Zarcor tinted window and blind install 2020 OLEll Hull# 634

[Patriot]

Long install post-
I decided it was a gorgeous sunny North Carolina day and just a good day to install the new tinted glass and blind I ordered from Zarcor. I made this a stand alone post as this window install was a bit different from other installs I have read about here. It appears the Lippert now uses a sealant on the exterior window frame which adheres the frame to the door frame opening. They also use a similar sealant on the interior of the exterior frame, which holds the glass FIRMLY in place inside the window. I could not remove the old opaque glass from the old frame. I decided since this really appears to be a one time use sealant that purchasing a new exterior frame would be required. Reusing the old frame and compromised sealant was not an option for me. You will see where the sealant on the old frame came off after removal from the Ollie window door cut out or frame. Some of the old sealant came off on the old opaque window. I was glad I had purchased a new frame through Zarcor to do the install. The new frame was $28 plus shipping. Once I removed the old frame and opaque glass, the install was pretty straightforward. The new window frames use what appears to be a ratchet mechanism which once both frames are sealed together they lock into place. No more rope caulk or screws to tighten down when you sandwich the new window interior and exterior frames together. Zarcor sends (16) little plastic tabs (pics) that release the frames from each other. Without these tabs you cannot remove the frames. 

Below are a few photos to help describe the process. It’s not terribly difficult; just take your time and read the instructions. We are really happy with this mod and like the idea of seeing who is knock knock knocking on our Ollie’s door.
 

$175.00 for this mod including shipping from Zarcor. The staff at Zarcor made this mod seamless by answering all questions I had before moving forward. Just really great folks to do business with in San Antonio,Texas.  This is a fairly easy window mod and I would highly recommend it if you prefer being able to see who is knocking at your door. Take your time and remember be gentle as your working with plastic and glass.

link - https://www.zarcor.com/rv_products/rv-door-window-kit/

 

(16) tabs provided by Zarcor to remove existing frame.
You insert equally around slots on the exterior of the interior frame edge. You will see the slots.

Ratchet mechanism that holds frames together.
Likely to speed up window/door plant assembly production cut costs.

After removing the interior frame, a thin bladed puddy knife can be used to separate seal.

Old frame and compromised sealant -

Another photo of old exterior frame after removal-

Throughly clean off old sealant off door frame-

Installed new frame, and tinted glass, my bride was a tremendous help with an extra set of hands 🙌 👍🏻.

The blind install was again pretty straight forward and it works great! It attaches with several small Velcro tabs.

The blind can be operated with the interior screen door closed, just slide screen door plastic opening for access.

Finished exterior - we like the way this tinted window matches the rest of our glass. 

 

The contrast of the tint vs natural light - 

Edited February 24, 2021 by Patriot

[Fritz]

Nice job!  This mod will be high in my list later this year...

[SeaDawg]

Looks great! I'm sure you will enjoy it!

[SeaDawg]

A question, Patriot. Is it easy to move the vanes of the blind without opening the door? You can reach the slider thru the little opening for the door handle in the screen door?

Edited February 23, 2021 by SeaDawg
Typo

[Mike and Carol]

Good install job!  Looks very similar to what I did a few years ago.  Ours has operated flawlessly.

42 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

A question, Patriot. Is it easy to move the vanes of the blind without opening the door? You can reach the slider thru the little opening for the door handle in the screen door?

It is very easy to open and close the blind without opening the door.  The slider is accessible through the sliding panel for the door handle.

[Patriot]

57 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

Good install job!  Looks very similar to what I did a few years ago.  Ours has operated flawlessly.

It is very easy to open and close the blind without opening the door.  The slider is accessible through the sliding panel for the door handle.

Thank you Mike! 👍🏻

[Patriot]

2 hours ago, Fritz said:

Nice job!  This mod will be high in my list later this year...

Fritz, thank you. If you have any questions later on just shoot me a PM, glad to help.👍🏻

Edited February 23, 2021 by Patriot

[Ray Kimsey]

Great job David!  And it was a great day in NC.  

[rideandfly]

David,

Beautiful installation!!!!!

[Landrover]

Patriot

  Nice work. Great pics.  I plan on doing the same mod. I don’t like the idea not being able to see out the door.  As a safety reminder I’m sure most know this. At night and you need to look outside if you hear a noise or someone is at your door. Always turn on your outside lights on, and leave all interior lights off. Any one who is outside will not be able to see you inside  due to the tinted windows,  turning on interior lights you be seen plain as day.

[WandR]

Patriot,

Nice work!  You motivated me to do the same thing to my 2015 Ollie.  When I called Zarcor (last week) to ensure I received the correct color handle I mentioned we had been discussing their window shades on the Oliver Forum and they gave me free shipping.  Total cost (tinted window plus white shade w/white handle) was $129 with no tax and no shipping.  For those of us with the older Ollies with the screw in window frame versus snap-in Mike also has an installation thread that was helpful. 

Just installed it today and it looks great!  Really nice to be able to see outside while seated at the dinette as well as see who is knocking at the door. 

[Patriot]

1 hour ago, WandR said:

Patriot,

Nice work!  You motivated me to do the same thing to my 2015 Ollie.  When I called Zarcor (last week) to ensure I received the correct color handle I mentioned we had been discussing their window shades on the Oliver Forum and they gave me free shipping.  Total cost (tinted window plus white shade w/white handle) was $129 with no tax and no shipping.  For those of us with the older Ollies with the screw in window frame versus snap-in Mike also has an installation thread that was helpful. 

Just installed it today and it looks great!  Really nice to be able to see outside while seated at the dinette as well as see who is knocking at the door. 

WandR,

So glad to hear this worked out for you. John Halter the owner of Zarcor was a pleasure to do business with and I highly recommend his company. He really made things seamless for us when we ordered.
Maybe Oliver will offer this as option or better yet a standard feature. We would have gladly selected it.
@Topgun2 as mentioned was instrumental in our pursuit of this very useful mod, so to his credit. 👍🏻

Happy Camping!

Edited March 8, 2021 by Patriot

[Patriot]

I thought I would bump this post since I was asked about the Zarcor window shade while at this years Rally by a few new owners.

It’s a nice mod passed on to me by TopGun and naturally allows us to see who is knocking at the door. As mentioned we ordered tinted glass to match the Oliver tinted windows. A top five mod of ours. Hope this helps those that asked about it at the Rally.

Happy Camping! 
 

[BBL]

On 6/9/2022 at 8:29 AM, Patriot said:

I thought I would bump this post since I was asked about the Zarcor window shade while at this years Rally by a few new owners.

It’s a nice mod passed on to me by TopGun and naturally allows us to see who is knocking at the door. As mentioned we ordered tinted glass to match the Oliver tinted windows. A top five mod of ours. Hope this helps those that asked about it at the Rally.

Happy Camping! 
 

@Patriot Thanks for this post. We are waiting on our LE II and this will be one of the first things I do. We are in TN but moved here from Mooresville, NC and I am originally from New Bern, NC - where are you in NC?

Brian

[Patriot]

5 hours ago, Brian and Brandelyne Lewis said:

@Patriot Thanks for this post. We are waiting on our LE II and this will be one of the first things I do. We are in TN but moved here from Mooresville, NC and I am originally from New Bern, NC - where are you in NC?

Brian

We live near Shelby, NC approx 50 mi west of Charlotte. The Zarcor shade is not one of our first mods, but it’s one of our favorites. The install is for the most part straight forward. PM me if you have any questions that I can help with. 😊

[BBL]

13 hours ago, Patriot said:

We live near Shelby, NC approx 50 mi west of Charlotte. The Zarcor shade is not one of our first mods, but it’s one of our favorites. The install is for the most part straight forward. PM me if you have any questions that I can help with. 😊

We went to Shelby often, nice little town. We especially liked the old red barn (Used in the Hillshire Farms ads) that is now a winery and events venue.

Thank you for the offer to assist, I might need it.

Brian

[hobo]

I installed the exact set last week in hull 414.  I will provide one caution:  It is possible to "over compress" the inner and outer frames when seating the male and female serrated tabs when re-assembling.  If you do that, you end up forcing the inner frame to push us against the glass on the inside that will warp it slightly.  If that happens, the tightly fitted shade will not fit properly.  (You can guess how I know this).

Only compress the frames to the point where the edges just "touch the glass.

If however, you end up "gorilla-izing" the job and go too far, simply use the shims previously used to separate the frames to release tension on the affected portion.  Easy-Peasy. 

Just a lesson learned the hard way.

HOBO

 

[MobileJoy]

I installed this several weeks ago while in storage and we are now testing it out on our first (short) trip with it. So far so good. We are at a Myrtle Beach site where there is some but not a lot of outdoor lighting hitting the white blind. Very little light is coming through. Will have a better report next month when we have had a number of sites behind us as we travel to the west coast. But so far we can say this is one of the better bang-for-the-buck improvements that can be made.

Thanks to all of you above for your installation comments. While working with John Halter was a pleasure, it was nice to have a number of questions to ask, and it was helpful to have warnings about installation issues. The end result of the installation is beautiful, and the function is very good.

The only negative I have to report is that one of the handle screws will come loose after a number of openings and closings using the grip button on the handle. Retightening works, but only for a short while. I found that using the grip button to close the blind applies sideways torque to that screw. The workaround is to open or close by pressing the handle where it curves at the top of the vertical handle shaft portion. I was careful not to over tighten the screws and not to elongate the drill holes during installation.

[topgun2]

3 hours ago, MobileJoy said:

Retightening works, but only for a short while.

A drop of Loctite (blue) should take care of that issue.

Bill

[Patriot]

8 hours ago, MobileJoy said:

While working with John Halter was a pleasure, it was nice to have a number of questions to ask, and it was helpful to have warnings about installation issues.

@MobileJoy

I agree John Halter was more than helpful when I had a few questions about this install/mod.

One of the best most memorable dinners we enjoyed at MB was here - https://www.seacaptains.com

The food and dinning area view of the Atlantic was excellent!
Enjoy Myrtle Beach. 

Patriot🇺🇸
 

[MAX Burner]

4 hours ago, MobileJoy said:

I installed this several weeks ago while in storage and we are now testing it out on our first (short) trip with it. So far so good. We are at a Myrtle Beach site where there is some but not a lot of outdoor lighting hitting the white blind. Very little light is coming through. Will have a better report next month when we have had a number of sites behind us as we travel to the west coast. But so far we can say this is one of the better bang-for-the-buck improvements that can be made.

Thanks to all of you above for your installation comments. While working with John Halter was a pleasure, it was nice to have a number of questions to ask, and it was helpful to have warnings about installation issues. The end result of the installation is beautiful, and the function is very good.

The only negative I have to report is that one of the handle screws will come loose after a number of openings and closings using the grip button on the handle. Retightening works, but only for a short while. I found that using the grip button to close the blind applies sideways torque to that screw. The workaround is to open or close by pressing the handle where it curves at the top of the vertical handle shaft portion. I was careful not to over tighten the screws and not to elongate the drill holes during installation.

Couple drops of Blue Locktite on the threads should keep those screws where they need to be...

[MobileJoy]

8 hours ago, topgun2 said:

A drop of Loctite (blue) should take care of that issue.

Thanks, I'll try that.

8 hours ago, Patriot said:

One of the best most memorable dinners we enjoyed at MB was here - https://www.seacaptains.com

The food and dinning area view of the Atlantic was excellent!
Enjoy Myrtle Beach. 

We'll try that as well. Thanks for the suggestions!

[MobileJoy]

On 3/28/2023 at 5:03 PM, MobileJoy said:

We'll try that as well. Thanks for the suggestions!

Sea Captains was very good. FWIW, I add my endorsement.

[Jstone]

Quote

Quote

Sea Captains was very good. FWIW, I add my endorsement.

Hi from Hull 997, I’m local to the area. If you’re staying a while, a trip to the Conway Riverwalk area offers a wonderful contrast to Myrtle Beach, as does the Murrells Inlet Marsh Walk. Enjoy!

 

[MobileJoy]

21 hours ago, Jstone said:

Hi from Hull 997, I’m local to the area. If you’re staying a while, a trip to the Conway Riverwalk area offers a wonderful contrast to Myrtle Beach, as does the Murrells Inlet Marsh Walk. Enjoy!

Sadly we had already returned home in NC when I saw this. We have done the Marsh Walk but not the Riverwalk. We love Myrtle Beach, so odds are we'll get another chance. Thanks for the suggestions!