Auto-Trail Skylight Cassette Blind

[P_Dodd]

A cord has just broken on the large cassette blind under the front curved skylight on my 2016 Auto-Trail Frontier Delaware.

I would like to restring the blind myself but cannot see how to remove the blind to work on it.

Apart from removing the winding handle and the 2 side latch plates which all prevent the blind from being removed, there are 6 plastic studs which I cannot see how to remove. See attached photo of one of them. I have tried just pulling on it with no success and I can turn them but that does not do anything either. Trying to prise them out also doesn't help and they feel like they will break

 

Can anyone tell me how to remove this cassette blind please.

[Derek Uzzell]

Can you say, please, who made the skylight - there’s usually a maker’s name on the window?

 

I’m guessing (and it’s a real guess) that the 'studs’ are two-part, with a fixing screw going through the outer part and a circular cosmetic ‘plug’ in the centre that masks the screw-head. (I’ve attached an image below of the type of thing I think you have.)

 

Dometic have used this arrangement for some of their cassetted leisure-vehicle windows and - once the plug has been inserted - it can prove extremely difficult to remove without damaging it. If one is lucky it may be possible to prise out the plug with the tip of a Stanley-knife blade; otherwise a hole needs to be drilled in the plug and a screw inserted in that hole in order to pull out the plug.

[P_Dodd]

The skylight has Dometic on it so I assume that the blind is also from them.

I did suspect that the 6 plastic plugs were covers for the securing screws but attempts to remove a couple felt like they were going to break. I did e-Mail Auto-Trail and asked how to remove them and if they could supply the cord, but they replied saying that they only supply the whole blind unit. No mention of letting me know how to remove it.

[P_Dodd]

Thanks. I’ve now worked it out. The centre of the stud is removable and there is a screw underneath. Unfortunately the only way to get the centre of the stud out is to stick a knife in the edge of it which causes slight damage. Bad design.

[Derek Uzzell]

This type of fixing is commonplace for caravans/motorhomes and used by rooflight/window manufacturers other than Dometic. It’s also employed for securing wheelarch ‘spats’ and plastic bumpers.

 

Sometimes there’s a cut-away that facilitates removal of the centre plug (image below) but normally there isn’t. It’s generally accepted that, if the plug has been pushed well in, it won’t be removable by using a knife blade and, even when it can be prised out with a knife blade, the plug will usually be damaged. As the plugs are not standardised, sourcing exactly matching replacements may prove tricky and/or expensive.

 

I notice that there’s a current ebay advert for a Domeic Seitz Auto-Trail skylight blind-unit - though I don’t now if this is what your motorhome has.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/28041476591

 

 

 

[Geeco]

My previous motorhome was an Auto-trail Tracker FB with the same skylight you have. I restrung every fly screen more than once in the MH except the skylight. I used a waxed marine sail thread to restring. I found it worked fine. I suspect what breaks the cord is corrosion on the eyelets the cord passes through. On my newish Adria that has the same habitation door as the AT I regularly lube the eyelets to stop any corrosion buildup. I believe these pleated fly screens are a real weakness regardless of the manufacturer and in fact was the reason I moved to a different MH with roll up blinds. Unfortunately the habitation door screen is the same design but this time with a 2 year warranty. The cord to restring would be available from a marine parts outlet. Take photos of the cord removal process as the design was probably one from Heath Robinson. Cheers,

[Derek Uzzell]

Apparently the curved rooflight fitted by Auto-Trail is one of the Dometic Seitz “SKYVIEW” range.

 

This .pdf file refers and Page 8 carries details of the inner frame that may help

 

https://www.leisurespares.co.uk/files/ww/SKYVIEW.pdf

 

A cord-kit appears to be available (Part. No. BG 1940) but the cord arrangement SEEMS to be quite simple and - if it’s just the cord that’s broken - replacement may not be too hard.

[P_Dodd]

Unfortunately, there are no cutouts in my fasteners and the centre plugs were such a good fit and colour match that it wasn’t possible to see that there was a separate removable centre section. Only after seeing your post did I try sticking the tip of a penknife in and found that there was a removable centre.

I have ordered 2mm blind cord from Amazon and hope that that will do the job of restringing it. I might give the cord a rub with a candle to help it slip around the parts that it has to rub against.

Thank everyone for your help.

[Teacher]

Hi to everyone, its a long time since I last posted a message on this webpage, I still have my 2011 Autotrail Tracker EKS but owing to lots of extenuating circumstances we have not been able to use it very much recently.

I was just about to post a message asking for help to take down the Autotrail Skylight Cassette Blind when I found this message by P Dodd which answered all of my questions. The main one being how to remove the fixing studs.

If P Dodd reads this I would love to know how the repair went and are there any problems that I need to look out for.

I have contacted both Leisure Spares one in Yorkshire and one in the south regarding buying some replacement fixing studs.

There seems to be very little to be found on the internet about the Dometic Skyview Blind, I understand that is the name for it. They must be generally trouble free.