Adjusting Day/Night Shades

[Keith]

I finally bit the bullet today and restrung one of my four-string day/night shades. It took a bit over 1.5 hours and was much easier than I had anticipated.

One conclusion that I have come to is this:

My shades were much, much, tighter than required when they came from the factory!!

The result was that some of the strings wore out and the plastic end caps became severely grooved.  According to the blind manufacturer, the strings should only be tight enough to hold the blinds where you want them; no tighter.

The strings on my shades will stay in position when the strings are almost loose. They came as tight as the string on a violin! (I don't have perfect pitch, so can't tell you which note!)

You might want to go through your rig and check the string tension. I'm loosening all of mine!

Cheers,
Keith

[LORICREIN]

Would you mind giving me your serial number of your trailer (vehicle identification number) so I can check as to when we installed these?   You can private email me if you wish to instead of posting here.  LREINHARDT@NUWA.COM     Thank you very much!  Lori Reinhardt

[Keith]

Requested info emailed.

Thanks for your interest, Lori.

Cheers,
Keith

[Jeff Collingwood]

Lori, I can tell you they are definitely not as tight on the newer units.  My 05 HH2 was like Keith's, and I didn't know better.  Like Keith, after the first restringing I figured out that they should not be that tight.  My 09 CE came with them pretty much just right, especially the big shade over the back window.  I try to keep mine like Keith says, just tight enough to get them to stay up.  I don't even care if they come down a little while we travel.  To me it is better to error on too loose than too tight.

Would you mind giving me your serial number of your trailer (vehicle identification number) so I can check as to when we installed these?   You can private email me if you wish to instead of posting here.  LREINHARDT@NUWA.COM     Thank you very much!  Lori Reinhardt

[F4RIO]

I just restrung my 4 string shade - twice.    They sent me plenty of string but rather than use it all I cut the 2 replacement strings to exactly the length of the old string - the one that didn't break. Big mistake. When I went to put it back up it was way too tight. I have absolutely no idea why. I had to order more string and do the whole thing again. So I guess the watchword is to use more string that you take out or even that they recommend. You can always cut it off but you can't lengthen it.

<Don>

[Hut]

I just did the 4 string shade beside the dining table. I followed the instructions for length and added a foot. I ended up cutting off a foot or better for each string but happy to do it. Much better than coming up short. Took about an hour and just tight enough to hold the shade up. I notice that the extra tension has worn grooves which cause fraying. I should probably take it down and smooth that out at some point.

[Jeff Collingwood]

The parts that get the grooves are plastic inserts.  You can remove them and turn them 180 degrees and they will be as good as new.  When I ordered my string I also order extra plastic inserts.
...Jeff....

I just did the 4 string shade beside the dining table. I followed the instructions for length and added a foot. I ended up cutting off a foot or better for each string but happy to do it. Much better than coming up short. Took about an hour and just tight enough to hold the shade up. I notice that the extra tension has worn grooves which cause fraying. I should probably take it down and smooth that out at some point.

[EdJ]

My shades were much, much, tighter than required when they came from the factory!!

I do not understand what you mean by the shades were too tight.  I have not had any cords break (yet).   When the shades are up, the cords seem tight.  If they were not, they would not be lifting the shade.  When the shades (both) are down, the double cord is going through the holes in the shade material seems a bit looser.  But not by very much. 

[Hut]

My shades were much, much, tighter than required when they came from the factory!!

I do not understand what you mean by the shades were too tight.  I have not had any cords break (yet).   When the shades are up, the cords seem tight.  If they were not, they would not be lifting the shade.  When the shades (both) are down, the double cord is going through the holes in the shade material seems a bit looser.  But not by very much. 

You must have a different kind of shades thn we are talking about. The type that are attached at the bottom, the tension is the same regardless of positioning.

[EdJ]

My shades were much, much, tighter than required when they came from the factory!!

I do not understand what you mean by the shades were too tight.  I have not had any cords break (yet).   When the shades are up, the cords seem tight.  If they were not, they would not be lifting the shade.  When the shades (both) are down, the double cord is going through the holes in the shade material seems a bit looser.  But not by very much. 

You must have a different kind of shades thn we are talking about. The type that are attached at the bottom, the tension is the same regardless of positioning.

I believe I have the SWC cord-lock type.  Here are the 'personal experience' cord replacement instructions that were posted recently.