broken shade October 28, 2010, 10:17:01 pm Yahoo Message Number: 117833I have a 2004 27 1/2 rear kiitchen. The rear window shade's string broke and the shade has come apart. The factory's fix is expensive. Anyone have any helpful ideas? Thanks![Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Re: broken shade Reply #1 – October 28, 2010, 11:18:37 pm Yahoo Message Number: 117834You can restring the blind yourself. I've done it to three out the four blinds in my 2003 midbath. Take a sample of the cord to a store that sells notions and get nylon or polyester cord of about the same thickness. (I found a suitable replacement cord in the fabric department of a Walmart store.) How much will you need? If you add four times the blind's width to four times its height, that's a good approximation; then add an extra yard for a safety margin. However, I recommend getting enough cord to restring ALL your blinds, because sooner or later you'll probably need to. You'll have to remove the valances to get at the blind. An extra-long Phillips screwdriver is a big help here. Remove the two clear plastic anchoring spools at the bottom (they look like sewing machine bobbins) from the wall. Then remove the blind from its top mounting. There's a diagram of how the blind is strung in our website's Photos section. It's in the album "Pleated blind," and you can find it at this address:http://tinyurl.com/38dbu8s For simplicity's sake, my diagram shows only two cords, but most of our larger blinds have four. To disassemble the blind, use a screwdriver to carefully pry off the plastic end caps. You'll need to untie the cord from the anchoring spool so that you can slip the end cap off the damaged cord. Cut new cord to length and install, following my diagram. You can use the old cord to pull the new cord through, or you can use a bodkin (like a very large sewing needle) to thread it through. After you re-mount the blind, pull each cord taut and secure it top its anchoring spool. You'll need to play with the tension to get it just right: you want the blind to move up and down freely, but not so freely that it falls down of its own accord when you're traveling.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: broken shade Reply #2 – October 28, 2010, 11:26:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 117835I left out two important tips. After removing the end caps, you must slide off the top and bottom rails to gain access to the mechanism. And when you reinstall those rails, I recommend flipping the bottom one so that the "scooped out" portion is toward the inside of the rig, rather than facing the window. It's hard to explain this in words, but if you try it, you'll find that it's MUCH easier to pull down the blinds that way... no need to pinch the bottom few folds with your fingers in order to get a grip.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: broken shade Reply #3 – October 30, 2010, 06:03:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 117884I ended up having the blind manufacturer,