Can I repair the blinds?

[Treecol]

All of the blinds on the MH are crinkly at the edges and do not roll down. The fly screens roll up though. Is this something that I can repair or should they just be replaced?

 

[Allanm]

Might help to either post some pics or let us know the make of van and blinds.

 

[Treecol]

OK I'll take some and add later.

 

[Treecol]

Here is one

 

[denisejoe]

Our do that as well! Will be interested if anyone has any idea how to repair as was thinking we'd probably have to replace rather than repair. It's not so bad if we leave the fly screen attached as we open it and then detach the fly screen once the blind has been rolled away.

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[Eggs]

Yes you can repair them, I did mine last year. Remove the internal frame then take out the roller at one end and tighten the roller with a pair of pliers and then refit the roller into the frame, YouTube is your friend, search repairing caravan window blind. It's a fiddly job trying to get the roller back in while it's under tension, but doable.

 

[Badknee]

I think that your spring has unsprung ?
You can re-tension them but I’ve never tried.

 

[Funnymunny]

I repaired 4 of mine 2 years ago. The material is very expensive so I bought a couple of cheap blackout blinds from Dunelm and used them. It is an easy job just tricky rewinding the tension into them but once you get into the nack you are away.

 

[Treecol]

Good old YouTube eh? Thanks we will have a go and take some photos in case it will be a help to anyone else. I am also wondering if it's worth buying some cloth roller blinds to replace all of them. Only a couple have the odd tear in them, but I never have liked the OEM ones they do seem to crinkle too easily.

 

[Sandancers]

Dead easy to take those blinds apart. I'd take it apart, iron the crinkled material and re-assemble them. You need to put a little bit of pre-tension on the spring on assembly. But then when re-attached to the wall you can increase the spring tension while the blinds are fitted.

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[Jev88]

I repaired mine just yesterday!!!

I had a broken centre catch - the bit you squeeze. Got it from O'Learys for anyone else reading this. Replacing that is a sod!

Your lower blind has lost its tension (internal spring). All you need to do is remove the plastic cover over the lower length of window (possibly the sides too, but on my bigger window they are 4 separate pieces of trim). Then look for a single Screw holding a plastic barrel - usually the right hand end - remove this and gently pull the whole roller down and away. The left hand end has a metal rod with a flattened end spring loaded. Give the blind material a gentle clean whilst it is off and then roll the material back onto the roller fully. Now wind the flattened tip clockwise and you will gradually feel tension building. I found it needed a couple of revolutions past the point at which your fingers can no longer hold it without it slipping, employed some grips/pliers at this point.
Now carefully hold it all tight and pop the flattened metal part back into its recess on the left and swing the rest of the roll back into position.
Just before you pop the right hand end back in put the plastic barel back in the end and slot it into place. Replace the single philips screw that holds the barrel end and test for tension. If it doesn't retract properly back around the roller you need another turn or two on the flattened metal end.
Refit surround and enjoy blinds that stay taught!

If you feel NO tension when you wind that metal prong you can still get the internal part too - looks like below. You can just about see the flattened end - but the photo needs flipping 180degrees.

 

[Treecol]

Thank you for that info. We will attempt to fix them. I must say I prefer the more modern pleated blinds/fly screen. They seem less likely to snag. Wonder if they van be upgraded to those ones at some point?

 

[DangerMousy]

A fairly simple, if fiddly, job. One of ours went whilst we were on holiday a couple of years ago - this is the youtube video I used to help me fix it:

 

[Jev88]

Thank you for that info. We will attempt to fix them. I must say I prefer the more modern pleated blinds/fly screen. They seem less likely to snag. Wonder if they van be upgraded to those ones at some point?

Personally I thought no the pleated blinds look more flimsy? We also have cats, so the string parts of the pleated wouldn't last a day. ?