Windshield sunscreen?

I looked at doing this.. I believe i read the instructions on another forum. The magnets were over $100, plus material cost, plus your time. One thing, dont glue the magnets directly to the glass. Glue Velcro to the glass, then velcro to the magnets, that allows for heat expansion.. I finally bought the shade that attaches Inside with suction cups.. I like it, so easy to install..

Any idea what strength magnets work?
I'd hate to hang myself from my awning rod the first time I tried to remove them!

Good tip on the velcro...
but 2 pieces of velcro will add 1/8" between the 2 magnets so they need to be a lil stronger.

Sounds like you're building exactly what Magneshade has had for some time. We have Magne shades for our MH, and they are great. Provide great shade and shield out a lot of heat from the sun, yet you can still see out it very clearly. Very easy to put up and take down, too.

Sorry, I can't really provide you any advice on what kind of magnets to get, except to say that the ones Magneshade uses for same purpose you are talking about, they are REALLY strong. When initially installing the magnets inside, you have to be very careful, as they can pinch and hurt you.

I'd look at what a Magneshade will cost for your MH. Yes, they are not cheap, but depending on what magnets you buy, you may end up spending close to same amount doing this yourself vs buying some from Magneshade.

Or the Prompt method. Had mine for ten years, still work great, goes up in five minutes.

Clicky

Big Katuna wrote:
Or the Prompt method. Had mine for ten years, still work great, goes up in five minutes.

Clicky

Had mine for over 8 years and still work great. Easy up and down. I also purchased the wiper and mirror covers from PromptRV.

Yes, 3/8" magnets are way too small. We installed one of the Magneshade front window shades. Their magnets are about 7/8" diameter, maybe 1", and they install the magnets differently than you had planned. Ours has 5 or 6 magnets across the top to hold everything in place and remember you do get wind at times. Ours has no magnets across the bottom, but that's because they knew our model of MH - you tuck the bottom of the screen down into the space between the windshield and the front cover that opens to the generator. This prevents any wind coming up under the screen. If you didn't have that space to tuck it into, I'd do four magnets just across the bottom.

We bought the front screen and for the front two side windows. DW went to JoAnn Fabrics, bought the same material and sewed additional covers. She ordered additional magnets from Magneshade.

Magneshade send two different strengths of magnets. Both sizes have sticky backs that you peel a backing off of. The larger ones go on the inside of the windshield and hold the sunscreen through the glass. On the smaller side windows that are dual paned windows, you use a slightly smaller magnet and it's installed on the outside of the window since they won't hold through the two layers of glass and air space between the panes.

The magnets are very strong. I didn't see a pound rating, but when you're separating the magnets (they come stuck together to form a roll like a roll of quarters, the DW couldn't separate them. And then, when not paying attention, if you set one down within 8 - 10 inches of another magnet, they're strong enough that one magnet will jump to another and then you have to separate them again. And if you don't watch your fingers, when one magnet jumps to another, if your fingers are in the way, you could wind up with a blood blister. Again, I don't know the pound rating, but you can see they're very strong. I realize my above description, other than the diameter, doesn't help you when ordering on line, you might look for a specialty cabinet shop. Some high end cabinets are using the same magnets instead of traditional latches.

The OP stated: "I'd like to do the windshield with 5, corners and a top middle. Magnets glued to the inside of the windshield. And hooks on the fabric so I can install them from the ground with an awning rod."

Referring to the way Magneshade makes them (in addition to more and larger magnets) They sew the magnets in the screen into pockets. The pockets are about 2" x 4". The top part is a 2" square for about a 1" magnet. The little larger pocket gives things room to move around. The outside magnet sticks to the inside magnet. I'm not sure what hooks would do?

The 2" x 4" magnet pocket actually has two parts. The poscket is stitched to the screen on the top, both sides and across the middle to hold the magnet in the top part. The bottom part is left open at the bottom allowing you to insert a rod of some sort into it to raise the shade into position. We use the 5' wooden broom handle from the window squeegee.

I don't see any problem "gluing" the magnets to the inside of the windshield - though a glue isn't really used. They use a round dot of material (the same size as the magnet) that's sort of like contact paper that sticks on both sides. If you can't find something like that, I think I'd use silicone sealant - just a drop and squeeze the magnet tightly to the inside of the windshield forcing out as much of the silicone as you can. If you wanted to remove them later, the silicone should remain pliable enough to slip a razor blade under it to cut the silicone and then you can use the razor blade to scrape off the rest of the silicone. Don't use a "glue: that will set up hard.

If you install the shades on the side windows which are dual pained, then the magnets need to be on the outside of the window. I had my doubts about the double sided sticky material they supplied. On the windshield, when you pull the shade off, you're actually pulling the inside magnet tighter against the windshield, there's no way to pull the inside magnet off. However, on the side windows, since the window magnet is on the outside, I thought we'd pull those off when pulling the shade off - hot sun heat tends to loosen some glues. So far it hasn't been a problem. I'd use silicone on these also.

We had looked at using a shade inside of the windshield to make it easier to install. Our MH has the OEM installed front shade that you pull from side to side. While these are a lot better than nothing, it allows the sun into the MH building up heat between the inside of the windshield and the curtain. The outside shades stop a lot more heat and keep it outside of the MH.

Bill

Find an Auto wrecker , look for a junked Fan Clutch ! There are some very powerful magnets installed in those that could be used for the intended purpose!

My Magnashade right out if the box.

Delete double post

JimM68 wrote:
I want to rig some exterior magnet mount sunshades.

I'll use this Home depot sunscreen for the side windows, and I have an MCD exterior windshield shade that came with the RV but was never used or mounted.

I bought a 10 pack of 3/8" rare earth magnets from Harbor freight, but way too small to do the job. Searched and saw a couple posts from a fellow DIYer who got his magnets from Amazon but didn't recall exactly which ones.. :h

Looked on Amazon, 30 plus pages of rare earth magnets, ranging from the little one I bought to industrial types with 200 pounds of force?

I'd like to do the windshield with 5, corners and a top middle. Magnets glued to the inside of the windshield. And hooks on the fabric so I can install them from the ground with an awning rod.

Other windows the magnets will glue to the frames, on the outside. The little ones I have may work there?

Any good guess or real experience on how many pound force magnets it will take to pull thru the windshield and hold that sunscreen on?

It is important to use nickel plated magnets on the exterior or they will rust. I used grade N52, they are the most powerful.
I purchased mine from kj magnetics.