After two expensive repair jobs on our day/night pleated shades where the strings are forever breaking in our Fleetwood Fiesta 34B 2010 we are looking to replace them. We still like the concept but all those puny little strings make it too complicated. Any ideas? Does Blinds to Go work on RVs?

We like our pleated day/night shades. In 11 years I have had to restring one shade twice and the other once due to frayed strings. In all cases, the strings had frayed because one of the nylon grommets that provide a slippery surface where the strings go through the metal top, middle or bottom bars popped out. This allowed the string to wear and fray against the sharp edge of the hole in the metal bar and eventually break. A little epoxy glue to better hold the grommets in the metal bars resolved the problem.The other reason for breaking strings is that they are tightened too much. The strings should be just tight enough to keep the shades up going down the road.Restringing these shades is a relatively easy DIY job. After doing it once, the next one gets even easier.How to do it here.

I installed these mini-blinds myself to replace the day/night shades. No cords! You just push the blinds into whatever position you want and they stay put. No rattling and I think they look nicer, too.

balfre1946 wrote:After two expensive repair jobs on our day/night pleated shades where the strings are forever breaking in our Fleetwood Fiesta 34B 2010 we are looking to replace them. We still like the concept but all those puny little strings make it too complicated. Any ideas? Does Blinds to Go work on RVs?Well, I understand your frustration with them. And, if you pay someone to re-string them, I guess it can get a bit expensive in the pocket book. But, here's a thought. We've broken a few of the strings in ours and I took on the project of restringing them. Yes, it's not one of the most fun things to do on a motor home but, it's certainly not the hardest. You can do it yourself if, you take some time and, just realize what needs to be done. There's a few "Youtube" visuals on the subject too. And, the "kits" are on the semi-expensive side too. But here's what I did. I found out what kind and, what size of string/cord used on them. I went on to ebay and found it. Now, the last "Restring kit" I bought was around $20.00-$22.00 if I recall. But, what I found on ebay was, a THREE THOUSAND FOOT ROLL of the exact cord they use, for $9.00 and a few dollars for shipping. I've got enough cord for about 300 motor homes. Now, to answer your question, yep, there's other blinds what will work. MCD makes replacement units for your windows. They're not cheap. You can get the powered ones or, the manual ones. Plus, you can go to Home Depot and simply give them the sizes of the windows you want to re-blind and, they'll tell you what other folks have used in their motor homes. Hope this info helps some.Scott

When day/night shades break, they get replaced with custom Bali blinds ordered online from Lowe's.2 more shades to replace.Last custom Bali was $37.73, made to size. They work great and last year's.One wand to open and one string needed to lift. Don't have to be in the middle to lift them. And cleaning, a breeze according to D W.Works for us, you mileage may be different.

Replace the strings with fishing line...10lb test.This is what I did as the strings broke. They don't break anymore.

Day/night shades | Good Sam Community

camper_ron
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
Just did one blind after 10 years of use. It was daunting but we did it and felt some sense of pride afterwards. Make sure you get the correct WT sting as my wife purchased that was a bit smaller making the job more difficult. This video was of the utmost help.
Good luck, r0n…..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=398wcJoR8ws

VIDEO
jerseyjim
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
The day/nite shades my motorhome came with (4), the strings were constantly breaking. Under the warranty, my dealer re-strung them. 3 times.
Found out that after the warranty was over, it would cost me 90 bucks (1 hour labor) to do the job. No way. I went to "Blinds to Go". Had them make 4 "mini-shades", (same sizes, of course). They work fine and look great. And....only $130 !
The little plastic anchors break once in a while, but "Blinds to Go" has no problem giving me replacements. In fact, the lady gave me a bag of 12! That'll keep me forever!
F1bNorm
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
CloudDriver wrote:
We like our pleated day/night shades. In 11 years I have had to restring one shade twice and the other once due to frayed strings. In all cases, the strings had frayed because one of the nylon grommets that provide a slippery surface where the strings go through the metal top, middle or bottom bars popped out. This allowed the string to wear and fray against the sharp edge of the hole in the metal bar and eventually break. A little epoxy glue to better hold the grommets in the metal bars resolved the problem.

The other reason for breaking strings is that they are tightened too much. The strings should be just tight enough to keep the shades up going down the road.

Restringing these shades is a relatively easy DIY job. After doing it once, the next one gets even easier.

How to do it here.

X2. The WIT link Cloudriver gives was the easiest for me to use. I also glued the plastic bushings in place using instant glue. The holes drilled in the aluminum rails were very rough so they were deburred. I purchased a repair kit, but it wasn't needed. You just need the replacement line. They mention using a threader/needle to guide the line through the holes. I used the same thin instant glue to harden a couple inches of the string. Works great.
RV_CONUS
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
I installed those small plastic hooks that hold the bottom of each side of the blind down against the wall.
We don't have a problem with them while traveling
ncrowley
Explorer II
Apr 19, 2014
If you use commercial blinds, how do you keep the bottoms from flopping around while you are driving?
dons2346
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
Macktee wrote:
Just had Dave and Lj's put new Auto-motion shades in the cockpit area of the coach. Wow, I love these new shades, and getting rid of the front cloth glide around shade makes such a difference. Also got rid of some of the valances. It sure opened up the area. I am going to change every one in the coach. A little spendy, but what a difference. Macktee

We had the MCD shades and replaced them with the Auto Motion shades. It was a 100% improvement over MCD
Macktee
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
Just had Dave and Lj's put new Auto-motion shades in the cockpit area of the coach. Wow, I love these new shades, and getting rid of the front cloth glide around shade makes such a difference. Also got rid of some of the valances. It sure opened up the area. I am going to change every one in the coach. A little spendy, but what a difference. Macktee
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Apr 19, 2014
Yep, MCD!
http://www.mcdinnovations.com/
balfre1946
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
MCD shades??
mychrissy
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
We purchased the MCD shades for the rv, have them in most of the windows. We are more than pleased with them.

http://www.mcdinnovations.com/