Roof Vent

Happy New Year to one and all.
Had a very windy trip from Dymchurch to Gatwick and back today during which the front roof vent blew open several times. It goes with quite a bang when it happens and my son who was sitting in the rear had to attend to it while we were on the move on the motorway. I was suprised that it didn't disappear completely.
On the return journey I was travelling alone but had managed to tie it down using a battery booster cable looped around the rear seat belt and had no more frights.
Has anyone else experienced this and if so what repairs or mods are recommended?
Its a 1996 duetto by the way, but i suspect the vents are common across quite a range.

Regards
Brad

Have you examined the internal mechanism carefully for any signs of damage? That type of roof vent has a reputation for becoming brittle with age, so I would suspect that one or more of the springs that are supposed to hold it down is no longer secured properly.

I believe that replacements are still available and they aren't (in relative terms) hard to fit. Make sure though that you get a replacement with the correct depth, as there are at least 2 different depths.

Brad,

On "Petal" we had the same problem and I discovered (after the second time) that when closing the lid I hadn't actually lowered it far enough to "lock" the spring loaded handles or made sure that the small pins were slotted in place.

This last trip back from Spain we had some terrible side and head-on winds but the lids stayed in place so my suggestion is that you get up there close and make sure that the lid is actually closed.

I do know that the cost of replacement can be eye-watering so I would make sure that the ones you have are in some way completely beggared before replacing anything!

Best regards and


Ian

If I were you... I'd see this as an ideal time, to replace with the newer more modern looking Mini Hekiplus

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Problem solved. Upon closer inspection I found that each handle has a spring loaded black plastic insert. Each insert has two plastic extensions that should engage with a lip on the vent frame to prevent said vent from opening until the handle is operated/squeezed.
On my vent these extensions were not doing their job. A few minutes with a file and everything is now as it should be. I make that Brad "1", vent "0".

Blossom wrote:Problem solved. Upon closer inspection I found that each handle has a spring loaded black plastic insert. Each insert has two plastic extensions that should engage with a lip on the vent frame to prevent said vent from opening until the handle is operated/squeezed.
On my vent these extensions were not doing their job. A few minutes with a file and everything is now as it should be. I make that Brad "1", vent "0".

Brad,

GREAT!! One for the Good Guys! (i.e. zero cost solution!)

However, my favourite comment to Operators was always "When everything else has failed read the Manual."




Ian