Roof light blinds rattle.

[Mel]

We have a Bailey Unicorn Valencia S3. Like it very much in every respect but one. The roof lights have pleated blinds which rattle when closed and there is a good breeze. The roof lights are firmly closed and you can't particularly feel a draft through them, but clearly enough air is passing across the blinds to make it rattle. The one above the bed seems to be the worst.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is it a fault in the sense of my van has some construction issue or a fault in the sense of a general design issue. I am going to get in touch with the dealer and/or Bailey but thought I would do my research first.
Thanks in advance
Mel

 

[SteveW77]

They do the same on my Sterling Moonstone, must admit I think they are a poor replacement for the roller blinds.

 

[Damian]

There is no fault in the deign or build of your van or the rooflights
.Even when the rooflight is firmly closed there will still be air movement due to the fixed ventilation built into the rooflight.
In windy conditions this will cause the blind, be it roller or pleated, to move and make a noise.

 

[Hutch]

Sorry Damien, I don't agree, our roller blinds in the Coachman are steady and silent in high winds.

 

[Thingy]

Hmm, this could get interesting. First three vans had rollers, never had any issue with them.
Last van had pleated blinds and was prone to rattling in a breeze. Current van also has pleated but we dont have any problem with them.

 

[chrisn7]

There is no fault in the deign or build of your van or the rooflights
.Even when the rooflight is firmly closed there will still be air movement due to the fixed ventilation built into the rooflight.
In windy conditions this will cause the blind, be it roller or pleated, to move and make a noise.

But if they make a noise, which mine does too, and which is sufficient to generate these observations, then there is a fault in design of the whole rooflight/blind set up! Roller blinds did not suffer this probem...

 

[Thingy]

Roller blinds did not suffer this probem...

Actually, I think they probably did, I think the issue is more the material that the pleated blinds are made of that is the issue. The rollers being softer would be less likely to rattle.

 

[MichaelE]

The design of the pleated blinds makes it easier to lift than a roller blind. You will probably find that roller blinds lift as well but the their surface is flat whereas the pleated blinds are not which causes a clunking sound?
Mine do it as all i do is place a magazine on the top of the blind as i shut it and it seems to stop bouncing up and down.

 

[Mel]

Thank you all, especially for the magazine idea. Having read the above I think it is to do with the design and material of the blind. Our previous van had roller blinds and they probably did move but didn't make much noise, certainly not enough to keep me awake! The pleated blinds are stiffer and move more. Hence more noise. Sounds like short of having them replaced with roller blinds, there is nothing that can be done, except deploy the magazine. At last a use for a read PC.
Mel

 

[Thingy]

Well, what about fitting stick on draught excluder around the edge of the rooflight, then the rooflight would have a tighter seal and possibly less airflow. However, that could kill one problem and create another.

 

[trucker]

A guy called Ian Pedley has posted on Swift talk recently, he has used lengths of self adhesive brush strip to stop the pleated bit rattling.
I've got some spare and will be fitting next w/e

Kev

 

[Mel]

Thanks. I have no idea what Caravan design budgets are, but you would think that someone would try these things out before putting them into manufacture. On Caravanfinder TV and the Caravan channel, the presenters were in raptures about the cold testing chamber and how marvellous it is at demonstrating the heating and insulation. Do they not have a similar chamber that simulates a breezy hillside. If they did they would realise how dreadfully annoying the rattling is. £20k for a Caravan that you have to put a magazine on the blinds in order to sleep.
As this is a design issue, I will contact Bailey and express my displeasure at their incompetence.
Mel

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

The other problem with the concertina blinds is that they light light in around the edges. :evil: The light wakes me up too early in the mornings. At least the previous van didn't have a roof light.

 

[Sproket]

The other problem with the concertina blinds is that they light light in around the edges. :evil: The light wakes me up too early in the mornings. At least the previous van didn't have a roof light.

Looks like you need some of these :lol:

 

[Mel]

......and I need earplugs.
Mel

 

[Sproket]

......and I need earplugs.
Mel

We always have a good supply of those .....

 

[Thingy]

Sounds as if somebody has just found out there are two five o clocks in each day.

 

[Hutch]

We have the roller blinds, a tiny spot about the size of a pin head came off the silvered side. Really annoying in the mornings. Had to buy silver nail polish to repair it.

 

[Damian]

Quote " As this is a design issue, I will contact Bailey and express my displeasure at their incompetence."

Bailey do not make the blinds they just use them.
The manufacturer of the blinds is most likely Seitz or Remis.

 

[Dustydog]

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Ford-remis-blind-rattle-Cure-/10913/
This may help Mel.
Seems to me there is a design defect and your Bailey Dealer ought to sort it out.

 

[bertieboy1]

Thingy,
Only on a 12 hour clock !

 

[Mel]

Quote " As this is a design issue, I will contact Bailey and express my displeasure at their incompetence."

Bailey do not make the blinds they just use them.
The manufacturer of the blinds is most likely Seitz or Remis.

Thanks Damian but it seems from yours and others contribution that there is nothing wrong with the blinds or housing nor is there anything wrong with the rooflight. From what I gather from the preceding thread the issue is that designing a van where blinds of that stiffness are deployed across a rooflight inevitably leads to rattling. Hence the incompetence is in design and insufficient testing of design, not in manufacture. As far as I understand the van has been correctly manufactured to the prescribed design. Hence my displeasure remains with Baileys.
Mel

 

[Mel]

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Ford-remis-blind-rattle-Cure-/10913/
This may help Mel.
Seems to me there is a design defect and your Bailey Dealer ought to sort it out.

Thanks Sir DD. I will try the magazine first but if that doesn't work I may have to resort to sticky back soft Velcro to cushion the rattle. I could contact the dealer but if, as this thread suggests the van is correctly manufactured to Baileys design, in other words there is no faulty component, just bad design, then is it anything a dealer would ( or even should) address?

Bl##dy annoying that an otherwise excellent van is marred by no-one in the design department going for a kip in the prototype on a breezy night.

Hey ho. As I constantly remind myself there are refugee children drowning in the Med or walking hundreds of miles in the cold to escape the bombs being dropped on their heads or being starved in besieged towns in Syria; forced to eat leaves. The worst I have to moan about is a rattling blind.
Perspective , Mel, perspective.
Mel

 

[Thingy]

Lol bertie. It would only confuse most of em if i referred to zulu time or even ack emma.

 

[saint-spoon]

I would understand what you were on about although I couldn’t remember what zone I was in. All that zulu and alpha time stuff never made much sense. not like the good old watch system where the last watch of the day is the First, the first watch of the day is the Middle and the Morning happens before breakfast. At least the afternoon was where it was supposed to be... before the dogs.

Anyway the blinds in my adria don't seem to rattle, but then I am normally wearing beer plugs. One thing to consider, is that you could seal the skylight up completely and make it air tight but they would still rattle I suspect, all you need is a pressure differential to give you sufficient force on the blind to make it move and you'll get that. And that doesn't require both sides of the blind to be open to the atmosphere.