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

-MEL
Explorer
Aug 30, 2014
mockturtle wrote:
jhilley wrote:
mockturtle wrote:
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.

What brand are they and where did you get them?

Blinds Chalet Look for the cordless mini blinds. They always stay in place and never rattle.

Mockturtle,

Would you by chance remember the measurements for the blind order? I have the same BF floor plan and would like to order these blinds for the coach windows. How nice they look. Did you also use them at the Kitchen and Bath windows?

BTW, congrats on your new RV.
Camper_Ken
Explorer
Aug 18, 2014
dons2346 wrote:
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

What makes the Auto Motion shades better than MCD?
Pirate1
Explorer
Apr 29, 2014
Regarding the rattle from shades. You can buy skinny velcro, white or black, and use the fuzzy strip up each side of the window frame where the blind edge would hit and rattle. No more rattle.
Monaco_Montclai
Explorer
Apr 29, 2014
Well a teck told me that the restringeing waz hard to do. I treys it one time . Did it during a tv commercial . Now after doing all have finaly got the tension rite, which is the key. Now it's all happy-camping
artillery6
Explorer
Apr 29, 2014
We have MCD's all the way around. Our Discovery came with the MCD shades in the back. We went to the factory and had them put in the front also. We are very pleased with the product and the workmanship. The people at the factory are exceptional and have water and 50A hook ups, so you can stay in your coach while the work is being done.
jhilley
Explorer
Apr 29, 2014
WIT is Winnebago Itasca Travelers
Skid_Row_Joe
Explorer
Apr 29, 2014
..
CloudDriver
Explorer
Apr 20, 2014
balfre1946 wrote:
WIT link Cloudriver..what is that?

WIT is the Winnebago owners club. I don't know what the W, I and T stand for as we aren't members.

The link I posted goes to one of the Service Tips posted by Winnebago. Here's a link to the entire list. Some of the Service Tips are specific to Winnebago RVs, others would apply to any RV.
mockturtle
Explorer II
Apr 20, 2014
A thread started on a forum becomes a source of information and discussion for everyone, not just the OP. :)
journey15
Explorer
Apr 19, 2014
Bill.Satellite wrote:
Yep, MCD!
http://www.mcdinnovations.com/

+1 including all new homemade valances throughout the entire motorhome!