Accordian shades to mini-blinds

[mikefos]

Howdy,

The strings that operate our accordion shades that came w/ our rig when new are fraying and thus unable to open and close them. We were thinking of ordering repair kits to replace the strings but others have said that they will do the same thing in about 6 months. Some have recommended converting to aluminum mini-blinds. If anybody has done this conversion can you please offer any advice/recommendations as to how difficult and costly such a conversion would be, or any gotchas to be aware of doing this?

Thanks,
Mike

[norty1]

We toyed with it but have not had a great amount of problems with the Day/Nights. If you do decide to change them out, here are a few things to consider:
:Blinds come in many degrees of darkness. Make sure you are aware of that.

:Blinds will have to be anchored at the bottom to keep them from swinging around when moving.

:Blinds may need to be larger than the window for privacy. Clearance could be a problem if you have Lambrequins on the sides.

: Each blind will have to be modified to remove all the excess weight of the normal length they come in and maybe special ordered to get the width you want.

I have seen many that put wood grain 2 inch blinds in and were happy with them. We decided to keep what we have.

[Jagiven]

We had issues with one original blind string in 8 years. Fixed it years ago and have not had any issues since.

We have a metal blind over our kitchen sink. I both like it and hate it. Big hates is the cord and the twist unit to open and close them in place. When you open the blind the cord is now really long, hangs down on the counter, so we loop it up over the top of the blind. The twist handle was so long and had issue two issues, one depending on the orientation, it would get in the way of our faucet and with it falling off during our travels. I cut the twist handle down, so it is only a few inches.

I would want to put the lower clips on them to keep them from moving around will in motion.

[Youngstown]

I have also had to restring one of my blinds twice now due to fraying. I found that the second time I put less tension on the line and it has helped slow the fraying. I have a bunch of extra blind cord that I use when one breaks. Not too difficult to do.

[Marcm157]

Originally Posted by norty1

We toyed with it but have not had a great amount of problems with the Day/Nights. If you do decide to change them out, here are a few things to consider:
:Blinds come in many degrees of darkness. Make sure you are aware of that.

:Blinds will have to be anchored at the bottom to keep them from swinging around when moving.

:Blinds may need to be larger than the window for privacy. Clearance could be a problem if you have Lambrequins on the sides.

: Each blind will have to be modified to remove all the excess weight of the normal length they come in and maybe special ordered to get the width you want.

I have seen many that put wood grain 2 inch blinds in and were happy with them. We decided to keep what we have.

I am not ashamed to tell you that I had to Google "Lambrequins" just to see if my camper had them....

[norty1]

Originally Posted by Marcm157

I am not ashamed to tell you that I had to Google "Lambrequins" just to see if my camper had them....

LOL, that's the only french word I know!

[Scott]

Originally Posted by Marcm157

I am not ashamed to tell you that I had to Google "Lambrequins" just to see if my camper had them....

Me too!

[mikefos]

Thanks all. I think we'll try to restring one and see how that goes first.

Mike

[mikefos]

Originally Posted by Youngstown

I have also had to restring one of my blinds twice now due to fraying. I found that the second time I put less tension on the line and it has helped slow the fraying. I have a bunch of extra blind cord that I use when one breaks. Not too difficult to do.

What thickness of cord do you use? I have a repair kit to do my first one or two blinds but am thinking of getting a spool of cord if it turns out to be a fairly easy task, as I can see others fraying or breaking now that they've started.

Thanks,
Mike

[wiscampsin]

Originally Posted by mikefos

Thanks all. I think we'll try to restring one and see how that goes first.

Mike

Restringing them really isn't hard. Plenty of U Tube videos. I went to a fabric/sewing place and bought some bigger diameter cord.

[Youngstown]

Not sure what size. I am currently still using the cord from old mini-blinds. Maybe measure a cord you have in the house and use that as a guide. Like someone else said here you may even be able to go a little bigger for better strength.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by wiscampsin

snip....I went to a fabric/sewing place and bought some bigger diameter cord.

X2....., and was able to purchase a quality spool of cord.

How to:



Source (Night & Day/Night): http://www.unitedshade.com/images/sh...structions.pdf

Bob

[SmokerBill]

I've been using nylon masonry string as replacement cord for my blinds for years. You can buy a big spool of it for just a few bucks. If the tension of the strings is kept to a minimum the string will usually last for a year or so, and sometimes much longer.

I've replaced the blind strings so many times, it's just become one of my routine repairs.

[PaulB12]

We hate accordion blinds!
With our last tt we switched to mini blinds. Hated that they were either open or closed.
Just measure, go to favorite big box store and get what you want. Fairly easy install. Best part you can open and close as you want.
As soon as the accordions on our current tt stop working we will install minis.
JMHO
PaulB12

[mrmom]

I am about to switch out my accordion shades with mini blinds. Like others, just don't like the fact that they are either open or closed.

I am going to install cordless vinyl 1" blinds, all custom sized to the windows. I don't think sway will be much of an issue, I have lambrequins on all the windows so that should contain them. I also like that I can open them slightly to let air in with the windows open and still retain some privacy.

[PaulB12]

What he said ^^^^^^.
PaulB12

[Cincinnati Kid]

Originally Posted by norty1

LOL, that's the only french word I know!

We learned the word "tonneau" since we started rv'ing, too. lol