help needed with my Devon roof tit...

[ambivert]

...or air vent as you may prefer to call it. You know, that flap thingy shaped like a square mushroom in the middle of the pop top, it's hinged on one side, on the opposite side to the where the roof itself is hinged to the van. My problem is that the flap has something missing, and I don't know what that part looks like or what its called.

What I am specifically interested in is how the flap is secured to the van, so it doesn't come open. Mine is taped shut on the inside, where there are 2 metal bars going across the vent, they are taped together which keeps it closed. One bar is fixed to the van and the other is fixed to the flap. It looks like these bars are meant to be attached to each other in some way because there is a sort of slider channel in the top bar, and a slotted bracket with a worm gear in it attached to the bottom bar. This to me suggests the missing part is perhaps a metal bar with a slider on one end which fits into the channel at the top and a cog with a handle which fits into the slotted bracket somehow for opening and closing the flap.

If this sounds like yours, can you please take a photo of it and post it in, or point me to a diagram of it?

[dugcati]

Is/should some of it look like these?...








Sorry about the pants pics - the darn fly screen is brilliant for flashbounce!

Doug

[ambivert]

thanks hugely, those photos are just what I need. I am definitely missing that metal bar with the slider on one end and the handle on the other. Fortunately it looks like it might be simple enough to fabricate some kind of equivalent, if I can't find an original.

What I really need to know is a bit more about that handle now... What does turning it actually do? Does it (a) gradually open/close the flap, or (b) grip/release the bar so you can position the flap by hand? Is it possible to get a close-up of the mechanism in the slot, on the back of the handle, which is just about visible in the photo below.

What I can't yet figure out is how turning the handle (assuming its (a)) pulls/pushes the metal bar in/out. Or maybe it just changes the angle? There is a large cog inside the slot, so I guess the handle has a gear on the back which meshes with it? And the metal bar also has something on its end which must mesh with the cog in some way...?



many thanks! you have been a great help so far...

[dugcati]

there is a worm gear in the housing the handle is attached to.... I'll get some more real close up pics

[ambivert]

there is a worm gear in the housing the handle is attached to.... I'll get some more real close up pics

that would be great... what I am most keen to know is how the other end of that gear connects to the metal bar and makes it move...

[kevtherev]

http://www.fiammastore.com/Vent_page1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

fiamma still sell roof vents that may fit

[dugcati]

Kev! tsk hehehe I thought I was begin reet helpful there providing pics n stuff then you went and spoilt it with an easypeasy buy a new'un

Nice find there there chap - there's all sorts of useful nick-nacks on there....

[kevtherev]

Kev! tsk hehehe I thought I was begin reet helpful there providing pics n stuff then you went and spoilt it with an easypeasy buy a new'un

Nice find there there chap - there's all sorts of useful nick-nacks on there....

Always usfull to have a get out.

great pics and write up though pal

[iggi]

Mine used to look just like the photos on this thread, then a garage fixing something else on the van drove it through their door when not fully open - bye bye skylight.
They replaced it with snazzy new one BUT it is slightly lower on the inside - insignificant to anyone over 5ft 5, but I used to be able to stand up in the middle of the van!
So I would keep original if you can..

[ambivert]

http://www.fiammastore.com/Vent_page1.htm

fiamma still sell roof vents that may fit

well whaddaya know... looks like there is indeed a get out clause. What with the cheapest most basic replacement being only £40, and given the time it would take me to fiddle about making a replacement slider, bar and handle mechanism, it may well be just better to replace the whole thing... then I thought, hey what about one of those nicer ones, with a fan in and everything... how cool would that be, literally... Imagine its 30 degrees, you're out all day, and come back to the van and its still nice and cool inside, and the fridge has managed to keep your beers cold too... Like how many watts is a fan gonna use, you could run that off a solar panel surely... But I digress... I just can't decide what to do now, be a pikey as usual and cobble something together out of old bits, or be indulgent and buy something nice... ah well, if only all life's hard choices were about things like this eh...