I had the same issue on my 2012 Conqueror.....i was in the South of France where i leave my caravan for 9 months of the year. Spoke with my insures Tower Gate who were fantastic. Agreed to cover the cost of the repair at a Swift Dealer near Bergerac. Its definitely a manufacturing fault. The silicon rubber seal that allows the glass to flex during movement becomes hard over time and this is what creates the cracking. The repair guy said that the silicon rubber seal has now been upgraded and no longer losses its flexibility. Total cost to have a new one fitted including all the silicon sundries glass and labour was £2.5k ......thanks Tower Gate Insurance.👍
Hi, this happened to us in September last year. Repaired by Swift under warranty at our dealer. From another post on the same issue (there are many) it was said the aperture in the roof was not big enough to accommodate expansion. When I look at our repair, I can see there is significant clearance between the glazed unit and the roof. Looks like it was cut with a saw, as the edges are rough. Manufacturing method is water jet. So you should check the clearance on yours. It was covered on our 10 year water ingress warranty. We used clear gorilla tape as a temporary repair kept the water out. I also drilled the ends of the crack. Took about 3 months to get it repaired.
Thanks for taking the time to reply and share this information with the group, I'll check the cut out size when I'm next at the caravan as I'm interested to know if that's the same issue on ours.
Same thing happened to me swift fixed it under warranty but it took them 10 months to resolve and you have to have your van serviced to their strict service terms of 90 before annual purchase of the van and 60 days after hope this helps and look forward to see how you get on 😉
We keep you all posted, currently speaking with our insurance company, being a 2014 model don't think this will still be covered under any kind of warranty which is a shame.
Check what the coefficient of expansion is for acrylic, you’ll be surprised. There’s a few articles from acrylic suppliers stating the biggest issue with acrylic applications is that designers don’t allow for the large expansion values of acrylic.
Reference my earlier comment, both Swift and our dealer denied they knew the cause of the issue. Which I don’t believe as they accepted the claim straight away. I expected a fight to get it repaired, thought they would say bird or ball strike. I think cutting the hole in the roof bigger to increase clearance is the real fix. Just changing the glazed unit might just treat the symptom. Swift repaired 3 other vans with the same issue at our dealer. I believe it’s a big issue and Swift have technicians on the road fixing the problem at dealers, if it’s under warranty. Our van is a 2019 Challenger. The window is different but the failure mode is the same.
Sorry to hear that, I would check the gap between the double glazed unit and the hole in the roof, before you have the repair completed. I’m very confident that mine was increased at the time of the repair. It’s not easily accessible, but as a guide I can see the edge is rough, as it’s been dawn. And I can get a finger into the gap. I’m very confident lack of clearance during expansion causes the crack. Hope you get it fixed soon.
I had the same issue on my 2012 Conqueror.....i was in the South of France where i leave my caravan for 9 months of the year. Spoke with my insures Tower Gate who were fantastic. Agreed to cover the cost of the repair at a Swift Dealer near Bergerac. Its definitely a manufacturing fault. The silicon rubber seal that allows the glass to flex during movement becomes hard over time and this is what creates the cracking. The repair guy said that the silicon rubber seal has now been upgraded and no longer losses its flexibility.
Total cost to have a new one fitted including all the silicon sundries glass and labour was £2.5k ......thanks Tower Gate Insurance.👍
It seems all fun and games with these windows lol, glad you got it sorted whilst away, great service.
Hi, this happened to us in September last year. Repaired by Swift under warranty at our dealer. From another post on the same issue (there are many) it was said the aperture in the roof was not big enough to accommodate expansion. When I look at our repair, I can see there is significant clearance between the glazed unit and the roof. Looks like it was cut with a saw, as the edges are rough. Manufacturing method is water jet. So you should check the clearance on yours. It was covered on our 10 year water ingress warranty. We used clear gorilla tape as a temporary repair kept the water out. I also drilled the ends of the crack. Took about 3 months to get it repaired.
Thanks for taking the time to reply and share this information with the group, I'll check the cut out size when I'm next at the caravan as I'm interested to know if that's the same issue on ours.
Happened to mine swift caravans are just rubbish check your rear panel at the top they all start to split there as well
This does seem to happen a lot looking at the forums, I’ll keep an eye out for the rear panel, thanks.
Same thing happened to me swift fixed it under warranty but it took them 10 months to resolve and you have to have your van serviced to their strict service terms of 90 before annual purchase of the van and 60 days after hope this helps and look forward to see how you get on 😉
We keep you all posted, currently speaking with our insurance company, being a 2014 model don't think this will still be covered under any kind of warranty which is a shame.
Check what the coefficient of expansion is for acrylic, you’ll be surprised. There’s a few articles from acrylic suppliers stating the biggest issue with acrylic applications is that designers don’t allow for the large expansion values of acrylic.
Looks good well done..
Thanks, hopefully it will keep the rain out.
Reference my earlier comment, both Swift and our dealer denied they knew the cause of the issue. Which I don’t believe as they accepted the claim straight away. I expected a fight to get it repaired, thought they would say bird or ball strike. I think cutting the hole in the roof bigger to increase clearance is the real fix. Just changing the glazed unit might just treat the symptom. Swift repaired 3 other vans with the same issue at our dealer. I believe it’s a big issue and Swift have technicians on the road fixing the problem at dealers, if it’s under warranty. Our van is a 2019 Challenger. The window is different but the failure mode is the same.
I did speak with Swift but as I wasn't the original owner the 10 year warranty they offer was no longer valid.
Sorry to hear that, I would check the gap between the double glazed unit and the hole in the roof, before you have the repair completed. I’m very confident that mine was increased at the time of the repair. It’s not easily accessible, but as a guide I can see the edge is rough, as it’s been dawn. And I can get a finger into the gap. I’m very confident lack of clearance during expansion causes the crack. Hope you get it fixed soon.