Warning about Using Reflectex over windows.

[Keyair]

I live in Ca, and am restoring a 1984 classic Motorhome.


It is stored in Riverside County, when the temps regularly exceed 100f in the summer.
I had cut pieces of Reflectex and placed them over the windows, inside to help with heat/light intrusion. They were secured with Velcro tabs, and the further trapped behind the slat blinds.
They have worked well for years, and I was happy but recently I noticed a problem. The pure heat had caused the Velcro glue to fail, and in some places the Reflectex had slumped/sagged a little.
On the rear window, which faces SE, I spotted “burn” marks on the vinyl interior wall covering. I assume the sagging Reflectex had formed a curve and was acting as a parabolic mirror focusing the suns power.


Some of the other winds are showing similar damage but that one is the worst.
Probably a rare circumstance, but wanted people to be aware of the issue.
I’m planning to strip my vinyl anyway.
Will be replacing the Velcro with rare earth magnets, epoxied to the window frame and metal washers taped to the Reflectex.

[Hittenstiehl]

Thx Key letting us all know about this. I had read your original post and and made a mental note if we do this to our trailer that sits in the Phoenix area.

[mikextr]

Thanks for heads up.

[Keyair]

Who knew, right?
I will take more pics of the other areas, and how my next solution works.

[thomasg]

What I have done is cover the Reflectex with solar screen. Helps cut the heat & looks good.

[davidz71]

I've used Reflectix for over 5 years now with no problems but I cut it to fit tightly between the screen and the outer window. This way there is no chance it will reflect sun on to the vinyl. As for a few side windows without screens, I made sure the Reflectix was cut into two panels that were foil taped together and fit tightly into the frame. Only once has the panel in front of the door come ajar so it may be time to add some foil taped around the edge for a tighter fit. Thanks for posting what happened in your situation so that I, as well as others, are aware of what happened. It reminds me of a trip I was on with my kids and wife. My wife had pulled her mirror out for some reason and put it back on top of her flexible makeup kit. We stopped to get something to drink and a few minutes later the kids starting yelling the K5 Blazer was on fire. I spotted smoke on the inside and the headliner was smouldering around a hot spot. I traced the source to the magnifying mirror on the floor. The sun was shining through an open window and onto the ceiling! Who would have thought?

[drbrick]

well this is scary fire is a scary thing!

[Keyair]

I think that this damage occurred over months/years, but I wanted to flag it up, as an issue for interior fading/damage.
Maybe its a fire concern, I dont know, but Im dealing with it as if it is such.
The piece of Reflectex on the rear window was maybe 1" oversized width wise, and so I think even this fact exaggerated the issue.
I will be cutting the piece back exactly to size now.

[Airtream]

We have used reflectix for the last two years as we full time. This helps a lot in winter to add a buffer from the winds, and additional shade for summer. In winter we use a dehumidifier as moisture will accumulate on it. However, we don't leave them up all the time. We usually take them down during the day to enjoy the sunshine when it isn't unbearably hot. Using it while the trailer is in storage, however, would be another issue. Overall, I am pro-reflectix.

Instead of using the velcro, as I originally intended to do, I just Gorilla taped up the edges. They sit nicely between the shades and curtains.

[Dingo Girl]

Originally Posted by Keyair

I live in Ca, and am restoring a 1984 classic Motorhome.
Attachment 336755

It is stored in Riverside County, when the temps regularly exceed 100f in the summer.
I had cut pieces of Reflectex and placed them over the windows, inside to help with heat/light intrusion. They were secured with Velcro tabs, and the further trapped behind the slat blinds.
They have worked well for years, and I was happy but recently I noticed a problem. The pure heat had caused the Velcro glue to fail, and in some places the Reflectex had slumped/sagged a little.
On the rear window, which faces SE, I spotted “burn” marks on the vinyl interior wall covering. I assume the sagging Reflectex had formed a curve and was acting as a parabolic mirror focusing the suns power.
Attachment 336758

Some of the other winds are showing similar damage but that one is the worst.
Probably a rare circumstance, but wanted people to be aware of the issue.
I’m planning to strip my vinyl anyway.
Will be replacing the Velcro with rare earth magnets, epoxied to the window frame and metal washers taped to the Reflectex.

Don't use epoxy use Sugru. They even sell magnets with Sugru applied.
Sugru.com

[Wabbiteer]

Solar hot water heaters call over-temperature events 'stagnation' and have pressure relief valves to vent the pulses of steam that can happen, or shunt the working fluid through a shaded radiator to shed unwanted heat. So can we call sunshade overtemp events stagnation?

Doing a single sheet F-150 windshield reflector down in Branson I saw oven-like temperatures escaping around the rear-view mirror cutout, at the time I wondered has this ever shattered glass?

Prodex is maybe even worse than Reflectix - it is rated at 90°C/194°F and I've seen the aluminum foil layer delaminate and the aluminum oxidize into whitish crumbles when used as a moon-roof sun shade while vacationing in Florida.

So... good old sunshine, after going through glass, the energy shifts more towards infra-red and IR is unable to escape back through glass, this is how automobiles turn into ovens. So the heat gets trapped, if trapped and can't radiate away then conductive and convective are the remaining energy flows...

Thusly, on a calm day when no breeze can cool the outside glass surface by convection the airspace gets hotter - plus when even diffuse reflections from houses/cars/trailers/water are present those temperatures get hotter - and using an insulator as reflector means the sun heated glass and sheetmetal won't really conduct that solar ovens heat away... Stagnation!

[Beboplu]

On the same note, I had a 1984 Subaru GL-10 with cloth seats and a sunroof I lived in Tustin, California, and had my rear view mirror in the night mode, where you flip the little switch at the bottom of the rear view mirror and it reflects downward to keep headlights from blinding you in the rear view mirror. It was parked while at work, and the hot sun coming in through the sunroof and reflecting off the pointed down rear view mirror made a burn in the cloth seats. Had I not gone out to my car to go to lunch, it surely would have caught fire. So from then on, I turned my entire rear view mirror up when I parked. The sunroof did not have a cover to slide over it. It was a pop-up sunroof.

[wimpy]

I50° in black sedan in July (97° according to external temp) in Charlotte is not uncommon in a closed up sedan. Anything to lower the interior temps.

[Keyair]

Originally Posted by thomasg

What I have done is cover the Reflectex with solar screen. Helps cut the heat & looks good.

What is Solar screen?


I am a fan of Reflectex, just flagging this issue and open to other ideas and improvements!

[rucos]

Originally Posted by davidz71

I've used Reflectix for over 5 years now with no problems but I cut it to fit tightly between the screen and the outer window. This way there is no chance it will reflect sun on to the vinyl. As for a few side windows without screens, I made sure the Reflectix was cut into two panels that were foil taped together and fit tightly into the frame. Only once has the panel in front of the door come ajar so it may be time to add some foil taped around the edge for a tighter fit. Thanks for posting what happened in your situation so that I, as well as others, are aware of what happened. It reminds me of a trip I was on with my kids and wife. My wife had pulled her mirror out for some reason and put it back on top of her flexible makeup kit. We stopped to get something to drink and a few minutes later the kids starting yelling the K5 Blazer was on fire. I spotted smoke on the inside and the headliner was smouldering around a hot spot. I traced the source to the magnifying mirror on the floor. The sun was shining through an open window and onto the ceiling! Who would have thought?

I also have used it for years between the Glass and screen....works great during winter storage in AZ plus we use it when parked in hot weather or for blackouts when we have an annoying light outside at night. with pushout windows its very easy to install.

[thomasg]

Solar screen is a fabric window screen designed to block 65 to 95% of the suns uv rays & heat. Can be found at Lowes & Home Depot. The way I did mine is cut the reflectex little larger than the window & cut 2 pieces of the screen per window. Then I stapled one piece of screen on each side of the reflectex. I did both sides so it looks better on the inside. The solar screen is available in black, tan & silvergray.

[LeeJ]

Originally Posted by Keyair

I live in Ca, and am restoring a 1984 classic Motorhome.
Attachment 336755

It is stored in Riverside County, when the temps regularly exceed 100f in the summer.
I had cut pieces of Reflectex and placed them over the windows, inside to help with heat/light intrusion. They were secured with Velcro tabs, and the further trapped behind the slat blinds.
They have worked well for years, and I was happy but recently I noticed a problem. The pure heat had caused the Velcro glue to fail, and in some places the Reflectex had slumped/sagged a little.
On the rear window, which faces SE, I spotted “burn” marks on the vinyl interior wall covering. I assume the sagging Reflectex had formed a curve and was acting as a parabolic mirror focusing the suns power.
Attachment 336758

Some of the other winds are showing similar damage but that one is the worst.
Probably a rare circumstance, but wanted people to be aware of the issue.
I’m planning to strip my vinyl anyway.
Will be replacing the Velcro with rare earth magnets, epoxied to the window frame and metal washers taped to the Reflectex.

Wonder if that could be paited over after using KILZ? Had that same sunburn happen in my 85 soverign

[Keyair]

Probably, but I’m planning to strip it anyway.

[Keyair]

Looks like this thread made it into the Airforums Newsletter!

This is a pic of the bedroom side window that shows a lesser amount of damage, but also shows how the Refectex sagged to cause it.

[Norrie46]

What Reflectix are you using. I went to their web site and there are lots of different measurements.
thanks
Norrie