Winnebago Screen Door Slide....

[Capt Joe]

You know the fragile screen door slide panel that you slide back and forth to cover/uncover the handle area on your screen door so you operate the regular door handle???? Well, you also probably have experienced the cracking and total destruction that can be caused by grandkids, having the door closing behind you as you enter and the slide catching on your belt, etc, etc? I know I have and just recently purchased a new slide to replace the one I had glued and epoxied a couple of times but can't seem to get the new one to slide into place.

The new cover fits into the upper and lower grooves just fine but not at the same time. When I insert the top part of the slide into the upper groove, it won't go high enough for the lower part of the slide to go into the lower groove and I haven't been brave enough to try and bend the slide enough to make it fit.

My question is do you have to take any parts loose on the door frame or should the slide bend enough to pop it into place? Hopefully someone else has had some experience with these things and can shed a bit of enlightenment my way so I can get this thing replaced before a trip next week.

Thanks,
Capt Joe

[tims52ford]

Insert the top of the slide first and gently bent the lower part an insert into track.

[Capt Joe]

Finally got a chance to spend a bit of time to put the slider in the screen door last week while we were down at Port St Joe. This slider going on my Winnebago is a lot thicker than most I have seen. I checked out the slider on my friends Carriage 5er and it would bend easily, but not mine.

I soaked the slider in the hottest water I could get for about 15 minutes and then spent another 15 applying heat with a heat gun I had with me. After that, I tried to get it into the grooves.....with success!!!! It sure did look like it was going to break but it didn't. I put the bottom piece into the lower groove first and then pressed down on the open end to make the top corner of the opposite end slide forward where it did slip into the upper groove and the rest followed. Sure did feel good to get it in without an issue.

Now to just find a bit of time to get out of town for a bit. :-)