Geeco Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 On a recent discussion on here re awnings I commented that when the wind gets up I pull my awning in. Well on Tuesday it did become strong so the awning stayed in, however my windows were open and I found out they do not like 50kph plus winds. One of the acrylic sections decided to part company with the window frame at the top hinge area. We are located on a hill overlooking the ocean at a beautiful location called Brooms Head on the east coast of northern NSW. Temp is between 25- 30C great but the wind has been around 35-40kph with gusts upto 60kph. Windows are now in and aircon on until it calms down. It is out with the duck tape until I can have the window replaced. Cheers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John52 Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Useful reminder for most of us I am sure. But one of the reasons I fitted out my own van was the commercially made ones have too many windows for me Some of them must be like a greenhouse in summer. Easy to break into, source of water leaks and you lose all that wall space. Every bit of my wall space is used (can't even find space for a clock) , cupboards or shelves for storage, mount the TV, headboard for the bed etc. Except the sliding door - can't put anything on that or the door wouldn't slide open. So I have a window in that. Protected by a well supported sheet of strong plywood instead of a curtain. (I park in some dodgy places when I'm out.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 (edited) Hi Gary Sorry to hear about the acrylic window , common enough issue with high gusts. Repair kit may be available (depending on damage) Lovely area and if I remember, it has a lovely holiday park there. Do enjoy Brendan Edited February 9 by onecal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtravel Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Don't come to Trieste, an Italian town near the borders with Slovenia and Croatia. The Bora blows there... See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora_(wind) and read where it says: Chains and ropes are occasionally stretched... Max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Not just in Trieste, Massimo, but all the way down the Adriatic coast of Croatia to Dubrovnik. Very impressive it is too, especially in a motorhome! 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted February 9 Share Posted February 9 Yes - We experienced this in September last year when we drove from Split to Krk on the E65. Where the road crosses the Velebit range just near Jesenice our 3850Kg van Mabel was dancing around like a Whirling Dervish! They had dropped the speed limit to 60kph, 40kph in places. The only respite was in the tunnels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtravel Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 15 hours ago, Brian Kirby said: Not just in Trieste, Massimo, but all the way down the Adriatic coast of Croatia to Dubrovnik. Very impressive it is too, especially in a motorhome! 😄 I agree but it's one thing to be in an open space, another in the town where the wind passes between the buildings. Seeing is believing, have you ever heard of Bernoulli's principle ? Max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboyprowler Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Our very first outing in our first motorhome was to a site near Alicante to try everything out and after extending the awning, having a nice "tapas" supper, I took the awning in and went to bed. That night a flash storm blew up, and in the morning the devastation was obvious with broken awnings, ripped safari rooms but boy, was I glad I took the awning in, and indeed learned a valuable lesson for the future! Today here in Spain it is blowing a hooooley and we are warned of 80km gusts, but it is sunny and warmish. The weather seems to have changed over the years with many more odd occurrences, and plenty of "flash" happenings. Incidentally, we lost the bathroom window in the Flair en route last year. It hadn't been secured properly and a passing lorry's vacuum sucked it out and ripped it off. Still waiting for the insurance to pay, but at over €600 and having to be supplied from Niesmann, another expensive lesson. I also have a checklist with "doors and windows closed" but on this occasion, the window was missed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alanb Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 48 minutes ago, mtravel said: I agree but it's one thing to be in an open space, another in the town where the wind passes between the buildings. Seeing is believing, have you ever heard of Bernoulli's principle ? Max In a word yes. Perhaps the most graphic illustration was the complete collapse of a newly constructed cooling tower at Ferrybridge "C" power station in UK. Two staggered rows of cooling towers and wind came through a gap to reach one of the towers. It may have set up a wine glass type of oscillation as well. The tower collapsed, mainly within itself. Result a massive programme to thicken walls of similar towers. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 1 hour ago, flyboyprowler said: Our very first outing in our first motorhome was to a site near Alicante to try everything out and after extending the awning, having a nice "tapas" supper, I took the awning in and went to bed. That night a flash storm blew up, and in the morning the devastation was obvious with broken awnings, ripped safari rooms but boy, was I glad I took the awning in, and indeed learned a valuable lesson for the future! Today here in Spain it is blowing a hooooley and we are warned of 80km gusts, but it is sunny and warmish. The weather seems to have changed over the years with many more odd occurrences, and plenty of "flash" happenings. Incidentally, we lost the bathroom window in the Flair en route last year. It hadn't been secured properly and a passing lorry's vacuum sucked it out and ripped it off. Still waiting for the insurance to pay, but at over €600 and having to be supplied from Niesmann, another expensive lesson. I also have a checklist with "doors and windows closed" but on this occasion, the window was missed! Having dabbled with a pilot's licence in my younger days, I use the "pre-flight check" routine each day when touring. I physically walk round the motorhome and tap each window, check each skylight, check gas off, waste water tap closed, , EHU disconnected, mirrors and rear view camera cleaned. I have a "remove before flight" flag which dangles from drivers sunvisor for any other bits. The whole operation only takes a couple of minutes. Jeremy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul2 Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 In France June 2022 a flash hail storm smashed my windows, roof lights some of the vans lights lenses and the van body looked as if someone had been hitting it all over with a ball peen hammer. My insurance wrote the vehicle off. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboyprowler Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 1 hour ago, laimeduck said: Having dabbled with a pilot's licence in my younger days, I use the "pre-flight check" routine each day when touring. I physically walk round the motorhome and tap each window, check each skylight, check gas off, waste water tap closed, , EHU disconnected, mirrors and rear view camera cleaned. I have a "remove before flight" flag which dangles from drivers sunvisor for any other bits. The whole operation only takes a couple of minutes. Jeremy Aha Jeremy, I was a pilot for 33 years until I retired, so checklists are a must! Sadly, I can't remember them now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 The only check I can still remember - albeit an acronym rather than a lsit - is HASEL, though I don't suppose there are many instances where that would be of any use in a motorhome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 Definition of HASEL here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HASELL Could have some relevance to motor homes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 25 minutes ago, Derek Uzzell said: Definition of HASEL here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HASELL Could have some relevance to motor homes... No Derek that won't do at all ...that's for aerobatics! Don't want to do Spins and stalls in my van? How about a specific one for motorhomes? GHASTLEY? Gas Hatches Awning Step Tyres Levelers Electrics Yerwife! Jeremy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I have a couple of others in addition to the above checks: Check windows and lockers are all shut. Check nothing UNDER the van ( boots drying off etc ). Check nothing left hanging on the bike rack ! Check fridge is in travel mode. Only once, in the early days, did the fridge door fly open on a bend and spread the contents on the floor ! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboyprowler Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 19 hours ago, Derek Uzzell said: Definition of HASEL here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HASELL Could have some relevance to motor homes... That bought back memories. I was a flying instructor before flying the big stuff and as Jeremy rightly said, this was the check done before teaching spinning and stalling to students. One of my students wanted to practice his spin recovery with me but when I put the aircraft into a spin and shouted "recover" he froze with his arms locked on the control column and I had to whack him to get him to release. Needless to say, end of that session! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globebuster1 Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 Check lists are a great thing........as long as you remember to look at them! Drawers opening at the first roundabout is my speciality! At sea, as in the air no doubt, failure to follow a safety procedure can become a matter of life and death. Especially if adverse weather is involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 On 10/02/2024 at 09:40, mtravel said: I agree but it's one thing to be in an open space, another in the town where the wind passes between the buildings. Seeing is believing, have you ever heard of Bernoulli's principle ? Max No I hadn't Massimo - but I've felt its impact several times! 🙂 The incident I referred to was in August 2008. We'd stopped on Kirk, and in the morning I could see this huge mass of cloud perched above the Velebit range, extending as far south as I could see. I asked the site owner whether this was an indication that the Bora was imminent, and he said yes, but not until tomorrow - when we due to leave! 🙂 We'd decided to take the scenic route down old D8 "Magistrala" south from Senj in preference to the newer A1 motorway, and once we got south of Starigrad the Bora really began to make it's presence felt. Fortunately, there wasn't much traffic so the fact that we got blown onto the northbound carriageway several times didn't cause us or anyone else any problems! Passing Pag island the wind was so strong its vortices were pulling the top off the sea - the so called "spindrift". Quite spectacular! We'd decided to overnight at Nin, so had to cross the bridge over the Velebitski Kanal, which fortunately was still open to traffic, so Nin was reached. The highlight was watching the locals at play in the Bora. We were particularly impressed by one kite surfer who we were convinced would get airborne, and one windsurfer who was travelling faster than any other I've even seen! Next day was calmer, and by the time we'd got to Trogir the Bora was pretty much spent. After that things remained pretty calm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 One of the things about this forum I like is a subject such as wind can go in many directions (no pun intended). While I have travelled through the top half of Croatia including the beautiful west coast I had never heard or experienced the Bora. Please keep educating me with your posts. As an adjunct the broken window landed by airfreight in Sydney from Slovenia is a shade short of AU$2,000 plus installation. Think I shall call my insurer. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globebuster1 Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 That's a quick response from Adria Gary - although at a price! I guess Air Freight ain't cheap either.... My old Adria was probably the most trouble-free of all the vans I've had to date, and the one for giving us our most memorable trips. Still miss the island bed arrangement too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 Hi Gary Wow , That's expensive "for just the acrylic section" of the window I take it a repair kit would have not have sufficed As Globebuster points out "Shipping", be it air or sea, must have been a very expensive part Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geeco Posted February 15 Author Share Posted February 15 The window is to come from Acryform in Slovenia via their AU agent. Acryform make the windows for Adria and I have been advised that I need a complete window including the frame. I have a really good rv repairer that will sort it for me. I no longer "sweat the small stuff!". Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyboyprowler Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 7 hours ago, Geeco said: The window is to come from Acryform in Slovenia via their AU agent. Acryform make the windows for Adria and I have been advised that I need a complete window including the frame. I have a really good rv repairer that will sort it for me. I no longer "sweat the small stuff!". Cheers, Yes, much the same with my replacement window. All that was needed was the acrylic pane itself and indeed Dometic supply such a beast. However, Dometic said that with the reference number, it had to be ordered from Niesmann, and they would only supply a complete window, frame and all! So, anyone need a new frame, going cheap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted February 15 Share Posted February 15 Hi, Gary That explains the price ,(window and frame) Ouch! Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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