Repairing Day Night Window Shades

jeleuen · Post by **jeleuen** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:45 pm

One window shade string has broken and another feels weak. Called Born Free factory and someone there (not Kim) said repair was difficult and the best thing would be to send back to manufacturer. I think he said repair was free but had to pay for shipping.
My question is what is the best way to get these window blinds repaired? What have other owners done to get theirs repaired? Does anyone know offhand who the manufacturer is?
Thanks for any info on this subject.

tomdclark · Post by **tomdclark** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 3:55 pm

I had mine repaired by shipping to the factory posted on the on the Born Free Motorcoach Service FAQ's page. Had no problems and the service was relatively quick and inexpensive as I recall.

Quote from the above webpage:

"The strings of the Day/Night shades are assembled in an intricate pattern and are not easy to repair. They can, however, be restrung at the factory and re-installed. Contact Specialty Shade at (574) 262-5190."

whemme · Post by **whemme** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:35 pm

In a topic titled New Style Adjustable Tensioner Bobbins for Day/Night Shades posted in the Technical Library section of this discussion forum is information on where to send shades with broken cords for repairs. Or you can just click on the link below to go to it directly.

http://www.bornfreervclub.org/bulletin_ ... .php?t=870

jobrien · Post by **jobrien** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:13 pm

I sent one of mine back, the long one behind the sofa. The hardest part was finding a box to ship it back in. I wound up making one out of cardboard and tape. It worked.

I saved the box they shipped it back in for future use, if needed. George Boley gave a demonstration on restringing shades at one of our rallies. Of course he made it look simple, but I took the easy way out and paid the $15. Return time was quick also.

John

Steve W · Post by **Steve W** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:41 pm

Shortly after we took delivery of our 2004 BFT, one of the day/night window shades lost it's tension and collapsed. Took it to a large RV repair facility, they looked at it and had no idea how to repair it. Someone suggested a furniture/drapery repair shop in town and so we went. The owner came out, looked at it, said she had never seen one like it but how hard could it be? We left the coach with her, went for coffee, returned to find a very functioning day/night shade. We kept the coach for two and a half years and the shade worked like a charm. In other words, if you don't want to go to the trouble of removing the shade and sending it back to the factory, there are other avenues that might be pursued.

mockturtle · Post by **mockturtle** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:44 pm

Are they easy to remove? Does it involve removing the wood cornice?

tomzleapin · Post by **tomzleapin** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:04 am

After my shades failed, I went to IKEA and purchased a couple of curtain wire assemblies and some heavy weight curtains. The wire assemblies screw into the spot where the top bobbins were. The curtains work much better at blocking out the light than the shades.

Curtain wire:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20079342

jeleuen · Post by **jeleuen** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 10:15 am

Great answers and very helpful all. What a splendid resource this website is and special thanks to the administrator, Bill Hemme. No Ikea near us, will probably mail to the manufacturer in Goshen, In. Sounds like their service is excellent. John

Dallas Baillio · Post by **Dallas Baillio** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:50 pm

The string on one of my day/night shades cane loose at the bobbin. I dreaded and put off trying to repair it, but when I took it out and got to the innards I found it easy to re-string. So, try to repair it yourself first and then send in to the manufacturer or try another source as reported on this thread. I've repaired more than one and I am usually (emphasize usually) successful.

whemme · Post by **whemme** » Sun Aug 07, 2011 11:19 pm

mockturtle,

The day/night shades are held in place by a total of four bobbins - one in each of the upper corners and one is each of the lower corners. Each bobbin is attached to the wood window frame with a single screw. You don't have to remove any of the window wood work to remove a shade.

mockturtle · Post by **mockturtle** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:07 am

Thanks, Bill!

Jim Hofmann · Post by **Jim Hofmann** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 12:24 pm

About five years ago I broke the string on the same shade (big one behind sofa). I contacted the manufacturer who sent me a supply of string and an instruction sheet on how to restring the blind (at no charge).

If you can read, and follow the simple instructions, it can be done in less than one hour of your time.

Jim

karls · Post by **karls** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:58 pm

I've had intermittent problems with the accordian action blinds on the large windows. However, it has always been easy to fix.

If the string loses its tension either by breaking or slipping off the bobbin/screw at the bottom of the tracks, the blinds fall down and the strings disappear. But they are in the lower element and can be fished out with a bent wire (coat hangar).

These strings seem to shrink with time and make the blinds hard to raise/lower, so I added a short loop to make them easier to operate. And I put a large paper clip on each end of the string so that when the strings slip off the screw/anchor they don't disappear.

I also put a screw in the wood on each side to serve as anchors to replace the failed anchors.

Try fixing them first. It's mysterious but not difficult.

EDIT: The 2nd of an identical double post below has been deleted. Please avoid clicking on the Submit more than once to avoid this double posting problem. bfadmin

whemme · Post by **whemme** » Fri Aug 12, 2011 12:31 am

Below are instructions for re-stringing the day-night shades along with a diagram.

bogrady · Post by **bogrady** » Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:05 pm

On our last trip this summer my wife and I fixed both the rear and side window shades in our 1995 BF President. It is easy to remove the entire blind but takes two people to replace the strings. It was difficult finding the exact type of string used originally but we finally found some butcher twine strong string. Do not use any cheap weak string if you decide to do this job.

You will need something like a wire hook to fish the string through here and there. The secret to adjusting the tension is to full the strings from outside of frame and tie knots at right spot to keep proper tension. While doing this final adjustment we pushed golf tees into the outside holes to hold string tight.

If your marriage is not on solid footing you might not want to try this.