Over my years traveling I have found sliding windows in RV’s to be reliable, and at the time of our purchase, the frameless windows were suffering a rash of delaminations; therefore, we selected the sliders. They have been nothing but trouble.
I could not get help from Lippert until I left a very poor review at the BBB. They finally paid for the outrageously priced run channel I had already purchased in an effort to solve the problem. This did not create a reliable repair.
Here’s two related threads on the issue and attempted repair.:
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...lem-23201.html
https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...val-23880.html
Now I have removed the Lippert run channel except on the radiused end. I replaced it with:
https://www.outwater.com/121-PARENT?...for-shipping=2
I set this in the bottom and top channels. It probably won’t seal quite as well, but does fit the glass edge nice. I bought a black, however it is not UV stabilized, so we’ll see how it holds up. It is easily replaced. White was the only UV treated color.
I used the caulk some folks hate, silicon, to put it in the track. I wanted a mild adhesive in case I need to remove it, but did need some adhesion to keep the slick plastic in place. I also wanted some seal. I did not want to use a solvent based caulk, Geoseal or Lexel, because I did not know if it would attack the plastic.
The caulk is drying, but the windows slide nicely on the slick tracks.
We leave on a medium length, 5 week, trip next week, so we’ll see how this works. Hopefully I have working windows now because I prefer the manual awning and want to keep the sliders on that side.
I’ll attach a picture of the Lippert run channel, and the plastic channel I replaced it with.
I’ll pull it out tomorrow to check plumbing, dewinterize, and sanitize the fresh water system. It’s only supposed to be 20F Tuesday night, so I’ll have to leave a bit of heat on. This trip should give the modified windows a test.
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