NL Skylight lug broke off

d3500ram wrote:
I agree with Beagle on the opinion of quality of Heki... I wrote a critical opinion of them in THIS TOPIC.

I had one of the black colored "forks" of the rotating portion break off on my last camper... Crazy Glue did not work. But the rotating part in my situation and the "lug" as you call it are only part of a lock of sorts. I say lock because I am not sure if it is meant to keep the skylight in place while traveling down the road.

You mention that you "rope" yours down, but I just left my as is because there was a significant amount of downward force from the pistons holding it down. I installed new piston because the original ones would not hold the skylight in the UP position. I never worried about trying to get a permanent fix because they really held the window very well in the down position.

But, if you want to fix yours, the frame is relatively easy to take down for a possible fix. Maybe you can install a metal angle with small nuts and bolts to replicate the piece that broke. I had to disassemble mine because the shade slipped out of its guide track slot.

If you choose to take the frame down and the shade works properly for you, DO NOT LET THE SHADE SPRING AND ROLLER COME OUT OF ITS POSITION. It is similar to spring loaded roller shades on a house window in that you need to pre-load the spring. It can be done on the Heli but it is a PIA,

Thank you. That is good info and a good caution regarding the shade spring and roller. I will probably glue a replacement piece on without disassembling the frame.

I rope mine down with a piece of cord running under the mattress and then tied to the aluminum handle. A nice lady at the RV shop told me that was the only way they could get their campers (or something) shipped to the east coast and still have the Heki in place when they got there. So help me, if I every trade the Northern Lite in it will be for a camper with NO HEKI.