Shade master

[adamdegraff]

When we were looking for our bus, we saw a featherlite that had "shademaster." Just a fancy way of saying motorized shades, but a word that my family has come to praise and long for. I gots to have them. Can I retrofit my bus with something? I have a few spare buttons on my dash. I'd be happy with vinyl black out (roll up) shades, as I like the darkness in the AM after a late show and Driver likes the privacy at night while I am performing. Most other times, the shades are all up anyway. So, no need for fancy pleated deals.

Wouldn't it be possible to find some vinyl shades on motorized rollers and then hide any wiring behind the valences. Heck, maybe there would even be a remote control option. Admittedly, and area I know absolutely nothing about. Any suggestions?

This would be a great Christmas gift for Driver, as she is currently our "shade master" and lusts for a one button solution to this daily chore.

Thanks,

~Adam

[hhoppe]

Adam find a Hunter Douglas store and discuss it with them. Our Liberty has HD powered shades and they do the job you are seeking. Maybe their factory would be a better place to start because of the 12 volt use.

[bluevost]

Adam,

check out www.mcd-rv.com. They make all kinds of shades, any size.

Ken

[MangoMike]

Adam,

I've had nothing but problems with the electric shades on my marathon. I wish it had the manual ones like the Liberty has.

Simplier is always better.

Mike

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

When we were looking for our bus, we saw a featherlite that had "shademaster." Just a fancy way of saying motorized shades, but a word that my family has come to praise and long for. I gots to have them. Can I retrofit my bus with something? I have a few spare buttons on my dash. I'd be happy with vinyl black out (roll up) shades, as I like the darkness in the AM after a late show and Driver likes the privacy at night while I am performing. Most other times, the shades are all up anyway. So, no need for fancy pleated deals.

Wouldn't it be possible to find some vinyl shades on motorized rollers and then hide any wiring behind the valences. Heck, maybe there would even be a remote control option. Admittedly, and area I know absolutely nothing about. Any suggestions?

This would be a great Christmas gift for Driver, as she is currently our "shade master" and lusts for a one button solution to this daily chore.

Thanks,

~Adam


Here's some with battery power, no wiring necessary.

http://www.yourblinds.com/motorized_remote_blinds.asp

JIM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Nothing more impressive than pushing a button and watching all the shades go up or down.

When they are working.

Ditto with the fancy awnings.

Ditto with the Prevost power windows.

Be careful what you wish for.

[adamdegraff]

Hmmmm, I'm sensing a trend :-)

Thanks for the input and warnings!

Best,

Adam

[tdelorme]

Adam,

check out www.mcd-rv.com. They make all kinds of shades, any size.

Ken

This company is only about ten miles from where we bought our bus. One of the first stops we made was at their factory. The guy who gave me the bid said they had never done a Prevost. The price for the front windshield and the first window on each side? $3500.00, yep, they wanted thirty five hundred bucks for a total of four remote controlled shades, installed.
If your driving a Prevost you don't care what it cost, right. I don't know if they have done a Prevost yet or not, but they sure as heck didn't do ours.

[jimshoen]

KISS, enough said?

[Petervs]

Along these lines, I did install remote windshield visors on our bus. I wanted to be able to drop them down a little more or less to block the sun, especially on the passenger side where the driver can not reach the Prevost installed roll down shades. Plus the Prevost shades left gaps at the sides and it seemed that was always where the light came through and hit me in the eye.

Mine are Carefree of Colorado brand, they have a wireless remote which I velcroed to the dash. The shades need 12 power but that is inside the overhead cabinet anyway. It eliminates all the funky rods and roll up Prevost shades, looks cleaner and sleeker.

http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/rvmhin_smartvisor.asp?m=01010501

They have worked perfectly. Cost around $400 I think, installed them myself in a couple of hours.

I also did a side window shade on the driver side, it is a simple pull down affair from the same supplier.

Pics would not load, sorry.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

How can a bus with a car hanging on the back look clean and sleek?

[bluevost]

Ted,

I saw this guy at the RV show at the Fairplex in Pomona. I had no idea he was so proud of his window coverings!! With estimates like that I bet he still hasn't done a Prevost.

[tdelorme]

Ted,

I saw this guy at the RV show at the Fairplex in Pomona. I had no idea he was so proud of his window coverings!! With estimates like that I bet he still hasn't done a Prevost.


We were a bit stunned when he gave the estimate. We were at the factory in McKinney, TX. where they have hookups for 5 or 6 coaches. We had stayed overnight and the guy came out that morning and ask if we could give him a couple of hours to figure the cost. We went into Dallas shopping and he called me around noon with the bid. I had expected something in the range of 1800 to 2000, but the 3500 number was, I figured was his way of saying they didn't want the job.
This outfit makes a nice shade and we had them on a previous motorhome and never had any problems with them.
Jan just ask me what I was posting about and when I told her, she reminded me that it was the curve in the windshield of our older Prevost that bothered the guy. I don't remember that, but I'm thinking she is right.
So, a newer coach with the flat front window might be a different story cost wise.

[Petervs]

Jon,

They look clean and sleek to me, especially when I am driving, I can only see the Smart on the rear view camera.

I do not care one iota how clean and sleek it looks to anyone else!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Peter, All kidding aside, have you considered getting an article about your Smart carrier in FMCA or some of the other magazines? I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing it, along with understanding the engineering that went into doing it.

[adamdegraff]

Peter, All kidding aside, have you considered getting an article about your Smart carrier in FMCA or some of the other magazines? I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing it, along with understanding the engineering that went into doing it.

I would be very interested in learning more about this. Is there a post on POG with pictures? I seem to remember something from a while back.

~Adam