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RV10 Door Fitting with Vans Door Seals

I have just installed the Vans Door Seals. Before installing them, the doors fit really well and were easy to open and close (latch). Now, not so much. I have done some additional sanding on the door frames. I can now open and close the doors using the inside handle, but it requires a lot of force. I still can't latch the doors using the outside handle; too much force is required. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there a known solution? I am hesitant to keep sanding the door frame if that is not the correct approach.
Rick Brown
 
I had the same problem. My solution was to strip off the Van's door seals and move to a different seal. Right now I'm temporarily using stick-on seals from the local Lowes hardware, and they are working well. However I plan to replace them with the McMaster seals that a lot of 10 builders have used, which attach to the door opening rather than the door.
 
I also went the McMaster Carr seal route. It's very easily replaced too, so in the future, keeping a good seal shouldn't be a problem.
 
I went with stock seals and yes I had to adjust the doors to close but it wasn’t radical surgery or anything drastic. On the flip side I’ve been flying with them for almost 6 years and they work just fine, didn’t require any door or cabin frame mods, or any additional cost. IMO the McMaster seals are one of those mods that are nice to have but aren’t really necessary at all from a functional perspective. YMMV.....
 
I have just installed the Vans Door Seals. Before installing them, the doors fit really well and were easy to open and close (latch). Now, not so much. I have done some additional sanding on the door frames. I can now open and close the doors using the inside handle, but it requires a lot of force. I still can't latch the doors using the outside handle; too much force is required. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Is there a known solution? I am hesitant to keep sanding the door frame if that is not the correct approach.
Rick Brown

I had the same problem. The door fit was great until I tried to use the Vans door seal. I could not find a way to make them work and did not like the look anyway. I ended using a flat strip of self adhesive EPDM seal from McMaster that I applied to the door. I used the automotive style bulb seal for the bottom only. This has worked out very well and did not require any significant modifications to the fiberglass top from the plans. My doors seal well and are easy to operate.

Using the automotive style bulb seal that seems to be popular requires removing the gutter around the door opening. Without that gutter there really is not a good place to grab when getting into and out of the front seat.
 

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Van's Door Seals

I had the same issue. I sanded the door channels so the Van's seal would seal effectively and close the doors without excessive force. It wasn't a trivial amount of effort to get it properly shaped. I've been flying for 7.5 years and have had no noise or other issues.
 
McMaster Carr Door Seals for RV-10

I had the same problem. My solution was to strip off the Van's door seals and move to a different seal. Right now I'm temporarily using stick-on seals from the local Lowes hardware, and they are working well. However I plan to replace them with the McMaster seals that a lot of 10 builders have used, which attach to the door opening rather than the door.

Does anyone know the McMaster product # for the best fitting seal for the RV-10? There seem to be a lot of different seals that they carry!
 
Does anyone know the McMaster product # for the best fitting seal for the RV-10? There seem to be a lot of different seals that they carry!

depends upon your gap. Each of those seals has an optimum compression distance. I believe the optimal compression is around 40% of seal height. The 3/8" bulb is .375". You want a gap that will compress that seal to .225". That is seal compression, not necessarily the gap between the frame and door (the U channel has its own depth). You will need a caliper to figure out the gap with the correct compression. Note there are two seal types. The bulb is situated in different positions relative to the U channel and therefore working with different clearances. I followed the previous guidance or 1/4" and that was wrong. Had to go with the smaller bulb size to make it work without more sanding. Also, don't consider it too tight until you force the door closed and let it sit like that for a week or two. They do relax a bit. I used gummifleg to condition and soften up the seal a bit.

Larry
 
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If you find, as I did after grinding the door lip to the recommended gap using a feeler block all the way around the circumference, that the door will not latch over your beautifully-fitted McMaster bulb seal, a swap to the smaller size McMaster bulb seal will likely work. It did so for me, perfectly, to my great relief.
 
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