Rooflight

[hashers2]

We have an Autotrail Cheyenne. We have Remis Vario 1 roof lights 900x600. Last night we lost our main roof light in the storms. The wind was so strong it lifted the roof light completely off the hinges smashing the plastic canopy and winding mechanism. We were in the van at the time and it was pretty scary. Still we did better than the farmer who lost his Dutch barn!
I have been looking today for a replacement. It seems I can buy the relevant parts but not the whole thing, which I thought would be cheaper and easier to install. O‘Leary‘s had the whole top half for £345 but are sold out.
Individual parts are expensive, the plastic canopy alone is £390. So first question is does anyone know where I can get the whole top half of this rooflight (canopy, winding mechanism and top insert) as seen on O’Leary’s web site. We are supposed to be driving down to Spain next week so I am not ruling out France or Spain as a source.
Alternatively we have never been happy with the Remis roof lights as we are forever replacing winding handles and overhauling the winding mechanism and they never seem to lock securely (which might have been the problem last night)so would be happy to replace it with a different make.
O'Leary's recommended replacing the Remis with a Heki 2 opened with a push bar. The hole required is slightly larger but I am happy to do this. The advantage is that it's not a wind up model and locks more securely. However I downloaded the installation instructions and it states
“Designed and recommended for trailed vehicles in which people do not travel. Technically

also suited to a vehicle in which people do travel, but as the rooflight is designed with free

airflow, there may be draughts, air noise and chattering blind mechanisms, which will not be

accepted as a product fault.”
The Heki 3 does not have this caveat but we are back to a wind up model. We had push bar Heki roof lights in our Adria and never noticed a problem but they were not as large.
So my second query is does anyone have a Heki 2 in there Motorhome and do they have wind and noise problems.
Wow! this is a long post but any info or advice gratefully received.

 

[Techno]

Says more than 10 in stock but PHONE THEM!


"Dome assembly for the Remis Vario 1 rooflight. Includes upper frame, dome and winding mechanism.
Image shows the size 400x400 (spare part assemblies for sizes 700x500 and 900x600 are similar, but have 4 hinges) The inner frame is not included in the price."

 

[andy63]

I fitted the heki 2 in a self build transit as I wanted as big a roof light as possible. like yourself was concerned at the time about the warnings in the literature but went ahead.. I also bought the spoiler hoping that would help with the wind noise they mentioned.. its been fine and as ive never had it without the spoiler I cant say if that's what makes a difference .
ta andy

 

[tonyidle]

I've always understood there were two versions of each type of Heki - one with a seal & one without. The unsealed versions are for trailer caravans where they're part of the ventilation arrangement. The sealed versions are for motorhomes. The only difference, as I understand it, is the seal. The seal can be retro fitted to the non-sealed types.

 

[hashers2]

Hi and thanks for the prompt, and very helpful, replies. Now bookmarked leisureshopdirect - a great referral.
I now have a choice - of a repair or go off field for a Heki. Andy and Tony you have calmed my fears over the wind noise. The Heki is my choice as we have never been totally happy with the Remis but it has been pointed out it wont match with the other two and might affect resale. The amount of work is about the same as the frame has to come out in both cases. We need to get this done by next week so it will probably boil down to availability.
Once again many thanks for the replies.
Clive

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Puddleduck]

Sorry to hear about your damage. Same thing happened to us. A right mess.

Is your roof okay?

 

[nomadic]

Hi and thanks for the prompt, and very helpful, replies. Now bookmarked leisureshopdirect - a great referral.
I now have a choice - of a repair or go off field for a Heki. Andy and Tony you have calmed my fears over the wind noise. The Heki is my choice as we have never been totally happy with the Remis but it has been pointed out it wont match with the other two and might affect resale. The amount of work is about the same as the frame has to come out in both cases. We need to get this done by next week so it will probably boil down to availability.
Once again many thanks for the replies.
Clive

If you choose Leisureshopdirect, talk to them re availability...............I recently ordered vent covers for our fridge, shown as in stock, order confirmation says "ordered from supplier, expected in 3 days delivery in 7 days" or words to that effect.............not a problem for me, but could be for you if you only have a week before you set of.

 

[tonyidle]

There's some info here on MH / caravan suitability:

Broken Link Removed

 

[hashers2]

Sorry to hear about your damage. Same thing happened to us. A right mess.

Is your roof okay?

Yes thanks. We've been in pretty windy situations before in Scotland but this was pretty scary. We were parked on a farm but in a wind tunnel type position with nowhere to move to. The dome was practically ripped off and the winding mechanism and hinges bent and damaged. We were lucky though as had we been parked closer to the Dutch barn, which collapsed, I suspect the motorhome would have been seriously damaged.

 

[Mikeco]

I fitted the Heiki 2 and I did have some high pitched wind noise all the way down to Spain.
Last week I pulled out the rubber seal and put some thin sticky back foam into the groove and then put the rubber seal back. This has made the rooflight a tighter fit and has stopped the noise.

Mike

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[hashers2]

Just to finish off this post and info for anyone thinking of doing the same.
We opted for the Heki 2. We did so because we had so many problems with the Remis (we have three on the van) and were constantly replacing broken winder handles and they really never closed properly.
We bought it from O'Leary's. Not only were they the cheapest they were incredibly helpful. We explained we were in a hurry and I ordered it at 1pm and it arrived the following day at 8.30am. Incredibly well packed in plywood sheeting!
As stated above the Heki 2 comes with permanent ventilation, a bit like trickle ventilation on new UPVC double glazing. The idea being safety and to prevent condensation. O'Leary's provided a rubber seal for a few pounds which just pushes over the skylight lip and hey presto you have the vent free version. They also advised us not to use Sikaflex and included a non setting mastic for £3.50
You also need to buy the right installation kit for your roof thickness. It consists of 16 colour coded L shaped plastic brackets. Our roof is 45mm thick and we needed the yellow kit - 39-46mm
Due to the freezing weather I opted to have it installed by a local repair shop. They had to keep it in a heated workshop for 3 days for the mastic to go off sufficiently for them to be happy to give us a warranty. Looking at the instructions tho it looks a fairly easy job for a competent DIY'er. You do have to cut the roof and move the wooden supports.
Are we happy with it? Basically yes. It a simpler mechanism and feels more sturdy when locked and we now have no worries about broken and sticking winding mechanisms. We also notice that the Remis was tinted, the Heki not. the difference in light was immediately noticeable. Downside? It doesn't look as tidy as the Remis and the inner section is smaller than the Remis and some old screw holes were visible after installation. I would never have noticed them had not the fitter pointed them out. They were filled with silicon and I can live with them. Overall very happy
A big thanks to everyone who posted above - all the info was relevant and very useful.

 

[mitzimad]

just a reminder that the vents on some rooflights may be for ventilation to provide air for any open flued or flueless gas appliances not so common now apart from hobs but do check