean my camper is GERMAN right? a euramobil and leaks like a sieve...only to be expected I guess cose it's GERMAN....but the finest UK manufacturer? never! Now if it was a FInch that would be different....... What's a "Finch" motorhome, please? You mentioned it before http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Hobby-overcab-rooflights-/29344/ and Brian Kirby asked you about it, but your reply was a mysterious remark about "spellin police". There's an on-line reference to a Foxhills "Finch", but I think that was a small Toyota-based homebuilt motorcaravan so it was most unlikely you were talking about that. Then there's "Overfinch", that customises Land/Range Rovers but doesn't market motorhomes. I even looked up "finch" (and "funch") in the Urban Dictionary (It's startling what people get up to!) just in case it was a slang word I was unfamiliar with, but there was nothing there about motorhomes either. You don't mean "Phoenix" by any chance? http://www.phoenix-reisemobile.de/cms/front_content.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Wills Wagon - 2012-12-01 10:00 PM ...By the way a "(it's not nice to insult people)" is a "w*****" who doesn't move his hand... I'm just curious about the word you use that the forum's bad-language filter converts into "(it's not nice to insult people)". I've tried a few words (and the result can be quite entertaining), but I haven't been able to produce the "it's not nice..." translation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvin Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Seems to be a problem with autotrails, several years ago Isealed around all of my units, no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Mike P - 2012-11-21 12:49 PM The offside habitation window on my Autotrail Cheyenne 630LB has started to leak through the top of the frame seal, fortunately the water has not penetrated the wall but seems to run across the top of the frame and drip onto the blind. to investigate further I need to remove the blind/flyscreen cassette but there is no obvious mode of fixing.Just before I start to attempt to prise off parts of the plastic frame I wonder if anyone else has attempted this and can offer advice. I've emailed Autotrail Technical but based on previous performance I'm not holding my breath! Mike P Mike P Have a look to see if the window is by Polyplastic, as it seems there may have been a batch with inadequate seals. The only satisfactory remedy is to remove the window and fit a revised, thicker, seal. Both AT, and Polyplastic are aware of this. I suggest you ring AT in preference to e-mail, and quietly persist until you get through to someone who knows about the problem. At least one AT "manager" (allegedly, though un-named) is in the know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Wills Wagon - 2012-12-01 10:00 PM Judgemental You are a real (it's not nice to insult people)! This person who raised this query is after advice to solve a problem do you think you are helping them by posting innane comments. By the way a "(it's not nice to insult people)" is a "w*****" who doesn't move his hand. Does that fit the bill! In that case that makes you a humourless cretin? Part of a long running joke about quality ..so lighten up you donut. Leaking window...Hmmmm...let me see?...remove...reseal...replace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Melvin - 2012-12-02 10:19 AM Seems to be a problem with autotrails, several years ago Isealed around all of my units, no problems. There have been complaints about window-related water leaks for as long as I've been motorcaravanning (since 1996) and the problem seems to affect all manufacturers. (GOOGLE on "motorhome window leaks") A motorhome dealer I know bought a new Pilote A-class a few years back and, almost immediately, needed to remove and reseal most of the windows. I once met, at a French dealership, the owner of a new Eriba motorhome who was hanging around waiting for a window-leak to be attended to. He told me he wished he had paid a bit more and purchased a French vehicle. When I observed that Eriba was a French brand and (at that time) made in a French factory, he said "Yes, but it's part of the Hymer Group and that's German". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Might save you a load of hassle http://www.force4.co.uk/1344/Cpt-Tolley-Creeping-Crack-Cure-250ml.html ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 As a matter of course I have as a precaution, every time I've acquired another motorhome ( always second-hand and varying in vintage from 22 to 11 years old), always really meticulously cleaned the window frame-to-bodywork joints, and then applied a neat bead of silicone sealant all round all of them. I've also, as a matter of course, meticulously cleaned and then additionally sealed all roof equipment-to-roof joints. Whether required by existing leaks or not, it feels to me like a good thing to do as a precaution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 JudgeMental - 2012-11-24 5:44 PM Don't believe it for one minute.....can't happen.....to .a fine British built camper! Come on Eddie from all the posts on here surely it comes as standard on Autotrails. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wills Wagon Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 In that case that makes you a humourless cretin? Part of a long running joke about quality ..so lighten up you donut. Mentalidiot would be much better. For info I used the term "gr***er" who is a "w***er" who doesnt move his hand. Fits you nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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