Shed some light, please!

[FrankandSue]

Our van has 3 small rooflights which don't shed much light at all. There is a lot of sand & dirt between the dome & the grill. Luckily, they are the sort where the dome unscrews and we have been able to clean the one in the washroom because it is easily reached with steps from the side of the van. The other two are dead centre so we don't see how we can reach them from the outside. Is there a way of doing so? Frank reckons it is easier to take the whole unit out from inside the van, clean it then put it back & reseal it. If we do that, can anyone recommend the best type/brand of mastic? They don't leak at the moment so we don't want to make matters worse.

We're grateful for the help of more experienced caravanners- a little advice can save an expensive mistake so please keep posting everyone.

Regards

Sue & Frank

 

[mto]

Ive had this problem too and managed to dismantle the opening stays and removed the upper part of the rooflight from inside the van without removing the frame.

You just need to turn the top part on the diagonal to drop it down thro the opening.

Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[RayS]

If the rooflights as 400 x 400 mm then a mini heki will fit without any cutting. You can do this from inside, and it will give you a clear roof light and some ventilation. i suggest you use the sealant in tape form sold by W4 rather than squeezing it out of a tube. You can fit the tape to the frame before fitting and avoid runs and blobs. Take care to pull down the screws on the diagonal (like fitting a road wheel) and take them down gradually, going round 3 or 4 times to ensure an even tightening.

You will need to get all the old sealant off first - can be done with scraper and white spirit. helpful if you can get head and shoulders out through the hole while standing on steps inside the van. for some of us this is a bit of a squeeze. Wear an old shirt !

 

[354]

We changed the shylight above the bed for a mini heiki and it made a great difference, the whole bedroom area is lighter and feels bigger, I was a bit of a coward and got a dealer to do cost

 

[FrankandSue]

Oh dear, decision time. We looked at the existing rooflights this afternoon but couldn't see an obvious way of dismantling the opening stays. Are the screws hidden?

We hadn't thought of replacing them with mini hekis before. It seems a really good idea as we don't get much light especially in the washroom. We just can't decide whether to spend any more money on the van at this stage. We bought an old one to see if we liked caravanning before investing too much money. We knew we would have to spend a bit on it to make it comfortable but it's frightening how much this has mounted up & we haven't even bought our aquaroll, wastemaster etc. We've just had it serviced & luckily they found it was generally in good condition (no damp!) 3 mini hekis would be at least