Autocruise starblazer large locker damp problem

[dmorgan27]

We have an autocruise starblazer with a garage beneath the transverse bed. this winter we went skiing and found some patches of condensation/dampness under the matress. The bedroom area suffers from no condensation at all. We use two quilts and don't have the heating on at night. I wondered if anybody else has experienced this problem when sleeping above a (cold) garage. Has anybody any ideas about solving the problem and any thoughts on getting black, blotchy, damp patches out of a matress.

[Brian Kirby]

Mattresses above cold lockers are notorious for developing mildew, which is what this sounds like.  You will have to look around supermarkets and hardware stores for mildew treatments.  These are unlikely to completely take out the black stain, and may cause colour change, so experiment on a bit first.

When you are in bed, you perspire.  Some of that perspiration will be absorbed by the mattress, as water vapour.  This vapour will spread throughout the mattress, so that both top (warm) and bottom (cold) surfaces will have reached about the same concentration.  Your mattress is above a cold garage (though it should not be in direct contact with the garage lid).  You were in a skiing area, so it will have been cold by day and more so by night (-15C is not unusual).  You had the heating off at night, so the garage, and its lid, will have been very cold.  This will also have made the bottom surface of the mattress very cold.  As air cools below its dew point, any moisture vapour it contains condenses into water (condensation).  So, the vapour within the lower, cooler, levels of the mattress will have condensed, leaving the bottom surface of the mattress damp.  Since mildew (a fungus) spores are ever present, and like cool moist conditions, the fungus (mildew) then grew.  That explains what your mattress is suffering from, and why.

What you should do, is first ensure there is an air-space between the lid of the garage and the mattress.  Better converters place slats under the mattress so that air can circulate beneath it, so removing the trapped humidity before it condenses, and also insulating the bottom of the mattress from the cold garage lid.  However, in very cold conditions, above a very cold garage, condensation will still be liable to form on the garage lid which, if raw ply, will become mildewed instead.

To eliminate this risk you should open the heater vent/s (I'm guessing Truma Combi blown air heating) into the garage area, and leave the heater running at night, so that the garage is kept warmer.  If there are no heater air vents into the garage area, and you intend skiing with this van in future, either install an electric tubular heater into the garage (Philips or Dimplex) if you will have EHU, or, if not, extend a warm air feed into the garage from the nearest available warm air duct in the van.  If neither is possible your van is not really suitable for such extreme weather use.

Finally, in such cold conditions, even with an air space and with heating in the garage, you should lift the mattress every day and leave it propped up, so that the underside can dry completely before you again sleep on it, and preferably turn it over top to bottom each time so that you don't sleep on the same side two nights running.

[flicka]

Hi & welcome to the forum

We have the smaller Sportstar, which has the rear bed above the Garage, but have not experienced this problem.

We try to leave the internal door to the Garage just open to maintain an even temperature throughout the Van.

My first route would be to get the Van interior dry, using a Dehumidifier (again with the internal door to the Garage open)

For the future I suggest putting some silica gel sachets between the mattress and the garage ceiling.

Regarding the marks on the mattress, I quess it is on the underside & will be mould which has formed.

I would dry the mattress and then try a car upholstery cleaner .

[dmorgan27]

Hi Brian

Many thanks for your knowledgable advice. We have now put bedding slats beneath the mattress and there was no problem this weekend, although the weather was not as cold as it is when skiing. We have taken to removing the mattress and bringing it into the house but this is quite cumbersome, so we will be lifting and turning in future.

When skiing we do not always have EHU and using the blown air heating (especially all night) will run the battery down, so we will have to consider a genrator or extra leisure battery next year.

Many thanks again for taking the time to help with this frustrating problem.

Darrell

[dmorgan27]

Hi Flicka

Many thanks for your advise. We have put slats beneath the bed now and will place some silica gel sachets between them. We had no problems this weekend in fairly cold conditions with the slats in place.

We also opened the garage for much of the evening whilst we had the heating on so this probably helped as well.

Thanks again for taking the time to help with this frustrating problem in an otherwise perfect van.

Darrell

[Derek Uzzell]

This is an earlier thread that may be useful:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=12637&posts=18