softlite -tilt out mechanism breaking?

[cmar2]

Me again, the Impervia guy is now telling me.......

That Fred the measurment man for his comp who does independent work said he was having a lot of probs w/the tilt out mechanism breaking on the Softlite windows. He couldn't tell me who Fred has worked for that can attest nor the name of the other company who refuses to use Softlite for this reason because it's private or something... He did tell me I should ask the Softlite installer for the number to the factory so I can ask them myself - which I can't say is a bad idea. If this is true, does anyone know if & when the issue was resolved ... AND how I can verify that it WAS resolved?

[Window4U (IL)]

The only issue I've heard of was a few ILTIS locks having problems on the Elements a couple years ago when the series first came out. I'm an Elements dealer and have not seen any of these broken latches ...and I sell a lot of these windows.
(The ILTIS locks are where the tilt-in mechanism is integrated into the lock. Pretty nice feature.)

[RGibson]

A word of caution. Some injection molded parts are sensitive to chemical degradation from exposure to chemicals found in areosol lubricants or cleaning agents. If these were used at any time on the window they may have contributed to the failure.

[cmar2]

Ok, I have been going round and round on this w/2 potential installers -one who sells Softlite the other, obviously, who does not.

The guy who does not sell Softlite keeps telling me that other companies have stopped carrying Softlite because of this issue w/the "tilt out mech breaking".... (is tilt out mech the same thing as a vent lock?) I need to KNOW for sure, that this has been addressed. Softlite guy concedes there was a prob w/vent lock but has been resolved. No one can prove their side of the story either way. Does any one know who I can reach from Soft Lite who could explain when & HOW the mech/vent lock issue was fixed (aside from just telling me it was fixed w/nothing to back it up). Thanks.

[Window4U (IL)]

Yes, there was a problem with the night vent latches this late winter/early spring. I had a couple orders where I had to switch them out with new ones. I haven't had any break since so I'm assuming they ditched that batch of latches from their supplier.

[windowdude]

Has the Impervia guy said anything about there being any issues with the window that he's selling?

[cmar2]

Has the Impervia guy said anything about there being any issues with the window that he's selling?

Of course not... not that it really matters, I am aware of those problems already.

[cmar2]

Yes, there was a problem with the night vent latches this late winter/early spring. I had a couple orders where I had to switch them out with new ones. I haven't had any break since so I'm assuming they ditched that batch of latches from their supplier.

Ok, but I have heard the following things, this was a problem a while back with the Elements window when it was first launched (certainly long before this winter/spring), now it's an issue from this winter/spring? So it seems like this really isn't a one time issue-but an ongoing one that keeps resurfacing w/new "batches of latches."

[Delaware Mike]

Soft-Lite had a real bad batch of vent latches on their Imperial LS and Elements a while back. They seemed to have resolved the issue with the manufacturer except for an occassional bad apple. I have had several bad ones recently, but not nearly what I had ratio wise back in 07/08. No big deal, just take them through a few cycles after installing and if we find a bad one we just change it out right on the spot. It takes between 30 seconds and 3 minutes depending on how hard the old comes one comes out. The vent tab that Soft-Lite utilizes on these two series is the same one that ProVia has in their Integra vinyl window. It's the strongest one out there from what I'm told and can see by design.

My favorite vent tab is the model that Vista and Simonton offers. It's not as heavy-duty as the Soft-Lite, but it is easier on the fingernails for my female homeowners to operate. When I was at Soft-Lite back in 2007 they had shown me the problem with the mechanism on the Elements that was breaking. It was the internal rod (nylon?) from the integrated tilt mechanism. Again, no big deal. Just change it out. The real challange is to find the right dealer who is going to identify and fix little issues like these in a timely manner and keep their customer's happy. This is an industry that can have a ton of service realated issues. The honorable dealers hire and train good installers and carry reputable products.