FOR INFORMATION

Jean at Jandi Caravans, has very kindly allowed me to post the reply that she sent me yesterday when I said that the surrounds on the two windows were different colours:

"It may well be the right window as your window is not bronze and never was, although it may look it now.

The original colour was a silver-grey - paint code RAL9007. The supplier produced the parts and they weathered horrendously, obviously also affected by the conditions in which the caravan was kept, i.e. lots of sunlight, less sunlight etc.. We have a 2003 in our area which has actually remained true to colour but we’ve seen others which eventually looked bronze, or even green. Recently I had someone trying to convince me that his caravan had been a Special, done with with bronze. Believe me, there was no bronze, just a silver grey which changed dramatically and no-one knew why. The silver parts fitted from 2005 (I think) onwards have remained silver and no-one can explain why the first lot didn’t. It’s quite normal, after a number of years, for wheel arch trims etc. to be produced only in a neutral shade of white or black and require painting but, in the case of the silver plastic parts from the early 2000s, Hymer moved to this position much sooner as, no matter which light holder etc. was ordered, the customers complained that the colour was wrong and Hymer soon decided that it was better to supply wheel arch trims in a neutral colour and the customer would then only have to paint the one part, to match the rest.

Windows are, of course, a different case and the windows are always supplied in the original colour. I remember supplying a replacement window for a 2003 Troll, when the caravan was only two years old, and the colour change was marked even as soon as that. The first thing I did, on unpacking the replacement window, was check that Hymer had actually supplied what I had ordered as it looked so different. It checked out, was fitted and a year later looked much closer in colour to the original still in place. We can supply a new one and it will be exactly the same. Not having seen the one you bought, I obviously can’t say if a new one would be the same as the one you’ve bought but I am pretty sure it will look very different from the original window, for the reasons explained. I have one on its way in from Hymer at the moment and have really laboured the point, explaining to the customer, that the colour will look very different.

Recently we were asked to remove the drawbar fairing sections etc. from a 2001 model on which we had been working as the owner was going to have a friend re-paint them. It was interesting. In his case, the parts had gone to a greenish-gold but, when we removed both fairing parts, the little piece on the front one, which slides under the large rear section, and so remains covered, was still showing the original silver grey. This being the case, if the one you’ve bought fits and is, colour apart, identical, I’m not sure I would rush to change it…..although you may have to if expecting a refund. Unfortunately I can’t remember whether or not the hinge bar changed."

This morning she commented,

"Also, as far as I know, these early 2000 models are the only ones Hymer have had this problem with and no-one knew why it happened. There were various theories held by customers, one being that the supplier had lacquered the parts and it was the lacquer that changed colour. Personally I would be inclined to go along with that theory - the one thing which seems to contradict it, is that the plastic part on the front window also changed colour yet I don’t remember ever noticing the lacquer peel (on) this part. You can post what I’ve said as I’ve very likely said the same to lots of owners. No-one was happy with this situation. Having said that, paint always weathers to an extent, on cars and on caravans, and some colours are more easily affected than others. This is why, if painting parts of older vehicles, it is usually better to have paint mixed to match the vehicle as it now is, rather than use the original paint code."


Many thanks, Jean

Two things strike me, the 2005 date and the unexposed parts retaining colour.
2005 as this could be around the time water based paints were really taking off, as these are very resistant to fade. Consider any painted surface you have around the house, move the ornament or vase off it and you will see a different colour to the surrounding area if it had been painted with an oil based paint. If it had been painted with a water based/acrylic paint then you may not notice any difference.

Colin

Yesterday I bit the bullet and decided to fit the replacement front window. My original plan was to remove the original plain alloy hinge strip and fit it to the 'new' one. Forget it! The hinge bars are clamped onto the polycarbonate over a rubber insert and they are very tightly fixed. I could see no safe method of removal/ replacement.

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Plan B was to remove the brownish finish from the replacement window hinge to expose the alloy underneath. I first started with wet and dry paper used wet but what a tedious job it was. In the end I used a Dremel with a rotary abrasive fitting being careful not to press hard and to keep the tool moving all the time.

Well, it worked but it's not perfect by any means. I think it will need quite a bit of hand-finishing and then a coat of clear lacquer to ward off corrosion.

Here is the window as currently fitted. The difference in colours is quite marked and it's hard to believe that both left the factory looking the same.

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Let's hope that a bit of South Coast and French sunshine will blend it in a bit. You should be taking it easy by the way.

R