shandamac Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Hi Toy family, Hope all is well, and our full timers have found a warm place to snuggle in for the winter. The following is my most recent Sadie situation. (By the way, she's doing well, and really happy now that I've painted her back wheel wells and front hub caps bright orange.) Please read on. All advice and suggestions are welcome. A free Sunday Morning...finally..beautiful!!!!! Sun shining, temperature rising from misty mid 50's to 65F....70F.....75F.....aahhh. I love the Fall. Thought I'd set out my old tent to dry. (Borrowed by a friend for a music fest.....Put away wet...I said, "Oh don't worry about that....I'll set her up in a day or two"). Took me about 2 weeks to finally get around to it, since it'd rained almost every day since then. Up went the tent, and then why not air out the motorhome while I was at it. "Hello Lady Sadie, how are you?" Learned of a new Sadie leak....somewhere around the bottom of the door I think, since the carpet was soaked right as I stepped in bare footed. Dried up what I could with towels and left the sun do the rest by propping open the door and bungeeing it to the side mirror. Might as well do a little motorhome house cleaning too. Open the windows, wipe down the sink and stove, air out the blankets, open the cupboards....What??????? Why was everything wet? Not sopping....just cold and wet....like droplets on a can of beer after you pull it out of the ice chest on a hot, summer d.....Ah.....that's it!!!! Condensation!!!!! It had been so cold in the evenings, and so rainy, that as the air warmed on Sunday, and the sky cleared, the humidity started collecting on anything cold....even in Sadie's closed cabinets...... The pickle jars, the cans of soup, the mixing bowls, the coffee cups. There was so much condensation that I was concerned that there had been a leak above or on the walls. Nope....everything else was dry....just glass and anything holding a liquid. Eww...that can't be good!!!! So, I opened the cabinets to air them out as well, and dry up the condensation even on the Aunt Jemima and Jameson's. So here's my question: Does anyone have any suggestions on keeping condensation at bay, or is this something to deal with during this goofy, hot/cold/hot time of year? Hope everyone had a wonderful Summer!!!! Glad to see so many new forum members have joined the group. What a cool place to be!!! shandamac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtle Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I keep mine in a garage. Warm season the garage door goes up and down all the time as the mower and other yard implements of destruction come in and out. In winter I put a Delonghi oil type heater in the coach and everything stays nice and dry. I've not had any water leaks since it has been inside either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogre Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hi Toy family, Hope all is well, and our full timers have found a warm place to snuggle in for the winter. The following is my most recent Sadie situation. (By the way, she's doing well, and really happy now that I've painted her back wheel wells and front hub caps bright orange.) Please read on. All advice and suggestions are welcome. A free Sunday Morning...finally..beautiful!!!!! Sun shining, temperature rising from misty mid 50's to 65F....70F.....75F.....aahhh. I love the Fall. Thought I'd set out my old tent to dry. (Borrowed by a friend for a music fest.....Put away wet...I said, "Oh don't worry about that....I'll set her up in a day or two"). Took me about 2 weeks to finally get around to it, since it'd rained almost every day since then. Up went the tent, and then why not air out the motorhome while I was at it. "Hello Lady Sadie, how are you?" Learned of a new Sadie leak....somewhere around the bottom of the door I think, since the carpet was soaked right as I stepped in bare footed. Dried up what I could with towels and left the sun do the rest by propping open the door and bungeeing it to the side mirror. Might as well do a little motorhome house cleaning too. Open the windows, wipe down the sink and stove, air out the blankets, open the cupboards....What??????? Why was everything wet? Not sopping....just cold and wet....like droplets on a can of beer after you pull it out of the ice chest on a hot, summer d.....Ah.....that's it!!!! Condensation!!!!! It had been so cold in the evenings, and so rainy, that as the air warmed on Sunday, and the sky cleared, the humidity started collecting on anything cold....even in Sadie's closed cabinets...... The pickle jars, the cans of soup, the mixing bowls, the coffee cups. There was so much condensation that I was concerned that there had been a leak above or on the walls. Nope....everything else was dry....just glass and anything holding a liquid. Eww...that can't be good!!!! So, I opened the cabinets to air them out as well, and dry up the condensation even on the Aunt Jemima and Jameson's. So here's my question: Does anyone have any suggestions on keeping condensation at bay, or is this something to deal with during this goofy, hot/cold/hot time of year? Hope everyone had a wonderful Summer!!!! Glad to see so many new forum members have joined the group. What a cool place to be!!! shandamac Howdy, I owned a sailboat that I kept in the water year round in Seattle. We knew moisture! The primary way that I kept condensation down was by having two solar powered vents above the head. One was intake and one was exhaust. Keep that air moving! At the least let the interior release the moisture that occurs with large temperature swings. I supplemented these with "Dri-Z-Aire' or Starbrite No Damp Ultra Dome moisture collection pellet devices, a small heating rod (Golden Rod) to take the nip off, and occasionally a space heater set to low. The fan action kept the moisture from beading. I also left all cabinets open so that they could breath. These defense actions kept the cabin smelling OK and seeming dry. My cockpit storage areas didn't get the benefit of these steps so mold and mildew collected there. One other idea, you might want to put an air pocket between your mattress and the base. Marine supply stores like West Marine can supply you with all of the above, www.westmarine.com . Hope this helps. I now live in high desert surroundings so I am dealing with wide temperature swings but very low humidity. Dave Oglevie Chelan, WA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Look on Ebay for a small solar powered vent (the boats guys dig them). Mount it into a standard roof vent cover. Install the vent in the fall and let it run. Set the trucks dash vent to vent and the fan will pull in the air through the truck vent. Come summer reinstall the normal roof vent cover. You might try just opening a couple of window a crack and see if that helps before buyibg stuff. Also I've used a 60w light on a timer, the heat from it keeps the air moving enough to prevent condensation. WME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandamac Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Wow! Great advise all! Will get the dehumidifying pellets to start.....(think I saw those at Walmart), and I've ordered the Marine Catalog to paruse....(Bet that Drybunk underlay will be useful, even in the cabinets.) Was thinking of changing out Sadie's Evaporative cooler for a solar fan anyway, so good to know I'm on the right track there.....will install one in the wethead too. Until then, I'll keep the cabinet doors open!!! Fantastic! Thanks so much you guys!!!!!! shanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 http://www.maxxair.com Maybe this will help too lets you keep the vents open even if it's raining. They make all kinds of vent covers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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