Seitz blind clip repair?

[John Anne]

Evening all,

 

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me find the tip I read somewhere?? about a nifty repair to the clip which latches between the concertina and fly screen blinds.

 

The promblem is that a small strip of spring steel which sits in the catch has gone missing and therefore the catch is just swinging freely.

 

I recall that the tip was to use something from an everyday item that does the job of the missing spring steel strip. I have tried all known methods to find this tip again 8-) except for this forum. So lets hope that someone read the same tip as me and knows where to find it again.

 

Your help in resolving this mystery and enabling me to repair the catch would be very much appreciated.

 

Thanks in anticipation of your assistance.

 

John & Anne.

[flicka]

is this what you are looking for, John

 

http://www.leisureshopdirect.com/default.aspx?shop=caravan&menu=home&searchtext=seitz%20blind%20flyscreen%20clip&searchcriteria=entire%20store&Page=1&pageno=1&lastpage=3&pagesize=25

[John Anne]

Hi Flicka,

 

Thanks for you very fast response.

 

The link you sent is a good representation of the main clip itself. However the bit I am looking to repair/replace is a small piece of spring steel which sits inside the finger plate. The piece of spring steel is about 15mm x 10mm x 1mm.

 

Cheers,

John.

[David Dwight]

We had the same problem with our previous M/h The piece of steel fell out, we tried to get it back in the dealer tried, without any success. In the end Autotrail replaced the blind under warrenty.

On our new Autotrail the blinds have a different catch, seems much more sensible.

[flicka]

Hi John & Anne

I suspect you may have difficulties sourcing to spring as a Seitz spare part.

 

One possibility (if you have a micrometer to measure the thickness) is Skegness Springs, I have found them very helpful for those odd "one - offs" in the past.

 

http://www.skegsprings.co.uk/products/

[Derek Uzzell]

The dimensions of the Seitz spring are quite small (approx. 15mm x 10mm x 1mm).

 

This advert shows a Seitz blind 'centre clip' (though there seem to be other versions of this item being advertised elsewhere)

 

http://caravan-parts.store.buegle.com/product.php/seitz_blind_centre_clip_2_pck/?k=:::4671409

 

and there's a reference to the spring being sold as part of Repair Kit BG1091.

 

http://www.caravan-parts.org/product.php/-seitz-window-repair-kit-for-s6-/?k=:::4552931

 

An advanced GOOGLE search (which I assume John & Anne will have tried) produces plenty of references to this spring, but I can't find any mention of a part from an everyday item being used as a substitute.

 

It's quite possible John & Anne have seen this 'tip' in a magazine, in which case it will be a waste of time looking on-line. It might also be the case that the 'tip' was a throw-away generic suggestion rather than firm advice. For example, it might have said "If you've got an old clock, or a toy with a clockwork motor, it might be practicable to adapt a section of the springs found in these to use as a replacement."

 

Unless the spring in a Seitz clip is a unique shape (and this should be evident from examining the spring in other clips) I would have thought that making one shouldn't be too difficult.

[John Anne]

Thank you for your efforts in trying to resolve this problem and providing the various links, they are much appreciated.

 

The spring in question is actually shown in the bottom right of the picture in the link that Derek provided.

As Derek says it should be fairly simple to make on once a suitable piece of spring steel can be found. I will keep up the search - but not electronically, it uses up too much time! If I come across a solution I will post the answer here.

 

Thanks again Flicka & Derek.