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Old 06-08-2015, 09:48 AM   #1
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Inner Door / Camping Door / Auxilery Door / HELP with Glass

On my 1997 American Dream I have an inner door on the main entrance and exit door.

This inner door clips onto both the main door and the door frame.

Here is a picture of the inner door clipped to the main door.



The upper and lower panels on the door are a very clear heavy flexible plastic. The center panel, the left side is a fixed piece of safety glass, and here is the problem, the right piece of safety glass slides in the channel to allow access to the outer door handle, and when the inner door is closed on the door frame the panel can be slide open to allow access to the catch on the inside of the inner door so that it can be opened from the outside.



This piece of safety glass shattered last year, and I cannot figure out how to replace it.

As my description of this door must be confusing here are several pictures to show the operation of the door.

You have seen the inner door clipped to the outer door.

Here is one of the inner door closed in the boor frame.



A shot of the outer door with the inner door closed.



A shot of the entrance open with the inner door clipped to the outer door.



Both doors have their own hinges, the inner door hinge goes over the top of the main door hinge.







I have to believe this is original to the Motor Home. There is no way the aftermarket came up with something this elaborate.

There has to be a way to replace this glass.

Normally you would cut the piece so that you could slide it up into the upper slot (the upper slot being deeper than the lower slot, but it is not)



Swing the bottom edge of the glass over the lower slot and allow it to drop into place.

But as you can see the bottom slot is only 1/16 of an inch shallower than the top slot.



I am stumped as to how to do this.

I have three ideas none which I like.

One is to remove the inner edge of the slot, put the glass in place and that bolt a finished piece of metal over the top of the missing edge.

Two is to remove half of the inner edge of the lower slot. This would allow me to use the normal method of installing the piece of glass. This is the one I am leaning towards, but there has to be a way to installing this glass without modifying the door.

Three is to use Plexiglas which I could bend to get it into both slots. I do not want to cheapen the Motor Home up with a cheap solution.

Help me with ideas please.

This door is very useful when parked, the A/C or heat can be on in the Coach and you do not have to open and close the heavy outer door to get in and out.
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Old 06-08-2015, 09:50 PM   #2
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No one has any ideas?

Are there any glass guys here?
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Old 06-08-2015, 10:19 PM   #3
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Glenn,
Does the upper slot happen to be deeper next to the fixed glass? Many s&b windows have to be slid open in order the remove the vent.
I cannot tell by the picture, but is there a plastic insert in the channel?
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Old 06-08-2015, 10:33 PM   #4
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When that happened on our '02 Dutch Star I had to remove either the upper or lower plastic channel then the glass could be lifted out.
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Old 06-09-2015, 07:25 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RandalVV View Post
Glenn,
Does the upper slot happen to be deeper next to the fixed glass? Many s&b windows have to be slid open in order the remove the vent.
I cannot tell by the picture, but is there a plastic insert in the channel?
"s&b windows" ? There appears to be a plastic runner in both the top and bottom channels

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_D View Post
When that happened on our '02 Dutch Star I had to remove either the upper or lower plastic channel then the glass could be lifted out.
Who needs Service centers that do bad work when we have this forum!

Yes there is a plastic runner both in the top and bottom channel.




Both runners can be hooked and pulled out, this is the bottom one because it was easier to take a picture of.



THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
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Old 06-09-2015, 10:22 AM   #6
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Glass

So I figured that the hard part was over.

I printed out the two largest glass places here in Rochester.

Took my drawing and parts (felt strips and knob) and went for a drive.

The first place said they only put metal on the edges of our safety glass.

The second place said they only put croak like substance on the edges, that they cannot drill the hole for the knob, that they have to custom order that from Syracuse and that takes a minimum of ten days.

So than I did what I should have done in the first place is a called American Coach to see if they sell the glass as a part.

The representative knew what I was talking about, but because of the age of my coach the records are not in the computer. She is going to look it and call me back.

Hopefully they sell the part.
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Old 06-09-2015, 08:06 PM   #7
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Service Support or lack there of

So I never got a call back.

I called again at 4:00 and was told they could find no record of anyone doing research on the glass panel for the inner door.

I gave them all the information again and was told the door was no longer available that I needed to call a scrap yard and they gave me two phone numbers.

I explain I was not looking for the door, just the glass panel, and suspect that that part is still available as it is a piece that gets broken and should be pretty expensive as it is safety glass (good profit margin).

I got the same response as I did the first time, they would research it and get back to me.

A quick search found an online place that will cut safety glass to order and mail it to you.

Tempered Glass | Custom Cut Safety Glass Delivered to Your Home

I may have to presue this as the local shops only want to do what they do and not provide what I need.
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Old 06-09-2015, 09:05 PM   #8
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Glen, sorry about the s&b part of the post. I was just talking about regular house type windows. This may sound picky but you cannot cut safety glass. You have to cut the glass first and then temper it. They show their tempering oven in one of the pictures on the web site.
It appears the there will be exposed edges on the glass so I would ask them if they can polish the edges. This has to be done before it is tempered. Otherwise you could end up with very sharp edges which you do not want on something you may be pushing on.
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Old 06-09-2015, 09:30 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RandalVV View Post
Glen, sorry about the s&b part of the post. I was just talking about regular house type windows. This may sound picky but you cannot cut safety glass. You have to cut the glass first and then temper it. They show their tempering oven in one of the pictures on the web site.
It appears the there will be exposed edges on the glass so I would ask them if they can polish the edges. This has to be done before it is tempered. Otherwise you could end up with very sharp edges which you do not want on something you may be pushing on.
Yes to all your points.

I may use plexi and go to this race so I am under no pressure to get it done right.
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Old 06-09-2015, 09:53 PM   #10
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You can't cut tempered safety glass but you can cut laminated safety glass. Watched my local glass shop do it a number of times as it's pretty cool how they do it. Had them cut me a new rear window for my old motor home and a couple of other ones. Even around curves! They score the glass on both sides with a normal glass cutter, snap the glass then squirt lighter fluid in the crack and light it on fire, that melts the plastic membrane in between and then just pulls apart. They polish the edge and done! Works really well. Only thing is I don't know if laminated glass would be thin enough to fit in your track? Worth a call to the glass shop and see what their thinnest laminate is. Surprised they didn't give you that option?
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Old 06-10-2015, 08:29 AM   #11
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You can't cut tempered safety glass but you can cut laminated safety glass. Watched my local glass shop do it a number of times as it's pretty cool how they do it. Had them cut me a new rear window for my old motor home and a couple of other ones. Even around curves! They score the glass on both sides with a normal glass cutter, snap the glass then squirt lighter fluid in the crack and light it on fire, that melts the plastic membrane in between and then just pulls apart. They polish the edge and done! Works really well. Only thing is I don't know if laminated glass would be thin enough to fit in your track? Worth a call to the glass shop and see what their thinnest laminate is. Surprised they didn't give you that option?
I have found several online options that will create the safety glass panel that I need. I did hear back from American Coach they are still looking to see if they can find it.
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Old 06-10-2015, 09:33 AM   #12
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Why don't you get the local glass company that can make the glass, make it? The glue the handle on to the new glass.

You can use review mirror glue, for a strong glue. No drilling.
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Old 06-10-2015, 09:41 AM   #13
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Quote:
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Why don't you get the local glass company that can make the glass, make it? The glue the handle on to the new glass.

You can use review mirror glue, for a strong glue. No drilling.
"I printed out the two largest glass places here in Rochester.

Took my drawing and parts (felt strips and knob) and went for a drive.

The first place said they only put metal on the edges of our safety glass.

The second place said they only put croak like substance on the edges, that they cannot drill the hole for the knob, that they have to custom order that from Syracuse and that takes a minimum of ten days."

If they are not going to do the job the way I want it (correct to what it was in the first place) they will not get the job.

I have found two places online that will do the job correctly.

American Coach did get back to me and they are checking original drawings to see if they can come up with the part.

If you have followed my thread, you would understand I am all about putting it back as good or better than what it was.
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Old 06-10-2015, 11:44 AM   #14
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Your door looks like it might have been manufactured by these folks: http://www.ptlengineering.com
My door is not the same shape as yours but looks very similar. The folks at PTL were very helpful when I ordered new seals. Might be worth trying to contact them.


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