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Front skylights overheating?


Hawcara

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I don't know about "overheating", but my Chausson Welcome 610 (Challenger are rebadged Chaussons) overcab rooflight warped & started letting rain in while driving in very heavy rain.

 

I was told it was a problem batch & it was replaced when the van went in at the beginning of this month for it's first hab check. The replacment seems to be a slightly different shape - the original was basically a flat sheet curved to match the roofline, whereas the replacement is slightly dome shaped across the van as well as following the roofline.

 

Nigel B

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The Hobby Premium we had for a short time had a crack in the inner pane of the skylight that had been caused last summer when the previous owner had closed the blind to keep the hot sun out whilst stood on his driveway. The heat build up caused the crack.

 

Fortunately, the dealer was aware of it at point of sale and replaced it at a cost of around £1200 - had to be done by a windscreen replacement company to seal it properly.

 

The present van has a similar skylight and I will be cautious about causing unnecessary heat build up!

 

David

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Any acrylic motorhome/caravan window can potentially be damaged by strong sunlight if an opaque privacy blind is fully closed behind the pane. My Rapido’s User Manual warns about this for the ‘privacy curtains’ fitted to all the windows (not just to the rooflights) saying

 

“In strong sunlight, only 2/3 close it, above all do not close it completely, there is a risk of overheating and damage to the seals.”

 

It’s not just the seals that can be harmed by overheating - as has been mentioned above the acrylic pane itself can buckle or crack.

 

I don’t know what advice is provided in the current Challenger handbook, but a 2014 Chausson handbook had a section on “PANORAMIC SKYLIGHTS” that included the warning

 

- When the sun is shining, the shade for the skylight(s) must

be closed at two-thirds maximum

 

plus pictures (shown below) for further clarification.

1158989941_Skylightwarning.png.b12dcfb11b7ece8008ccaf046ef8e7b2.png

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