Curved front windows... breakable?

[Bowmans]

Our 1979 has sealed frames on all the windows. We have broken out the 4 vista view windows with success and they look great. Our front curved windows have the same tint issue and one is holding water (about an inch deep) and sweating between the panes. Neither are leaking to the inside currently but we have the front of the camper empty and the plastic frames off these windows so if there is a good time to fix, now is it.

Has anyone broken out the inside pane of these windows and res-sealed the outside pane? If so, I have enough of the Vista View replacement gasket from Can-Am to put around these windows once it is broken out, just not sure if it will fit (the gap looks smaller between the panes).

Below is he best picture I have of the window. It is the one at the top, right in this photo (and the opposite not shown):

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Our 1979 has sealed frames on all the windows. We have broken out the 4 vista view windows with success and they look great. Our front curved windows have the same tint issue and one is holding water (about an inch deep) and sweating between the panes. Neither are leaking to the inside currently but we have the front of the camper empty and the plastic frames off these windows so if there is a good time to fix, now is it.

Has anyone broken out the inside pane of these windows and res-sealed the outside pane? If so, I have enough of the Vista View replacement gasket from Can-Am to put around these windows once it is broken out, just not sure if it will fit (the gap looks smaller between the panes).

Below is he best picture I have of the window. It is the one at the top, right in this photo (and the opposite not shown):

Drain holes can be drilled into the double pane wing windows, at the bottom, to let the water out.

However, it must be done carefully.

If you wish to try that, let me know and I will post the instructions, on this Forums.

Andy
post 7900

[ArtStream]

Hi Bowmans!

See one of many recent threads on the subject:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f164...ame-47130.html

[Bowmans]

Thanks for the replies.

Andy,
The PO or the first owner drilled the drain holes at the bottom of the frames on all my windows. I made sure the holes in the wing were clear to see if they would release but the water is actually above the gummy seal that is between the 2 panes of glass and is not draining into the "drain" area of the aluminum trim where the drain holes relieve. It must have leaked at the top of these windows originally as I can see where the PO re-sealed the outside window pane to the frame on top of the original rubber grey seal. Now that pool of water is like sand in an ant farm, permanently sloshing side to side HAHAHA!

Artstream,
Thanks for the link. That is for the Vista View windows. I have broken our Vista Views out and done resealed them ok. I an inquiring about the wing windows in front. They look like the same configuration but, with the odd shape, I wasn't sure if the glass was under any bended pressure or if the gap left behind would be the same width when the inside pane is broken out. Or any other pitfalls with doing this to them.

I did find some other posts where Z opened up all of his frames and redid his but I was hoping just to break out the inside pane, re-seal the outside glass and put a gasket in the hole left behind like the VV. I really don't want to deal with an outside rivet job until I had no other option.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Thanks for the replies.

Andy,
The PO or the first owner drilled the drain holes at the bottom of the frames on all my windows. I made sure the holes in the wing were clear to see if they would release but the water is actually above the gummy seal that is between the 2 panes of glass and is not draining into the "drain" area of the aluminum trim where the drain holes relieve. It must have leaked at the top of these windows originally as I can see where the PO re-sealed the outside window pane to the frame on top of the original rubber grey seal. Now that pool of water is like sand in an ant farm, permanently sloshing side to side HAHAHA!

Artstream,
Thanks for the link. That is for the Vista View windows. I have broken our Vista Views out and done resealed them ok. I an inquiring about the wing windows in front. They look like the same configuration but, with the odd shape, I wasn't sure if the glass was under any bended pressure or if the gap left behind would be the same width when the inside pane is broken out. Or any other pitfalls with doing this to them.

I did find some other posts where Z opened up all of his frames and redid his but I was hoping just to break out the inside pane, re-seal the outside glass and put a gasket in the hole left behind like the VV. I really don't want to deal with an outside rivet job until I had no other option.

Insert a small steel wire into that hole and force it through the gasket that's between the 2 pieces of glass.

For the drain holes to work correctly in a wing window, there must be 2 holes per wing window, at the very bottom.

Andy

[Bowmans]

Thanks Andy. I will give that a shot when I get home. If I remember correctly, there are 2 holes in each wing, just not in far enough it seems. That wire trick should work though.

[bgabrielse]

On both of my wing windows the seals between the glass are coming out, or corroding out. One has a lot of moisture in it and the other one is holding water. Is there a way to take the 2 glass panes apart and reseal them?

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by excella80

On both of my wing windows the seals between the glass are coming out, or corroding out. One has a lot of moisture in it and the other one is holding water. Is there a way to take the 2 glass panes apart and reseal them?

Don't worry about the gaskets.

Attemping to fix double pane windows, is a bad idea.

Read the above posts, drill the 2 holes carefully, insert a solid wire, thru the holes, and thru the gasket.

That will drain the water.

The front windows should have a protective "rockguard" on them, in which case the wing windows will not be seen.

Andy

[Bowmans]

Andy,
Thanks for the reply. Sorry to have gone against your post but I broke out the inside panes 2 days ago. Both windows had all kinds of junk in the panes and I knew I had to do something for a view out of them. I had your number ready to order replacement windows had something gone wrong.

I will say that since it is safety glass, it goes with a POP like a shotgun going off! I used a dremel with rotory blade to cut through the inside pane and as soon as the cutting blade goes through the pane, it shatters. It had the same groove size left with the inside pane gone as the Vista View windows and, once all the little glass pieces are pulled out, I used the same process. Also, we don't have a rockgaurd on ours, only the front awning. I also don't see any holes where one would have been mounted.

Before:


After the shatter (after which, I promptly went around to the outside to make sure the other pane hadn't broke):


After picking out some of the pieces:


After the whole process and with the Vulkem the oozed out of the outside cleaned up:


Here is the other wing window without the Vulkem cleaned yet:


With the outside window firmly seated in Vulkem against the outside frame, I don't expect a leak. We had a medium rain today and all was well.

Thanks,
Tadd

[bgabrielse]

Tadd, did you have to seal anything up on the inside once you broke out the inside glass. I think I might do the same thing. I am going a complete shell off on mine and I am not going to leave windows in with the seals rotting out. I am putting way too much work into mine to have a sub par view.

[Bowmans]

That was same thing I was thinking excella80. Too much work not to be able to see clearly out to the views while camping... I did the same thing many (myself included) did with the vista view windows that have to be broken out in order to get a good view. I will try to find the post on those.

The only difference is that the wing windows are safety glass and require a little more coaxing to break. Cut away the rubber seal as close to the frame on the inside as possible. Don't even try to use a screwdriver between the inside pane and frame, it will never break that way. I used a rotory cutting blade on a dremel (safety glasses for the face and leather gloves a must) and cut a small gash in the pane. As soon as the blade gets through the pane, it cracks up with a loud pop. The second one of mine, I broke the rotory blade when I was almost through the inside pane and went to replace it. While replacing it I heard the pop. At that point, carefully get one of the wedges of glass out and the rest is fairly easy to pull out. I used a small, flat screwdriver to push in a few pieces around one particular piece until I was able to pop it out.

Once you get the frame free of glass and sealer, use an exacto knife again from inside the camper to the cut the rubber seal as close as you can to the outside pain and pull it out. Now go outside and pry what is left of the rubber seal from between the frame and pane of glass. Once the glass is free, clean everything well (I used mineral spirits/windex/razor blade scraper). Then I put blue painters tape around the outside frame so no Vulkem gets on the polished area and put a generous bead of Vulkem on the window where it will hit the frame. I oozed it in as far as I could. Then go inside and push the window to the outside of the frame and watch the Vulkem to make sure it oozes out both the outside of the frame area and inside so the seal is good. Then I used the same gasket from Can-am that is used for the Vista View windows and it fills the gap inside the camper between the outside window pane and inside frame. If the Vulkem didn't come inside the frame, I put another bead inside the camper between the edge of the glass and frame (helps hold the gasket in even though it is in there tight).

I was worried about leaking in these windows since we already had signs of water between the panes and also a hazy view out. I think this wall of text may help if you go this route but if you need more info, PM me. Happy to answer any questions on how we did it.

Tadd & Beth

[Bowmans]

I am cleaning out my subscriptions and thought I would update some of these older posts. It has been over 5 years now. Both wing windows and the 4 vista view windows are still leak free.