Window shade repairable?

[Texscapees]

One of the strings that runs from the top to the bottom of our front passenger window shade has apparently broken. So now the shade hangs freely on that side and dangles loosely on the other side. I took the cap off the end of the shade to see if I could pull the loose string through and reattach it (or tie it together) but can't see it in there.

Is this something that I should be able to fix somehow? If so, suggestions?

Or do I ultimately need to buy a replacement shade? If so, can I easily do the replacement on my own as opposed to having to take it to an rv service place? I haven't seen any info on the shades in my owner's documentation. I'm also not even sure how the upper part of the shade is attached so that I can at least take it down. Anybody have some advice?

Brad

[azjack]

Brad, take the shade to a repair place listed in the yellow pages and they will restring it or buy the string and learn how as you will need to do it again on other shades. The tough part is learning how to remove the shade and how to run the line. The second one is much easier and I believe I found info on the internet somewhere.
Good luck and by the way we keep the shades protected from the sun as much as possible.
Jack of sunny Tucson

[peter]

Brad, once you get it fixed, will that make you a shady character??

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by peter

Brad, once you get it fixed, will that make you a shady character??

Hi: peter... NO!!! But he will be "Made in the Shade". Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[RickM]

Did the string actually break? Or did the plastic disk, where the string is attached at the bottom of the shade, give way? If it is the later, it can be fixed. Let us know which it is.

[Texscapees]

I'm not positive that the string broke b/c I can't see it. The plastic ring that the bottom end of the shade should be tethered to via the string is still in tact. If the string isn't broken, then somehow it came loose from the plastic ring and got pulled into the metal bar that runs along the bottom of the shade. I've taken the end cap of the metal bar but can't see anything. Haven't tried poking a wire with a "hook end" in there to see if I can snag something to pull back out.

[RickM]

From my limited experience with the shades, if you remove both end caps from the bottom rail, you can then slide the bottom rail off the shade. Then you see all the strings. The strings cross within the bottom rail - for example, the left side string goes to the right side plastic ring attachment point. If you see that the string came loose (maybe the knot gave way) just run it through the end cap and attached to the plastic ring. Then slide the bottom rail back on and put in the other end cap and attach the other string to its attachment point. It's helps to raise and lower to shade to get enough string to work with. Hope I was clear enough in my explanation. I had two different plastic disk fail. One just came apart and the other failed at the string attachment point. I just made a small loop and put it over the attachment stud.

[Texscapees]

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't know that the bottom rail could slide off. That sounds promising & I'll try it this weekend when I get a chance. I had already gathered that the vertical strings cross each other in the railing so it makes sense to me. I hope you're right that the knot could've slipped.

I've previously had some of the plastic discs fail too and did just as you by slipping the loop over the attachment stud. So far those "fixes" have held up fine but I've wondered about whether or not it's worth getting replacement plastic disks since they seem to break off pretty easily (at least with our kiddos fiddling with the shades when we're not looking). I checked them out at an rv store one time but there were different sizes & I didn't know what the Escape uses so I didn't purchase any at the time.

[Texscapees]

Good news. I finally got a chance to try removing the bottom bar/rail from the shade to get access to the strings. The trick was removing both end caps first. I had previously only removed one end cap prior which isn't enough to get the bar/rail to slide off. The string was broken so couldn't just be reattached to the plastic disk without first adding an extra section of string via some tidy knots.

Thanks to "Laura & Rick" for letting me know that the bar/rail did in fact slide off. That was crucial. I had previously been reluctant to try forcing it off when I wasn't sure that it even was capable of coming off without breaking it.

In celebration of successfully fixing the shade & the useful advice that I've once again received via this forum, I just made another $ donation to the forum (JeffZ - thanks again for keeping it going).

Brad