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Side Window Fogged AGAIN
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Easy Driver, don’t make fun of my beautiful bus. The problem with the boys in the flatlands is to much humidity and to high dew point.
It’s not good for bones or buses.Later
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The glass in my H has been replaced twice this year and is fogging up for the third time.
Seems worse if the bus is parked with the driver side facing west all day
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I am ready to replace both the drivers and passenger side fixed window panes. I’ve had the coach for 7years so I guess this is about the time for replacement. Parts are in the bus and we head to Jeff’s on the 23rd October for this and 13 other items of work.
My biggest issue was not looking through the fog when driving but instead when I was leaving or entering the storage barn the fogged windows became like looking in a mirror. Not good and was costly one time on the stainless. That’s another story to be told some other time.
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I wondered if excessive humidity was the culprit but the picture above was taken after two nights in Casa Grand, Arizona. Not much humidity there.
Davy
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Davy,
As the window seal fails the window breathes. When it is cool it inhales air that has some moisture, even low humidy, but never the less it contains some moisture. When it gets warm the window exhales, but never all the air. With each inhale/exhale cycle the moisture content increases because the air comes in contact with cooler parts, condenses and then more moisture remains than is expelled.
After a while you see the moisture as condensation on the interior surfaces of the glass.
If you can pull a vacuum of the interior of the window, then introduce an inert dry gas such as argon, and reseal the perimeter you have repaired the window, but if the problem has gone on for a while the glass inside is etched or soiled.
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The appointment at a Prevost Mira Loma went well. The window installed 2 1/2 years ago by Prevost Nashville was not under warranty but it was replaced with all costs covered under good will. They ask me what I thought I should pay and I told them, “I do think Prevost should offer to absorb at least some of the labor. I really, in good conscience, can not go any farther than saying that…You bill me what is right and proper and I will pay it.“ They went way beyond and I commend them for it.
While emailing back and for I did make note of the fact that the sealant on the outside is more uneven that it was before. (Between us it looks like it was put on with a kids elbow or thumb.) However, for the price I am willing to let it slide.
Worse part about the whole visit was that I missed Peter by less than 48 hours.
Hopefully this one will last a very, very long time.
Davy
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Had my drivers side foggy window fixed at Prehost Houston 2 years ago and this last weekend passenger side started the foggy game. After the 1200 buck fix on the drivers window this one will stay fogged or at least single paned when fixed. Can see the mirror out the front glass.
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Glad to hear that Prevost took care of you.
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DKO. I know Prevost Mira Loma quoted us this past Feb 2014, the $1200 ea to replace/install new glass for our foggy windows We had two windows sent from Prevost to Jeff’s place in Vonore Tn. As we headed west last month after dropping my mother back home in Ohio from a trip with her to visit “sis” in New Hampshire we headed to East Tenn Coach. Jeff’s people had both of our fixed dùal pane windows, drivers and entry door removed/reinstalled in less than two hours. Total labor for both, $4370 labor, $2560 for drivers’ and $3270 for entry door. So that’s $1,020 parts and labor for both windows. Why is it Prevost makes a day of it? Did you get charged for the day of sitting it takes the Sika-flex to cure?
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They quoted 4 hours and it took about 5. They used a 2 part polymer Loctite instead of Sika. I did spend the night but they said I would not have to.
Davy
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I have had in the past some discussions with a high managment member from Prevost regarding their costs to do certain common tasks. I know for a fact they have some jobs that they will quote what appears to be excessive costs. Among them are the side glass replacement costs and air bag replacement. Jim did a good job summarizing the side glass cost comparison. My other example is air bags and at the time of the discussion they were quoting $4400 for an XL and at the time the parts cost was around $1150 and a generous allowance for labor was 10 hours (my estimate). I know of several trusted shops that would replace the air bags for $1000 for a total cost of about $2200 compared to the Prevost cost of $4400.
I was told the Prevost costs considered the time it took to drive the coach into the shop and for the unknowns of dealing with rusty fasteners. I’m not kidding. That is what I was told to justify the cost.
We have as advertisers several shops listed that PC members have highly recommended. Every owner should weigh the various factors in getting service, including the distance to travel, the expertise in a specific area of the coach, and the quality of work before deciding to just hop in the bus and go get something fixed. There are items I would NEVER have anyone other than Prevost deal with. Skin repair is one perfect example. There are other items I could not justify taking to Prevost unless they change their pricing policy and the examples have been cited in this thread.
The same applies to any work.Whether it is involving the engine, transmission, interior, etc. get quotes, but also make certain the shop doing the work possesses the qualifications and experience.
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It’s the same the world over, whatever the product, vehicles or otherwise, the respective vendors charge double or even more for the same work. Why? Because they can.
I was in the videoconferencing business for many years and we charged anything from $800 to $5000 (converted from UK Sterling) for an engineer per day depending upon the complexity of the work. Polycom, the vendor, would charge a min of $1200 and anything up to $8000 for the same work. In fact less, they would never do any more than the bare minimum the customer paid for and on the lower end stuff, they weren’t even true Polycom engineers, that work was subcontracted out to Fujitsu PC engineers.
There were plenty of customers though who ‘had’ to have a Polycom install because they believed it would be superior. As those of us who a have used independents (or have been one) know, the opposite is quite often true.
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Prevost handles all components on coach they built. I’m heading down (Houston) in a week or 2 for routine service. I ,like a lot of folks, have had my own business and you get (charge) what it takes to make a living and pay your hands and keep a going. When it gets where I can’t afford it. I’ll buy a tent. I just wish they bartered and I could drop off a dozen or so Longhorn cattle.
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Make no mistake, Prevost does offer considerable value despite the high pricing.
First, they sell some parts direct to us cheaper than any source on the planet. Air bags have always been cheaper at Prevost than anywhere else. They have other items with equally attractive pricing. The flip side is they also have some part prices that are out of sight expensive. If you are sensitive to pricing get quotes.
In addition to being very fair on some prices on parts, they offer something almost nobody else does and that is an assurance if they do something they will stand behind it. That is not just lip service. When something they did is wrong, or fails prematurely they fix it properly and you do not get charged. This is not limited to small stuff either. They have made some very expensive repairs that had issues and they never hesitated to get the bus back in their shop where they made it right and ate the cost.
The other consideration besides price has to be convenience. Our buses do not travel for free. Even if we do not consider the value of our time to get the bus in for service, we cannot ignore the cost of fuel and wear and tear..I don’t think $10 per mile covers our costs anymore so finding a nearby shop has its advantages as long as in the risk analysis it is determined the savings on travel expense is going pay for a service provider’s learning on your coach, at your expense.
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I see no advantage to thermopane windows next to a slide window of single pane and all the other windows in the bus being single pane. Just this past week, the local Glass Doctor shop installed single pane 1/2″ thick dot approved glass in driver side window and entry door window, tinted to match the existing window, for a total for both sides of $520. Beautiful job.
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