Corning glass contour and the rubber seal

[KennewickMan]

So I'm re-sealing all of the windows on the '67 and can't get the curved gaps to seal. I have one old piece of curved glass, and one new piece, and I have the same problem on both. It actually seems a bit worse on the original one. With the window closed and no seal, the glass actually touches the window frame on the upper third of the window, and has a gap on the lower third, although it is still slightly recessed in the frame. When the weatherstripping is added, the top third pushes the window out enough that the lower third now sticks out past the frame and doesn't make contact at all with the new seal. I have tried the rubber seal supplied by VTS as well as the one from Inland, and I have the same problem. It looks like I'll have to either trim the thickness down for the top third, or get another thinner seal altogether, using the thicker one for down below. The pictures show the uneven contour, as well as the gap that exists with the VTS seal installed. The hollow one from Inland compresses to about the same thickness as the solid one from VTS. Ideas are appreciated!

[ALUMINUMINUM]

The little winders on the sill reach out and grab the clips on the bottom of the glass and pull the glass in to seal.

[Lance M]

Did you change/replace the sill draw/catch/latch clips on the window?

[ALUMINUMINUM]

The little winders on the sill reach out and grab the clips on the bottom of the glass and pull the glass in to seal. I cannot tell for sure from your images, but is it possible that you are putting the gasket on the sides of the window frame and not the out-facing frame surface??

[KennewickMan]

Yes, even with the latches fully pulled in, no dice. I even tried it with no seal on the bottom, just the sides, and pushed the glass on the bottom until it made contact with the frame, and no dice. It's the top third that's causing the problem, i.e. uneven contour. Gotta work around it, because I'm not ordering more glass, and what I have is already installed in the glass bar, which was a PAIN to remove all the old stuff!

[DFK]

I just replaced two curved windows on my 67 Caravel and the weather stripping on all the windows. My thinking was to use readily available good quality house weather seal from a box store. I went with the thickest softest real rubber seal I could find. I figured the softer the seal material the easier it will be to compress at the top were the gap is the smallest at least on my trailer. I went with rubber because that was the original material used by Airstream. I went with the box store stuff because of price and availability. The thickest rubber seal material I found at Home Depot was 3/8 inch. For the curved windows I used MD All Climate Rubber Weatherseal #43846 (white) and from the front and back windows I used Frost King EPDM Rubber Weatherseal #V27G (Grey). I mitered the corners and didn't attempt to curve the weather strip around the lower corners I also left a quarter inch gap in the weather stripping along the bottom for drainage. The seal looks pretty good. It has rained several times since the installation and no leaks. I haven't had an opportunity to tow the trailer in downpour. I figure the even if the seal leaks a bit the water will only seep in and then drain out through the gap in the seal. If it leaks more than that it will likely mean the the seal needs to be compressed more which means they need to be thicker. In which case I plan to remove the seal make shims from rubber strips and install a new seal.

[KennewickMan]

Thanks for sharing, I'll check my local store!



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[Frank's Trailer Works]

have you tried flipping the glass? I had to do this on two windows recently and they fit much better. One did require a thicker seal to make the center seal up however.

[KennewickMan]

I thought about flipping, but with the glass bar already siliconed in, well, I'd like to avoid that if I can.


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[68 TWind]

I had to replace all the curved windows in my 68. The other day I was doing a good clean up of all the glass in preparation for a trip next week. Both of the windows on the curb side do not seal as well in the middle of the curve radius as they do on top and bottom. I used the D-style gasket material. That said, I've never had any real problems with them leaking. The gaskets do touch but barely. I agree, reversing the window is way too much trouble. What I would try is maybe get a piece of old inner tube or flat rubber material and built up the area where the gap is and then use weather stip glue to glue the new gasket down. You don't need to raise the gasket much for it to touch the glass. Might even have to have a couple of layers and step it down to get the fit just right. Over time the D style will flatten out some.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by KennewickMan

So I'm re-sealing all of the windows on the '67 and can't get the curved gaps to seal. I have one old piece of curved glass, and one new piece, and I have the same problem on both. It actually seems a bit worse on the original one. With the window closed and no seal, the glass actually touches the window frame on the upper third of the window, and has a gap on the lower third, although it is still slightly recessed in the frame. When the weatherstripping is added, the top third pushes the window out enough that the lower third now sticks out past the frame and doesn't make contact at all with the new seal. I have tried the rubber seal supplied by VTS as well as the one from Inland, and I have the same problem. It looks like I'll have to either trim the thickness down for the top third, or get another thinner seal altogether, using the thicker one for down below. The pictures show the uneven contour, as well as the gap that exists with the VTS seal installed. The hollow one from Inland compresses to about the same thickness as the solid one from VTS. Ideas are appreciated!

The "D" shaped gasket is OK.

The rectangular gasket as shown in your post is "NOT GOOD" for your Airstream.

Andy

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Reversing the glass is a simple one hour job. Two if someone made the mistake of using silicon to seal or install it previously. Double sided carpet tape works best for putting them back in.

[BIGED52]

Originally Posted by KennewickMan

So I'm re-sealing all of the windows on the '67 and can't get the curved gaps to seal. I have one old piece of curved glass, and one new piece, and I have the same problem on both. It actually seems a bit worse on the original one. With the window closed and no seal, the glass actually touches the window frame on the upper third of the window, and has a gap on the lower third, although it is still slightly recessed in the frame. When the weatherstripping is added, the top third pushes the window out enough that the lower third now sticks out past the frame and doesn't make contact at all with the new seal. I have tried the rubber seal supplied by VTS as well as the one from Inland, and I have the same problem. It looks like I'll have to either trim the thickness down for the top third, or get another thinner seal altogether, using the thicker one for down below. The pictures show the uneven contour, as well as the gap that exists with the VTS seal installed. The hollow one from Inland compresses to about the same thickness as the solid one from VTS. Ideas are appreciated!

This "D" shaped gasket with the triangular hollow in the center is not the gasket to use for your window seals. The "D" shaped gasket from Airstream is all hollow in a "D" shape in the inside and seals just fine on my trailers' glass. I bought it at a local Airstream dealer and it can be found @ all their dealerships as it is the most current door seal material on Airstream trailers. Ed

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by 62overlander

Reversing the glass is a simple one hour job. Two if someone made the mistake of using silicon to seal or install it previously. Double sided carpet tape works best for putting them back in.

1966 glass is held in place with silicone sealer.

1967 and 1968 windows are held in place with double sided tape.

The proper orientation of the window is to have th "BUG" at the bottom.

The "BUG" is a built in identification of the window.

Andy

[KennewickMan]

I believe I have an early 67, because I have the type 2 glass bar. There's barely room for the glass, much less any magic tape. There are grooves inside the bar which hold the silicone....I can't see them serving any purpose with tape.


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[Frank's Trailer Works]

Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In

1966 glass is held in place with silicone sealer.

1967 and 1968 windows are held in place with double sided tape.

The proper orientation of the window is to have th "BUG" at the bottom.

The "BUG" is a built in identification of the window.

Andy

I understand where and why the "bug" is there. That is why I suggested flipping it upside down. The curve often is better in the upside down position than the right side up position where the "bug" is identifying it in the bottom corner.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Originally Posted by KennewickMan

I believe I have an early 67, because I have the type 2 glass bar. There's barely room for the glass, much less any magic tape. There are grooves inside the bar which hold the silicone....I can't see them serving any purpose with tape.


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I suspect you see no purpose because you did it differently and want to make it "okay". You started this thread because your curved window is not sealing correctly. Maybe all the installation steps should be considered as suspect.

The bar you describe as type 2 spreads very far and could actually accept glass much thicker than the original or the replacement. Once you use carpet tape in this application you will fully understand why it is used. Many use other things thinking they were doing the right thing. I recently replaced a window because the butyl tape the PO used, got hot and the window slid right out of the grooved bars. I would strongly discourage you from using silicon of any type, even the new aluminum safe kind. It sticks fast when you want it off and where ever you want it to hold tight, it always fails.

[KennewickMan]

Thanks for the reply overlander. You'll have to excuse my stupidity, because it's tough deciphering the correct solution when there are so many experts with different answers! The only "instructions" I could find, outside of the owners manual, were from VTS, and it said use silicone. The otherwise nice manual made no mention on what to use to secure the glass....lame.


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