New MCD Blinds

[pameridan04]

Hi Guys:

Well after out trip to The Rally we broke yet another string on our blinds. This is three blinds in four months. And yes, I restrung all three myself.

At The Rally while looking at the new coaches, I saw and played with the new MCD blinds. You pull down and let got and they rise slowly by themselves. You can also adjust the speed of accent and also adjust the stop position. There is a black porus shade for daytime, and a seperate cream colored shade for night time.

So curiosity got the better of me and my wallet.

I ordered a set of 50" Duo shades for the window over couch on passenger side, $250 rvbucks delivered. I got them today and will try and install this weekend. They look like a quality product. Just mount three clips to inside top of vallance and they snap in.

Regards... Jim P.

[SCVJeff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pameridan04 hi guys: Well after out trip to the rally we broke yet another string on our blinds. This is three blinds in four months. And yes, i restrung all three myself. At the rally while looking at the new coaches, i saw and played with the new mcd blinds. You pull down and let got and they rise slowly by themselves. You can also adjust the speed of accent and also adjust the stop position. There is a black porus shade for daytime, and a seperate cream colored shade for night time. So curiosity got the better of me and my wallet. I ordered a set of 50" duo shades for the window over couch on passenger side, $250 rvbucks delivered. I got them today and will try and install this weekend. They look like a quality product. Just mount three clips to inside top of vallance and they snap in. Regards... Jim p.

P I C T U R E S . . . P l e a s e !

[JoeT]

I'm sure you'll like the MCD Shades. We replaced all of our shades with MCD earlier this year.

[Ding-a-ling]

I, too, think the MCD shades are a great idea. So, in October 2008 we went to the MCD plant in McKinney, TX and had two 60+ inch Duo shades installed by our dining table and sofa.

Something to consider, though - with the darkly tinted windows we have we could get by without the daytime sunshade screen. We realized this after the fact and could have cut the overall price in half. If you have tinted windows, you may want to think about that.

In May of this year, just before we started our trip north, one of the shades failed and unrolled completely - no spring tension at all. It failed without being touched. It was in the down position at the time and just broke. I wasn't too pleased with that! MCD shipped me a new spring assembly for $37.00. Two weeks later the other shade failed the same way. Man!! I thought these shades were the answer to broken shade strings - now this! After strongly voicing my concerns, MCD sent the replacement spring assembly at no cost to me. Thank you MCD.

Both failures were due to the plastic shaft of the spring rod assembly breaking. I sincerely hope this was a fluke and doesn't happen again. I have not heard of anyone else with the same experience and still think the MCD shades are a great idea.

Fingers crossed!

FJF

[beaverjim]

we did the same as JoeT and did the whole coach last winter while in fla. dw keeps asking why we didn't do this earlier jim

[jimjr]

YES!!!!!!! Made the dealer replace all of my Vectra's shades with MCDs as part of the deal. Love them.

[Navy Flier]

I am also considering going to MCD shades even though I have no issues with strings. I agree with ding-a-ling as to the need for daytime shades. My coach also has tinted windows and we never use the daytime portion of our current shades. The tint on our windows is such that when standing outside to see anyone inside they have to be backlite and that would probably only happen at night when you use the night shades. Buying the night shades only would lessen the cost considerably.

[Navy Flier]

Pameriden 04 the next time, if there is one, that you have to repair a shade take a look at the places where the strings make a 90 degree turn. I found that the plastic grommets in mine were put on the wrong side making them useless. On the bottom side where the string rides making its turn I used a Dremel tool and chamfered the hole to eliminate the sharp corner. On two of them I was successful in removing the plastic grommets and putting them on the correct side. That turned out to be a PITA so I did no more. If the holes are chamfered I think that it eliminates the string wear. At least it has on mine.

[pameridan04]

Hi NF: Yeah I did chek my blinds all my little plastic gromets were in correctly. Don't forget my coach is 6 years old so maybe it was time for them to go.

Anyway, I wish I could say that the install was a piece of cake, well it wasn't it was a PIA.

Here is what I learned and can pass on. When you receive the blinds they are packed very well, heavy box and bubble wrap. The middle of the blind is wrapped with a strip of plastic around the middle with a cardboard space between the top rail and the black blind. It says do not remove until installed???

First I tried the three clips on the metal header of the blinds to see how they will attach, pretty tight fit. Everything comes assembled, header and blinds, you install that way. Next I read in the instructions that maybe a wood or hard back should be added to the back of the clip. This is in case that your valance may be uneven or cushioned. Then it says to buy #8 pan head sheet metal screws, 1 in. is normal.

I removed the old shade that I just restrung. I mounted the clips with a 2in X 2in. 3/8 in thick of kitchen molding I had laying around. This had to be done because my valance has metal plates attached to the top of the valance that holds it on. Thus the 3/8 in small piece of wood made all 3 clips extend beyond the plate evenly.

It says in the instructions to keep the BLACK shade against the windows. It DOESN'T tell you which way the clips should be facing? The piece that locks first should be in the back, the bevel front of the clip should be first facing you. Duhhh ...trial and error.

In my coach I will be drilling into the top of the valance 3/4 in. wood. The valance is only a little over 2 inches wide inside. Try to center the clips and wood backing in the valance. I drilled a hole in the wood piece first then screwed the clip to that, then to top of valance. Then because the top of my valance is covered with material, you can't see where a drill hole is started if the screw falls out, put a one inch strip if masking tape there, then mark where you want to TRY and put the screw that hold the clip and small piece of wood. Remember try to center, all your clips have to be in a straight line, or equal space from back of valance, better more to the front than back. If to far back the shade will hit on window lock and wear!! You have to be an acrobat to get these clips in. That was the easy part.

Remember I told you about the cardboard spacer and plastic wrapped around the middle of the shade, well try as I may, I could not get the shade to pop into the clips. First there is litterally no room for you to get your fingers up to the main header above the shades to pop them in. So you are pushing on the shades themselves to try and pop them in. No leverage, also tried from outside the window. After about 1.5 hrs I gave up. My buddy just happend to stop over and he said let me have a look at it.

He said what if we cut that plastic crap off, it has to come off anyway, lets pull the shades down, thus REDUCING the size of the circumfrence around the shade. BINGO this way I could get my fat fingers up beyond the top shade and push the bottom of the header into the clips. They sure as hell don't tell you that in the instructions.

Well the wife really loves the way they look, and they seem to operate great. But me.... I am headed for a six pack of cold ones, I had enough aggrivation for one day.

Sorry about no pictures, I saw the request after I finished the install. But I hope this gives you some insight if you try and do the install yourself.

Regards.... Jim P.

[Jeff and Cheryl]

Ding-a-Ling,
I had MCD blinds installed two years ago. To date I've had two of the springs break as well. On was on a black shade over the DS window and the other (which happened two weeks ago) was over the sofa on the Passanger side, this one is a 60+ incher. It is quite irritating to be on the road and have one of those springs fail! I will call my dealer Monday to arrange for repair.

[AFChap]

We've had our MCD shades for two years in full-time use, and had no problems. Our side windows also are tinted to the point no one outside can see in during the daytime, but we do sometimes use just the daytime shades, particularly when driving and the sun is strong on one side or the other. We use them to cut the heat from the sun rather than for privacy ...when someone (DW normally) is sitting on the couch while I am driving she wants the light & view but not the heat.

[smlranger]

I installed the MCD solo shades throughout the motorhome last year and we love them. With the heavily tinted windows and window awnings, we saw no need for the day shades. As noted, installation is not particularly easy due to the limited space in those window valences.

Now we need to replace the pleated curtain for the windshield. We are having the debate for more pleated shades (like the OEM) vs. lined drapes.

[AFChap]

I found it much easier to install the MCD blinds if I removed the valences (lambriquins) from the windows.

We replaced the cockpit pleated curtain (hated it, and had stopped using it, used large car sun shades instead) with MCD duos, with the night portion of each powered so they would be easy to raise & lower daily. Most coaches could work with a pair in the front ...ours required three. I wired them using the original power sun visor wires & switches. They work great as sun visors too, MUCH better than the small ones that came with the coach.

[saydiver]

We had all our shades replaced with the MCD American Duo shades at the factory in McKinney, TX in late March. We were heading to Alaska for the summer and needed blackout shades for the bedroom, but after talking with them, we ended up replacing all the shades. The shades were pricy, but I really do like them. They're much better than the dust collecting, light penetrating silhouette shades we had in the coach. The night shades are powered by our E-Plex system and the day shades are manual.

Less than two weeks after leaving the factory, the cockpit night shade idler end failed and then stripped the screws on the power end. Luckily the two wooden pieces which held the Carefree cockpit shade were still in place and prevented the MCD night shade from falling on the dash, while we were driving down the road. After a few emails/phone calls to MCD, the parts were shipped to Precision in Breman, IN and Precision repaired the shade two weeks later. My only complaint was the time it took to get the parts shipped and the shade repaired. It was rather embarrassing to me to have to hang a sheet in the cockpit window for nighttime privacy for over two weeks.

Sue