Remis skylights

[Guest John]

We are thinking of having a REMitop 400 sliding roof window fitted to a new van conversion. Has anyone any experience of these units as we have read of some people having problems with the plastic failing after a couple of years. Comments on other makes would be welcome.

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

My recently purchased Hobby has Remis roof-lights - a 40cm x 40cm REMItop 400 over the rear bed and a 50cm x 50cm REMItop II above the front seating area. As these units are new, I can't comment on their actual long term durability. Remis lights are fitted to Continental caravans in their 1000s, so I would have thought any basic deficiency would be well known - personally, I've not heard or read of any plastic material problems with the REMItop range. (Obviously, like anything else, if something is abused it will break and the prevalence of motorcaravanners driving with open roof-lights suggests one reason for potential early failure.) The quality of construction seems fine and, when closed, neither window lets in water even when subjected to torrential rain driven by gale force winds. Both REMItop roof-windows on my motorhome have 'permanent ventilation' and you can hear the air rushing through the vents during very windy weather. In such conditions the pleated blind in the REMItop 400 unit tends to rattle if it's fully closed (solution - open it a bit) as the 400's design lacks the cord guide-system employed for the blind on the more sophisticated REMItop II. However, neither roof-light is noisy while the vehicle is being driven. I've found the opening/closing handles on both units a mite stiff to operate and the simple sprung 'clip' that connects blind and fly-screen together on the 400 can be a bit fiddly to undo. As I'm sure you know, REMItops push upwards then slide to one side, leaving a big open hole in the ceiling. If you are vertically challenged, don't overlook the fact that you'll need to be able to reach the open roof-light's tilted 'glass' in order to slide it back before pulling it down into the closed position. If it's just rained, you'll need to beware of water droplets on the roof-light's upper surface falling on your face as you slide the glazed section sideways. I can't say I've got any damning criticisms of either of our windows - they don't leak, operate OK and appear well made. I suppose, if I had had the choice of REMItop or Dometic's HEKI roof-windows, I'd have chosen HEKI as spare parts are likely to be more readily available in the event of a problem. Probably, with hindsight, I'd also have opted for an over-bed unit without permanent ventilation. It would be interesting to know why you are considering the (more expensive?) Remis product over the more usual Mini-HEKI.