Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Maintenance of the body of the camper
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Kentuckian
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B190 Year: 1993
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Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by Kentuckian »

A few weeks back we were out camping and had a heavy blowing rain on the driver’s side of our B190. In the morning I noticed a small water puddle on the inside frame of the window above the couch. I just completed refurbishing that window and thought I would pass along what I did in case any of you are ready to do something similar.

I wound up changing the window tint, the window screen and almost all of the rubber window gaskets.

Airstream used HEHR windows in our van. Looking at photo’s, it looks like Airstream used the same type windows for all of the B190 years. But keep in mind that our B190 is a 1993 model. The windows in your B190 may be different.

My water leak was coming through a failed adhesive window seal on the fixed window. So my rebuild went all the way to full window glass removal.

AA) Removal
The sliding screen frame & sliding window …
Watch this youtube video on changing a Hehr Window Pane. Its quicker than me explaining what I did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQMESuERO8Q
After I removed the screen frame and sliding window, I removed all of the related gaskets/slides and cleaned the aluminum frame. There are quite a number of pieces, so you may want to take note of where everything goes.
I set the window and screen frame aside for the rebuild.

The fixed window…
This is a little tricky. You have to cut the double sided adhesive tape that bonds the fixed window to the aluminum window frame. I needed to cut the adhesive tape from inside the B190. So, on the outside of the B190, I placed a couple of lengths of duct tape from the body across the frame, window glass to the van body on the other side of the window. This way if the window popped loose, it would not fall out to the ground. Working from inside the B190, I slide a plastic knife blade between the window glass and the aluminum frame all the way around the perimeter of the window to free it. I then used a solvent to remove the old adhesive tape from the window frame and the surface of the window.

I removed the remaining rubber gaskets and cleaned the aluminum window frame.

I set the window aside for the rebuild.

BB) Rebuild
The screen window…
My frame was fine and did not require any repair. However, as long as I had the window screen frame uninstalled, I decided to install new screen material. I pulled out the old rubber window spline and the old screen material discarding both. I cut the new screen material to size and installed it using new spline. Careful to hold the screen pattern square to the frame and taunt, my method was to press a section of the spline in at one corner then the next corner then the next corner and the last corner working my way around the perimeter of the screen. Using the same approach, I pressed in the middle of each side taking care to keep the screen straight and tight as I went around the perimeter of the frame. Then I finished by pressing in all of the spline on one side then the opposite side and repeated for the other two sides until finished.

Easy but fussy job…

Parts used :
Spline -
Vendor : http://www.parkin-acc.com
Part number 009-216 (When you call them, please, double check me on this part number. It should be the number for the spline for the window screen. I lost the original part number. Oops!)

Screen mesh –
You can use screen from the hardware store. However, I wanted a finer mesh so as to be effective against those tiny pesky Noseeum insects. Physically it has made a nice window screen. The appearance is the same as factory only smaller mesh size.
Vendor : https://ripstopbytheroll.com
0.9-NS-B 0.9 oz Noseeum mesh - Black

The fixed window…
The window tint…
I replaced the old window tint on both window panes. I wanted a new tint that had high heat blocking properties, low cell phone signal blocking properties and let in more light into the camper than the original Airstream factory tint.

From outside, I really don’t see much difference in appearance. From inside you can definitely tell more light is coming into the camper. However, the new tint feels just a cool as the old tint. So, more light without more heat seems to have worked.

I used a heat gun to peel off the old tint. For installation of the new tint, please, refer to the instructions from the window tint company that you select.

Parts used :
Vendor : snaptint.com
Part number – Nano Ultra Vision 70% - Very Light

Gaskets…
Simply observe the gaskets that you remove and replace them with the new ones. Here are the materials I used.

Double sided tape…
Vendor/part number – a local source
I went to a local window replacement shop. They gave me enough double sided adhesive window tape to do my whole van. To order this tape, I suggest you ask the good folks at ParKin Accessories when you order the below rubber and they should be able to direct you to the double sided tape that you need.

Window rubber…
Vendor - http://www.parkin-acc.com
Part numbers -
009-984S Vent Track with slots (for bottom of sliding window)
009-421 Sweep seal (for the upright frame in the middle of the window touching the sliding window)
H-H Wedge seal (for the upright frame in the middle of the window touching the fixed window)
009-842 Vent glass rubber (for the perimeter of the frame touching the sliding window)
009-344 Fixed glass rubber (for the perimeter of the frame touching the fixed window)

Note : All of the above rubber fit well and was easy to install except 009-344. The cross section of this rubber did not seem big enough to make a snug seal at all points. It certainly is not water tight. The 009-344 seal just sheds the excess water. The water seal is handled by the double sided adhesive tape. This rubber seal also puckered a little as it turns the corners. I did get it installed and it now looks o.k.. However, wasn’t satisfied with this one part number.

The rebuilt window has now gone through a hard spraying with the garden hose as well as several heavy rain storms and not a drop inside. So I'll take that as a success.

That’s it! Hope some of the above helps you.

Regards, Kentuckian
1993 Airstream B190
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Choptop
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B190 Year: 1990
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Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by Choptop »

Thank you Kentuckian, as this is to be one of my spring projects, your write up will help tremendously :D !!
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mountaindent
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B190 Year: 1992
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Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by mountaindent »

I thought I had identified all the leaks and gotten them fixed however, when the couch was taken out to recover noticed some moisture below window. It was nice to clean completely behind and under couch and figured that window my have a small problem. At least I know the name Hehr windows now and know what it would take to get it fixed. Thank you for the detail involved in this process to eliminate the leak. I take of a few things off the list and add one more.
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Kentuckian
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B190 Year: 1993
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Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by Kentuckian »

One easy thing to check on the Hehr windows...

From the outside of the B190, at the bottom of the aluminum window frame, you will notice two elongated slits. Those are water drains. Any water that gets past the rubber seals drains into the channel in the aluminum frame behind those slits. If they get stopped up with gunk, rain water will back up and overflow the aluminum channel into the interior of the van.

An easy fix is to run a piece of wire into those holes and make sure that they are open and not stopped up.
1993 Airstream B190
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mountaindent
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Joined: Tue Sep 26, 2017 9:06 pm
B190 Year: 1992
WBCCI: 19000
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Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by mountaindent »

Kentuckian wrote:One easy thing to check on the Hehr windows...

From the outside of the B190, at the bottom of the aluminum window frame, you will notice two elongated slits. Those are water drains. Any water that gets past the rubber seals drains into the channel in the aluminum frame behind those slits. If they get stopped up with gunk, rain water will back up and overflow the aluminum channel into the interior of the van.

An easy fix is to run a piece of wire into those holes and make sure that they are open and not stopped up.
Funny, but, someone was telling me to seal those up and I was thinking they are there for a reason and too uniform to be an accident in design. I will run a piece of wire into those holes and make sure they are not stopped up. Thank you...
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skater
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B190 Year: 1991
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Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by skater »

Some notes on this, as I just ordered today:
009-984S Vent Track with slots (for bottom of sliding window)
009-421 Sweep seal (for the upright frame in the middle of the window touching the sliding window)
H-H Wedge seal (for the upright frame in the middle of the window touching the fixed window)
They weren't able to find the H-H wedge seal. The 009-984 (track without slots) was actually more expensive than the 009-984S for some reason...
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
Ryant0423
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B190 Year: 1993

Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by Ryant0423 »

How much did you order of each gasket/seal.
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skater
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Re: Refurbishing the Hehr windows

Post by skater »

Ryant0423 wrote:How much did you order of each gasket/seal.
This says 21' of each for the rubber gaskets.
1991 Airstream B190 - bought, 2005; sold, 2011; bought 2017
1995 Airstream Excella 30' trailer

WBCCI #13270, Washington, DC Unit
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