Delaminated Window (1 Viewer)

[irnbru]

My neighbour is looking at purchasing a van. There is one on ebay but the seller says its got a delaminated window.

Is this caused by dampness or what?

Would it put you off if everything else seemed ok for price?

 

[andy63]

My neighbour is looking at purchasing a van. There is one on ebay but the seller says its got a delaminated window.

Is this caused by dampness or what?

Would it put you off if everything else seemed ok for price?

Sitting waiting for a ferry with nothing better to do....
So that discription is a bit vague to me...
Delamination suggests a windscreen or some such type glass not a plastic motor home window..
Perhaps you could clarify that...

 

[Silver-Fox]

Not a problem

Usually caused by the sun and it not being manufactured that well.

Defoe not a damp issue.

The screen is effectively two pieces of glass with a plastic sheet in the middle.

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[irnbru]

Yes it's a side window @andy63

 

[pappajohn]

Yes it's a side window @andy63

Hab or cab.
I presume it's a hab window which is usually two moulded pieces of plastic stuck together for insulation from cold.
Only real problem is condensation gets between the two sheets and causes fogging.
Strange thing is many 'double glazed' plastic Windows have a small hole in a bottom corner presumably to stop the window bulging if it gets hot.....If air can get in as it cools so can moisture.
If the rest of the van is ok I wouldn't worry, a couple of hundred quid will sort it...a new window.

 

[irnbru]

Yes @pappajohn its a side hab window

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[SandraL]

We had this in the bad old days when we had a caravan. Seitz produced a batch of bad windows that seperated. I used acrylic/ perspex glue. It was very runny and fed into the gap between the panes it glued them rock solid. You could see the glue after it dried, so not invisible. But it did work.

 

[Stretto Boy]

I think it would be O.K. to go ahead if (a) it is reflected in the price (b) the other windows are alright and (c) there is no evidence of it having caused damp problems either with the internal fittings and soft furnishings or, more importantly, the structure. I would recommend commissioning a report from an independent engineer.

 

[John65]

What make of van is it? We have a hobby 09 plate with a cracked window and hobby can't supply one(so much for German built vans). I would advise he checks price and availability.

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[TheBig1]

eeco can repair or replace any double glazed acrylic window cheaper than going through a dealer too

 

[John65]

As The Big 1 says eeco can make new Windows,they need your old window as a pattern but they told me from receiving my old window it could take 3-5 weeks and if they didn't have a mould to suit I would have to pay to have one made. They couldn't tell me the cost of the mould until I sent my window.so I would advise checking first.

 

[irnbru]

What make of van is it? We have a hobby 09 plate with a cracked window and hobby can't supply one(so much for German built vans). I would advise he checks price and availability.

Its 02 Dethleffs and as far as I know its not cracked.

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[Silver-Fox]

Yes it's a side window @andy63

Not glass then, disregard my post i thought you were talking about windscreens

 

[jockaneezer]

A Dutch company, Polyplastic, made a batch of acrylic windows fitted to German vans and caravans around that time, and even though they knew there was a problem, they carried on manufacturing them for at least 4 more years. The problem stemmed from one half of the window having a screen printed pattern applied around the edge that interfered with gluing the two halves together. Apart from water getting inside the window, there were cases of the outer section of the window falling off whilst travelling, the dealer fix was to drill holes and fit a small screw in each corner, which unfortunately could let in more moisture.
My van has a small window which fogs up and a larger window which actually retains an inch or so of water in it. I will need to fix the larger window as it could be a real problem if the water were to freeze. Mind, I have also considered putting a couple of goldfish in there, it would make a lovely feature !

 

[Fletton]

....., I have also considered putting a couple of goldfish in there, it would make a lovely feature !

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[Robert cardiff]

My neighbour is looking at purchasing a van. There is one on ebay but the seller says its got a delaminated window.

Is this caused by dampness or what?

Would it put you off if everything else seemed ok for price?

 

[Robert cardiff]

Hi i am in the windscreen business the laminate screen consists of two layers of glass with a plastic inner layer the whole lot is vaccumed together .the delamination is caused by moisture getting in between the two layers generally looks white in appearance nothing you can do new replacement required hope this helps

 

[Robert cardiff]

Sorry guys missed above quote thought you where talking about windscreens also

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[jockaneezer]

Whilst this thread is reactivated, I got a price from eeco to reseal the windows, but they said they couldn't remove the water or condensation, seems a pointless exercise getting them resealed then ?

 

[Robert cardiff]

Whilst this thread is reactivated, I got a price from eeco to reseal the windows, but they said they couldn't remove the water or condensation, seems a pointless exercise getting them resealed then ?

 

[Robert cardiff]

Ok always go for easy option

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[Feltwell]

Regrettably, I have some direct experience of this! Is it a Polyplastic window? I bet it is!

As someone mentioned earlier, there were major problems with Polyplastic windows delaminating. It is without question a safety problem, as the only thing holding the outer pane shut is the glue to the inner pane - the catches being fitted to the inner pane. Basically the windows were glued together and the glue went over a screen printed area. Over time this degrades through UV and the window can delaminate.

There are several approaches:-

- Glue it up again yourself. I did this, with some success - if you're interested I'll dig out where I got the glue from.
- Use the official Polyplastic kit of little screws and plastic buttons to physically join the window panes together at the corners. Much better than it sounds, looks fine, I did this on all the windows as well as regluing the delaminating ones. Advanced Glass sell them ,the website is dreadful but trust me, give them a call, very helpful people Broken Link Removed. Downside is on the big windows you're still only reinforcing the join at the corners.
- Get someone else to glue them up. EECO will do this but it's not cheap http://caravanwindows.co.uk/
- Get a new window made. Again it's EECO, but definitely try re-bonding the original window first, for reasons I'll come on to in a moment.

The big lounge window in my van broke (long story!), a replacement was going to be £700 for a new Polyplastic or £650 for an EECO copy, but I also had other windows that were delaminating. I went to Advanced Glass and we did a deal to just replace the bad windows, but on fitting them they looked awful - the van was 10 years old and the original windows had aged and were just a totally different colour to the new ones - so in the end I replaced all the windows under a deal with Polyplastic, at a total cost of £1k. The windows are now made to a slightly different design to cure the delaminating problem.

It was obvious that acrylic windows age and change colour a lot, much more than you think. I know that EECO claim to be able to colour match aged windows, and that's great, but then once their new window was fitted it will also age and eventually I think there's a good chance it will be a different colour to the original ones.

 

[Feltwell]

Forgot to say - don't worry about any fogging (condensation) between the panes if it's a Polyplastic window, they have little plastic bungs in 2 holes in the inner pane which you can take out to dry it out once it's been sealed, you can get new bungs on Fleabay if they're missing.

I don't think this problem should put your neighbour off the van BUT I'd check all the windows very carefully as if one has gone, others will be going, if it's like mine. All you're trying to do is, with the windows open, pull the inner and outer panes apart - the construction is obvious and you'll see if they're starting to come adrift. So long as the repair cost is factored into the price I'd buy it if the rest of the van was good.

Personally I would then use the special glue round the inner pane edge on all the good windows, re-glue the delaminated ones, and fit the screw buttons that Advanced Glass supply to all the windows - easy DIY job, they even give you the special acrylic drill bit.

This was the glue I used - be very sparing with it, a little goes a long way, if you're not careful it will squidge out too far when you put the panes together. Not an invisible repair, please note, but I think perfectly acceptable on an older van especially.

http://www.bondrite.co.uk/caravan-repair-products/s1220-clear-acrylic-adhesive-25ml/p297293.html