Windows Seals

[Carlight]

At least 5 of the windows seals on my Swift are leaking resulting in soft spots just below the inside wallboards. I fully intend to repair any damage caused by the damp and make good the wallboards and any rotten timbers.

First job will be to reseal the window rubbers to stop any more water ingress. Is it possible to re-use the existing seals or will that be a pointless exercise?

New seals come with mastic already inserted but I intend to remove,clean and reapply mastic to the old ones.

 

Also the seals come in various sizes namely 25mm,27mm,30mm & 32mm. As there is a small difference in sizes is there an easy way of measuring them in situ?

 

Any help appreciated. .....

 

Simon

[The Ridge Rider]

Also the seals come in various sizes namely 25mm,27mm,30mm & 32mm. As there is a small difference in sizes is there an easy way of measuring them in situ?

 

Any help appreciated. .....

 

Simon

 

Here you go, try this for size, guy knows what he is talking about, i bought enough seal to do 9 windows on my last van, took two days to do them all, might help if you can borrow a small air compressor and staple gun.

 

 

http://www. sealsdirect. co. uk/snitzForum/topic. asp?TOPIC_ID=5

[ian dunning]

I would definitely replace them then you know they will be OK,

Regards,

Ian.

[MauriceH]

We refurbished a caravan as an Air Training Corps project. . and "done" the windows. ..

 

The width of the seal is the thickness of the panel as it fits over it like an upside down U

the tricky bits are going round the corners -- not getting "crimples" - and finishing off

-- making sure that you haven't stretched it so when you cut you suddenly find it is 1/2" small . .

 

It isn't too difficult -- 14 year old Air Cadets did ours -- great. .

 

The other points are the window catches and the window stays

-- make sure before you put the seal back on the window frame that the old screw holes for these are filled so that when you put them back you don't go into the same hole and get a sloppy fit. .

 

We slid the window off the top hinge before we done the seal -- then put it back after. .

 

Take your time and it wont be too bad. .

 

Allow when you measure extra length -- just for cutting etc. .

 

Best of luck

 

Maurice

[rus]

I would definitely replace them then you know they will be OK,

Regards,

Ian.

 

Also the rubber tends to go brittle after a while.

[Lee E]

with my first van, I reused the existing rubber. The sealant on the new ones looks a bit weak if you look at it. I used oil based sealant on a roll and when it came time to part ex the van, there was no damp around any window.

 

If you do use the existing rubber then make sure that it is thoroughly cleaned of old sealant. As a 'by the way' the seals i took off were 15 year old and still had a lot of life in them. There is an issue with the grey window seals used years ago - they disintegrate but the balck one dont usually.

 

If you use new rubbers then the removal of the old rubbers is much quicker (you dont have to be careful not to damage it!!!). However I personally dont like the sealant used on them.

 

Regards

Lee