Electric windshield shade repair.

[Edouard]

I did a search here and found only 2 treads with very little info, so I thought rather than bump an old site from 2010, best to start a new one which could help fellow National & perhaps other brand owner`s with a windshield shade failure.

Over our winter stay in Florida the shade would just inch up or down, and after a couple of tries it would work perfectly for several weeks, perhaps a month, then it would reoccur.
Well last week upon departing for a weekender, nothing, just a click from the shade motor when I pressed the up rocker, no sound on the down side, and we could not drive with the complete shade down to the dash, so I tied up the two scissor-type bars facing the windshield, they are only a gravity guide, not motor driven. There are holes about half way on both rails, so I used tie-wraps on both sides, voila a non adjustable half shade.

On our chassis the Shade and Map light switches-on driver side, both fused by the Cigarette lighter 20-amp mini yellow fuse over the Instrument Panel.

I found it when testing on the Shade switch (a six=prong=wow!), the Map light switch is powered by a wire jump from the 12-V on the Shade switch.

Both switches proved to be fine, so I traced the two wires leading from the shade itself, (there is a false panel above driver left shoulder in the cabinet forward, 2 screws to remove small panel, plenty of tie-wrapped wire) ran power direct, just a click on the up side, nothing on the down side, same result as powering test at the switch.

Therefore, I removed the complete Shade, eight screws, 4 windshield side, 4 behind cabinet side, used a 3 foot board to support the passenger side while removing last screws on drivers side, worked perfectly, enough wire slack to bring shade down & rest across steering before removing crimps on the 2-wires. I used towels to protect both the dash-top and bottom of the shade.

Accessing & removing the motor on driver wired side & found a sticker on motor (AutoMotionShade , Google'd it found out they do not sell the motor alone, wanted 7-800$ for a complete shade assembly).

Another related site provided good info on motor removal-replacement and the source in Canada (rollertrol.com) for the motor only replacement, 69$ for original spec motor or 79$ for a heavier duty one, I ordered the 79$ version, it`s coming this week, 101$ with Express Post & tax`s. It`ll be interesting to see what Express means in the Cdn postal service, nothing compared to the
US Postal service!

There you have it, RollerTrol provided a tracking nr & stated that they bench
tested the motor before shipping, very quick,attentive and helpful company.

Link to Repair Instructions:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6no...V1U/edit?pli=1

I hope that this can be helpful, and save fellow rv`rs some serious money.

We pride ourselves in maintaining our rig, and especially now that we have it on the market, I certainly could not ignore getting this important safety feature corrected. We are moving to Florida and downsizing to a Sprinter
diesel B+ for shorter summer trips north in our aging years.

[M&EM]

Not sure if your shade needs to be trained like MCD type shades.

MCD Procedure requires re teaching. 1) Go into learning mode; 2)adjust to set max lowering level and then max. raised level with ignition on. 3)Then repeat with ignition off. 4)exit learning mode..

[Edouard]

Yes, I saw that directive on the Roller Trol site also, but since my rocker switch is a press & hold to raise, or press & hold to lower, when released it returns to center Off, therefore there is no power going to the motor, hence, it stops, so no, I do not believe I will need to set a memory stop feature on my setup, but I will check with Adrian at Roller Trol before making the install & will report back here. Thanks for the heads up.

[M&EM]

On my MCD shades there is an extra set of wires out the end of the roller motor drive that has a momentary switch attached to it. Holding that button in until I hear a beep sound signals the beginning of the learning cycle..

[MBMyers]

We have a new electric 96" wide visor ordered for our 07 Pacifica. Auto Motion was the company that supplied them to National. Our motor had gone bad and they don't sell the motor separate.

We ordered a complete new one for 306.00 from auto motion and they
(Jenny) were very helpful. Their number is 905-470-6198

[Edouard]

M&M: Yes, the non-radio type of Roller-Trol motors use an electronic system set by activating a 'learn' mode, and the limits are set by simply adjusting your control switch to move them into the desired top and bottom positions (these positions are blocked into memory). It is done by pressing into a small hole on the end of the motor itself, same feature as MCD, but without the additional wires, not a separate switch attached to it like your MCD.

[Edouard]

UPDATE:
It took a bit of grinding off some of the lead rubber/metal washer motor insert using an electric grinder, took some carefull measuring to have it fit into my original shade tube that has inner extrusions for a smart tight fit, then removed the rubber grommet at the wire end since none of it would fit in my tube.

Once installed in the tube and the awning casing, put the whole assembly back into the windshield location.

The procedure to set the stop/up and stop/down takes two persons to do since our rocker switch is on the driver's armrest and the setpoint on the motor was up at the wire end of the motor near the windshield top, now when we press the up or down the motor travels so long as we hold the up or down position rocker, let go and it stops at any interval location, or hold until it reaches it's uppermost or lowest point position.

Works great, a quite easy repair. If any one needs additional assistance, please let me know. Eugene.

[daveross]

Greetings...
Just checking to see how the installation of the shade screen went. I contacted Jenny, as I have a 2006 Dolphin with the 96 X 52 privacy screen, and it has stopped working.

Thanks,
Dave Ross

[Edouard]

Hi Dave, Yes it was an easy install, perhaps a 3 on a scale of 1-10, and it continues
to work very efficiently, very impressed with the product out of the box and the assistance from the seller on the minor adjustments.
Unfortunately, due to a change in our living location, we are obliged to sell our wonderful dream Dolphin, have it listed on several sites, hope to find it a new loving owner soon.
Let me know if you need add'l info on the shade install. Eugene Theriault.

[buck454]

E,
Are you referring to a black mess style sun visor in front of passenger and driver? I have such as that would work sometimes then not. Mostly work when I would want to show someone that it did not work. Fortunately it is not needed to often and is up high enough to not be of bother. Would be nice to fix if I can follow along your giudelines. Bill

[Edouard]

Originally Posted by buck454

E,
Are you referring to a black mess style sun visor in front of passenger and driver? I have such as that would work sometimes then not. Mostly work when I would want to show someone that it did not work. Fortunately it is not needed to often and is up high enough to not be of bother. Would be nice to fix if I can follow along your giudelines. Bill

If you read the site from the start, you've got it figured out, I'd say,Ok, go for it! Eugene.

[buck454]

Originally Posted by Edouard

If you read the site from the start, you've got it figured out, I'd say,Ok, go for it! Eugene.

Sorry, did read OP, probably several times, as well as down to my post. I never saw mention of black mess which is what mine are, but the sissor part got my attention. So, guess we have simular shades. Maybe my fix will be as simple as yours. b

[EasyDoesIt]

Thanks to Edouard for the PDF instructions. I just replaced 2 motors and have a few comments.
1. Look for a screw holding the old motor into the tube.
2.Newer shades use Philips head screws rather than # 1 square.
3 Newer shades have a different drive gear but still not useable on Rollertrol
4 I used the Rollertrol drive gear. Sawed off about 1/4 inch of the flange outboard from the motor. Using my tool grinder, I ground the 3 flute protrusions down to 1" and then ground the wider flutes down to about 1-3/16 and then ground a groove between them to fit inside the protrusions inside the tube. These are nicely reinforced with a steel plate inside the rubber.
5 I originally thought I could use the round plate as is but found that the programming hole was not accessible so I cut off the tab on the inside and secured with screws per instructions. Take care to not drill too close to the switch area.
6 The end cap will fit flush if you file down the rotating sleeve in 4 spots to fit inside the protrusions in the tube.