Hi Ellen
I plan to be at the shop this sunday and will take measurements off the master dome so I can give you the length to cut your door poles. You can determine the length at your location if you want by the following: They should be a length so that they tension the bottom edge of the door. The way to measure the length is to slip the door pole onto one of the door plugs and hold it next to the other door plug such that the bottom edge of the door is tensioned. Mark the pole where it should be cut. They are easy to cut with a hack saw. After you cut your door poles mark them so they will not get mixed up with your other poles. You will need to bend the door poles to get them on the plugs. We no longer install screens when we make our domes. They are clipped so the user can install them by tying them to the two clips inside at the top of your doors. Velcro is not needed unless you are in a windy or high bug conditions but under these conditions it can be handy. The hooks at the bottom of your doors can be adjusted by removing and re-positioning the clips; note that this can effect the door pole length and is therefore best done before adjusting the pole length. Many tents use zippers but we have found that on any door with high traffic they fail. The domes we make are a compromise of many factors in an attempt to solve the problems associated with providing reasonable shelter at an affordable price. In non-extreme conditions they should perform admirably.
Sincerely,
Bob Gillis
Dear Bob – thanks for your reply. I am still confused. The extra 4 poles are the long size – way too long for the bottom of the doors. Also, when I hook the doors closed without the bottom pole the wind (not strong wind at all – just gentle wind) blows it loose – there is air flow through, far from being sealed. It makes me think I need to add more fabric to extend the doors – but really I don’t think this should be neccessary. The door are like weak flaps. Also I ordered a screen door but it did not come installed in the dome as the website said it would. So what is wrong? Again I would like to know what exact length to cut the extra pvc poles so that they will be EXACTLY right for the doors.
I want to order another dome (18 foot with a liner) but I really need to resolve this issue first. I need to know the doors can and will be able to close and seal. Am I simply supposed to use velcro all over the edges of the doors???? Why is this so unclear? I saw in the qustions and answers that this question has been asked before. I still don’t understand the answer.
Thank you for helping me undertand what to do next – thanks – ellen
Subject: Re: dome door questions
Hi Ellen
The standard length poles should fit the door plugs for some reason the spacing between the plugs on your 14′ dome is off. You should not find this problem in our other domes.
A door pole is mostly used just on the one door that is used to enter and exit the dome; the other doors being hooked closed. If you find that the pole is to long for the plugs to fit then remove one or both plugs from the door clips by untying the clip cord, re-attach the cord with the hook back to the clip and then tie the plug back to the clip cord with a seperate length of cord (from your domes parts bag) this will lengthen the distance from the plug to the clip so that you can now insert the door plugs into the pole with out cutting the pole.
Sincerely,
Bob Gillis
On Aug 17, 2009
Dear Bob – I ordered a 14 foot dopme a whle back and just put it up. We are confused about the doors and how to do that right. It seems that a pole is supposed to go in the bottom of each door pannetl,k but the 4 extra poloes that came with the dome are too long. JWhat do you suggest? It sounds liek these domes can be weather proof – but how does that work with a flapping door panel – I trust there is a good an swer that I’m not understanding right now. If we need to cut the poles to fit the door, what would be the proper length exactly to make these poles?
Also, I am about to order an 18 foot dome with a liner – I’m wondering about the door situation with that. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond – thanks Ellen