Input on Roller Shade Manufacturers

[DSL417]

I don't know that it is a quality issue...just crummy Chinese shade motors that don't hold up well in coaches...if I was a betting person, I'd bet that the less than perfect electrical conditions in coaches, shore power, generators, inverters, etc etc etc, I'd say the Chinese motors just don't stand up to the environment. You'd think the shade manufacturers would get the message, unless planned failure after warranties expire is a business plan!

[Wobster]

Are there no options for manual cockpit shades. I am uncomfortable with all the talk of motor failures. I can pull down a shade...however I am not finding a manual windshield shade.

[bcbounders]

Originally Posted by Wobster

Are there no options for manual cockpit shades. I am uncomfortable with all the talk of motor failures. I can pull down a shade...however I am not finding a manual windshield shade.

Wobster... I would think that you could just buy the manual version of a roller shade sold by any one of the three manufacturers listed above. The only issue I can see with that could be that the manual roller shades may not have the same protective mechanisms to ensure the shade didn't deploy all the way down to the dash (completely blocking your view of the road) the way some of the motorized versions do.

[Clay L]

Originally Posted by Wobster

Are there no options for manual cockpit shades. I am uncomfortable with all the talk of motor failures. I can pull down a shade...however I am not finding a manual windshield shade.

One of the other brands (Automaster?) has a manual autoride.

[Clay L]

Originally Posted by Playtime III

Lets see. I have MCD duo's on all of the windows (12), only two small (by bed) are non-powered. I have one motor gone bad, one will not accept link to either the 2-button or the 14-button remotes so it is effectively dead (and it is only part way down), and another that won't hold a direction or limit setting (and I have 12v), and the driver shade just lost its settings on the night shade. Using the manual to try and reset linkages or limits is a PITA to follow (do this, then this, then this, then this, all before it times out and you have to start over again). Oh, yea and they are loud when the bottom rails bang against the walls while driving.

They stuck small pieces of the fuzzy side of Velcro on ours at the factory. That quieted them down.

[bcbounders]

Originally Posted by Clay L

They stuck small pieces of the fuzzy side of Velcro on ours at the factory. That quieted them down.

Newmar did the same on our day/night pleated blinds to keep them from banging on the window frame... seems to work really well in that application, so it's good to know that will work for the roller shades, too!

[gemini5362]

I am interested in all of the people that are looking at roller shades. AS well as all the companies that have gone into putting them as OEM equipment. The only advantage to them I see is that they will be easy to clean. I am looking forward to my new hunter douglas honeycombs for the living room. We were not sure how we would like them and did not want to spend the money for the HD if it was something we were not going to like. We bought a Levelor stringless. ( I think that is what they are called) for the small bedroom window by the bed. It has a button you push and then just push up on the bottom of the blind. It was really cheap and if we had to throw it away because we did not like it was not going to be a big deal. They custom cut it at Lowes to fit the window and it was relatively easy to install. We liked it enough to buy one for the other bedroom window. They look good and they are easy to lift. We considered them for the living room but you cannot get them motorized which was something I wanted. They do not have the blind within the blind so very little R value. and the quality was not nearly as good as the HD blinds. The quality was not a suprise considering they were about 1/4 the price of the same thing in an Hunter Douglas.

When I was a kid you would pull on roller blinds and then they would get hard to get them to lock in place and stay down or they would quit rolling up. Do the people that have them not have that problem any more ?

I noticed the person talking about geting fuzzy side of velcro to stop banging. I have not seen them but supposedly we are getting Magnetic holders to mount on the wall that will hold the bottom of our Honeycombs in place so they will not move around.

[Gadget Man]

I just installed MCD shades in my coach. I thought I was buying the “best”, but I am extremely disappointed. Their quality control is some of the worst I have ever seen. I just fired off a letter to MCD’s president. You can read more about my experience in this thread.

I really regret not ordering AutoMotion shades...

Craig

[bcbounders]

Originally Posted by Gadget Man

I just installed MCD shades in my coach. I thought I was buying the “best”, but I am extremely disappointed. Their quality control is some of the worst I have ever seen. I just fired off a letter to MCD’s president. You can read more about my experience in this thread.

I really regret not ordering AutoMotion shades...

Craig

Hi Craig,

I've been following that thread very closely... and your experience is a lot of the reason that I've been hesitant about this whole decision. MCD has the name recognition and marketing hype, but it really sounds like their growing pains are resulting in poor quality control. I certainly don't want to drop the money on upgrading 11+ windows to MCDs only to have trouble with them (either from the start or down the road).

Sorry to hear that your tribulations continue. I hope MCD is able to make things right for you at some point... and that you have years of trouble-free use from them after that!

[Gadget Man]

Originally Posted by bcbounders

....I hope MCD is able to make things right for you at some point... and that you have years of trouble-free use from them after that!

Thank you sir, so do I. I'm sure they will be fine after the dust settles and the yelling stops, LOL!

Craig

[deandec]

Wow!

Remote controlled shades?

In an 8.5 foot wide coach?

Sure are happy with our efficient 20 year old day\night shades anchored top and bottom with no rattles.

Have had to replace a few strings but that's all in 97,000 miles.

[gemini5362]

Originally Posted by deandec

Wow!

Remote controlled shades?

In an 8.5 foot wide coach?

Sure are happy with our efficient 20 year old day\night shades anchored top and bottom with no rattles.

Have had to replace a few strings but that's all in 97,000 miles.

Hmmm
I am sure you never considered that there might be people with physical limitations that make it hard to move the day/night shades.

I have replaced the string on my largest one twice in the last year and a half. I am sure i am doing something wrong but whatever the reason I have had to do that. When i went to new shades I have 6 shades that were going to need to be restringed.

My reason for wanting remote control is because i am basically lazy and I would rather push a button than fight with trying to get the day/night shades pushed up.


I am glad your shades work well for you. I did not feel those type of shades worked for me anymore.

[gemini5362]

BCbounders,

Lot of choices and a very expensive decision. If you are not sure what looks good do what i did and try to find something cheap and try it. The bedroom window by the bed is only 19 inches. I think the Levelor honeycomb blind for that was only 38.00 if you buy the off the shelf and have them cut it down. I took down the day/night shade and the valance ( wife does not want to leave them on) and took about 30 min to install the levelor. The first time I pushed the levelor up I never wanted to go back to the day/night shades. The one for the other bedroom window is 49 inches. You push the locking button in the middle and with no effort push it up out of the way. It actually blocks more light without the valances than the day/night shade did. The day/night shade allows some light in around the holes where the string is. If you can wait about three more weeks before you make a decision i should have my Hunter/Douglas shades in and installed. I am going to post pictures of them when i get done. I can tell you for sure i will never go back to the original day/night shades.

Pricewise the levelor are pretty cheap I think the ones to fit the 69 inch windows in the living room area are 109.00 and they cut them to the right length. I did not like the quality in comparison to the Hunter Douglas but if I did not want motorized I might have saved the 3000.00 difference in price for the living room area and went with the Levelors. The levelors do have one big advantage. They only have a very few colors you do not have to spend hours deciding what color to buy.

[bcbounders]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

BCbounders,

Lot of choices and a very expensive decision. If you are not sure what looks good do what i did and try to find something cheap and try it. The bedroom window by the bed is only 19 inches. I think the Levelor honeycomb blind for that was only 38.00 if you buy the off the shelf and have them cut it down. I took down the day/night shade and the valance ( wife does not want to leave them on) and took about 30 min to install the levelor. The first time I pushed the levelor up I never wanted to go back to the day/night shades. The one for the other bedroom window is 49 inches. You push the locking button in the middle and with no effort push it up out of the way. It actually blocks more light without the valances than the day/night shade did. The day/night shade allows some light in around the holes where the string is. If you can wait about three more weeks before you make a decision i should have my Hunter/Douglas shades in and installed. I am going to post pictures of them when i get done. I can tell you for sure i will never go back to the original day/night shades.

Pricewise the levelor are pretty cheap I think the ones to fit the 69 inch windows in the living room area are 109.00 and they cut them to the right length. I did not like the quality in comparison to the Hunter Douglas but if I did not want motorized I might have saved the 3000.00 difference in price for the living room area and went with the Levelors. The levelors do have one big advantage. They only have a very few colors you do not have to spend hours deciding what color to buy.

gemini,

Thanks for the update. I'm not in any rush, so I'll gladly wait the time it takes for your HDs to arrive and be installed. I'm curious to see how it all works out for you. Sounds like an interesting option.

Question for you (I've looked, but can't find an answer): do you know if it's possible to have a day/night option with the Hunter Douglas cellular shades? I like the option of being able to have filtered light (with privacy) OR complete darkness... and from what I can see of the HD cellular shades, it's one or the other, not both.

I also like the idea of the HD "LiteRise" option... just pull the blind up/down to where you want it and it stays put. Really simple mechanism... and a lot easier to install. Plus no motors to worry about replacing in the future.

Thanks!