Different water leak

[Guest peter]

nuevoboy - 2010-11-22 10:08 PM

 

peter - 2010-11-21 11:16 PM

 

Until you cure the leak, put a good de-humidifier in the van to get rid of any residual moisture before it cause a big problem.

 

I've been looking on t'internet for dehumidifiers and it would appear that these are about as complicated as motorhomes!

It would appear that most of the cheapies aren't worth bothering with and the modestly priced (£40+) won't be up to the task either.

It seems that it's only when spending £160 upwards that they are capable of working down to winter temperatures of 5 degrees and below.

I suppose it's like everything else, you pays your money....

and I imagine in the long run, it will pay for itself.

Phew.

You can get one from B&Q for about £100. You need to get a Desicant one as they are more efficient than a refrigerant model. Mine is brilliant and will take out a couple of Ltrs in 2 Hrs. I use it in my house in winter to keep it dry after showering. Do a Google for Desicant Dehumidifier and you will see the vast difference in performance. They will work right down below freezing point, where the other type will not.

[Brian Kirby]

However, what one is trying to do is draw moisture from the structure into air, and then remove that moisture from the air.  Cold air contains relatively little actual moisture (it may have a high relative humidity, but will be near saturation), so will have almost no capacity to absorb more moisture from the wet fabric.  Below 0^oC, all that would happen is that the entrapped moisture would freeze and no water would be removed.

A dehumidifier would work well in summer, when the air is generally warmer and the r/h lower, but to help dry out the wet fabric in winter, it would be preferable to gently warm the air.  Once warmed, the r/h of the air will fall, allowing it to absorb moisture from the damp structure.  Allowing the interior to ventilate naturally will allow that moisture laden air to escape.  You could use a dehumidifier instead of natural ventilation for this, but why pay for a dehumidifier, and pay to run it, as well as buying and running a heater?

[nuevoboy]

Well put Brian.

Some of the adverts for dehumidifiers mention that the output from the machine actually warms the air up. I'm not sure if this applies to the desiccant ones only. If they do warm the air up, maybe they would then be more efficient in drawing the moisture out anyway?

[Edited: have just googled again and apparently it's the basic ones that heat the air.]

 

I've been soaking different areas of the 'van to try and locate the ingress but nothing really obvious. I've just checked the area between the back wall and the floor of the 'van, and there's definitely moisture there.

I've been in touch with the dealer and have arranged for it to be inspected in a couple of weeks time. They said they'll do a water test to try and solve the problem.