Condensation

[Lalala]

Hi all

Had our Ocean 6 weeks and super exciting . Have only slept overnight in it once as sadly as we've 2 small children so need weather to improve

We are however a little surprised at the condensation that develops in a £50k vehicle . In day to day use we often have the front windscreen fogged up and the one night we slept over in it the windows were dripping. I appreciate this is just chemistry and that water turns to vapour on cold surfaces at a certain temperature but is this normal ? I've never had this in other cars -although have never spent so much time just hanging out / sleeping in other cars

What worried me today was that I pulled out the saucepans from the kitchen cupboard and the box they were in were sodden


What's going on ?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts ?

 

[Hotel California]

Ventilation is essential.
Here are many existing treads regarding your Q / problem , some have issues with blocked roofdrains , leaking watertank ,...
Others just ventilate to little.
It is small space where we breathe cook sleep all resulting in damp/moist.

Ps please update your personal details , it says "looking to buy"

 

[WelshGas]

Hi all

Had our Oceon 6 weeks and super exciting . Have only slept overnight in it once as sadly as we've 2 small children so need weather to improve

We are however a little surprised at the condensation that develops in a £50k vehicle . In day to day use we often have the front windscreen fogged up and the one night we slept over in it the windows were dripping. I appreciate this is just chemistry and that water turns to vapour on cold surfaces at a certain temperature but is this normal ? I've never had this in other cars -although have never spent so much time just hanging out / sleeping in other cars

What worried me today was that I pulled out the saucepans from the kitchen cupboard and the box they were in were sodden


What's going on ?

Look forward to hearing your thoughts ?

Ventilation is very, very important when camping in the vehicle.

Did you have the roof up when you slept over? Did you have any additional ventilation such as a window open 1-2cms, especially if there were 4 of you ?
You exhale a lot of water vapour/hour. Not a problem in a house, but a California is a little smaller and requires good ventilation.
Was the canvas dry when stored?

When driving do you have the AirCon on? Or a window open slightly?

Disposable De-Humidifiers are useful.

Lastly there could be a leak. Check the underside of the cabin floor carpets for any dampness, especially up in the footwell.

 

[Lalala]

Roof was up and def dry when put away . Aircon is on too although at this time of year prob not doing much . We didn't however keep a window open overnight nor whilst driving . Is this maybe the issue? Should this be something that we always do.

I guess we were trying to work out if this was normal

 

[Lalala]

have updated personal info too

 

[WelshGas]

Roof was up and def dry when put away . Aircon is on too although at this time of year prob not doing much . We didn't however keep a window open overnight nor whilst driving . Is this maybe the issue? Should this be something that we always do.

I guess we were trying to work out if this was normal

If there are 4 sleeping then you definitely need more ventilation than just the 2 vents in the Roof canvas.
Opening a front window, on the downwind side, helps. You could use Window Vents as sold in the Forum Shop.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product/vw-t5t6-ventilation-cabin-windows-pair

Or windowdeflectors.

http://www.dubflecta.co.uk/retro-wind-deflectors

 

[RedCali]

Some condensation in the winter is normal.As WG and HD say, ventilation is vital - we always sleep upstairs with the half moon roof vents open a good way and even though we've got two heavy breathing Labradors in the boot we rarely have any condensation. We leave a vent open a little bit when we have the heater on in the evenings. A silver screen helps a lot. Also it helps if you try not to do lots of steam generating cooking in the winter, for example, switch the kettle off as soon as it boils.

 

[Alan]

You most proberly won't experience this condensation in less cold or humid conditions
I remember on one occasion when once I slept without the popup open and no windows open (forgot to open before sleeping)
I was suprised how much moisture had gathered on the glass next morning and that's for one person
I think window rain deflectors are good because the front door Windows can be wound down enough for good ventilation with out noticeing from the outside

Hope you sort this out soon

Alan

 

[T6 CFO]

To give you an indication as a result of much reading I went for the above mentioned rain deflectors, silver screen and Brandrup Air Safe and there are just two of us.
I would rather have more ventilation than required and turn up the heater.
If you think about all the problems with damp and mould in poorly ventilated flats/houses it gives you an idea how well ventilated a tin Cali has to be.
Insulating could help but would probably cause more issues.


Mike

 

[Black Sheep]

We had significant condensation on the inside of our windscreen while using our Cali in the colder weather (even with good ventilation). We recently bought an external screen cover from the forum shop and we no longer get any condensation on the windscreen. It is a sturdy well made product and really easy to put on the van.

 

[WelshGas]

We had significant condensation on the inside of our windscreen while using our Cali in the colder weather (even with good ventilation). We recently bought an external screen cover from the forum shop and we no longer get any condensation on the windscreen. It is a sturdy well made product and really easy to put on the van.

If you don't get it on the screen then it must be occurring somewhere else, because you're still producing the same amount of water vapour. Unless of course you have significantly increased the amount of ventilation by leaving a front window open.

 

[Black Sheep]

Good morning WelshGas. Good point. We still ventilate the van. We have found that with the external thermal screen cover on the windscreen plus the window near the sink and the window in the sliding door open - by about an inch - we no longer appear to have a condensation problem inside the van. At the moment we tend to have the heater on quite a bit (usually setting 2) when we are in the van for the evening.
I have noticed that there can be a bit of condensation on the inside of the external 'Cali-Topper' roof cover ( that we also regularly use) but only when we remove it for an early start on a morning & it quickly dries after a short airing.

 

[AlanC]

Roof was up and def dry when put away . Aircon is on too although at this time of year prob not doing much . We didn't however keep a window open overnight nor whilst driving . Is this maybe the issue? Should this be something that we always do.

I guess we were trying to work out if this was normal

The air con will be drying the incoming air, even if you are applying heat to warm the van in winter. So it is wise to use it all year round.

In addition the internal seals will not dry out, which is a common cause of failure in vehicles that only have the air con in use during hot weather.

Alan

 

[Alan]

The air con will be drying the incoming air, even if you are applying heat to warm the van in winter. So it is wise to use it all year round.

In addition the internal seals will not dry out, which is a common cause of failure in vehicles that only have the air con in use during hot weather.

Alan

Exactly what the service manager told me when I bought my van

Alan

 

[Velma's Dad]

Just checked - Prof. Google says (well, figures vary a lot actually) a pair of people sleeping 8 hrs might exhale maybe 0.25 litres of water. Doesn't sound much but if there's no ventilation I guess it's plenty enough to give you a streaming windscreen by morning.

Putting the aux. heater on will dry up the condensation temporarily, but only by allowing more water vapour to be locked up in the air mass. So if/when you eventually switch the heater off, the water's then available again to condense. Hence adequate ventilation always essential in practice.

Sorry if that's obvious, I realise a lot of us did GCSE physics. Well okay, O Level for us old farts.

 

[WelshGas]

Just checked - Prof. Google says (well, figures vary a lot actually) a pair of people sleeping 8 hrs might exhale maybe 0.25 litres of water. Doesn't sound much but if there's no ventilation I guess it's plenty enough to give you a streaming windscreen by morning.

Putting the aux. heater on will dry up the condensation temporarily, but only by allowing more water vapour to be locked up in the air mass. So if/when you eventually switch the heater off, the water's then available again to condense. Hence adequate ventilation always essential in practice.

Sorry if that's obvious, I realise a lot of us did GCSE physics. Well okay, O Level for us old farts.

If you sprayed 500 mls of water around inside your California you would certainly notice, and in inclement weather you might be in the vehicle for longer, then wet coats etc: and children/dogs and you could soon be upto to quit a water load. So ventilation is extremely important, especially during the colder months.

 

[kave]

If this happends in day to day driving make sure to have the doors open after you have been using the van to cool it down preferably to the same temperature as outside . I had the same problem before but nothing now.

 

[The Blue Merle]

Hi
I had a condensation and frost problem about a month or two ago on my 2yr old cali, vw breeze managed to find a leaky drivers door seal. All fixed now (I did a post about it). So if you have good ventalation and screen doesn't clear within a minute with air con then you may have a leak too!

 

[Tanya Gander]

I have a problem with condensation on the inside of the windscreen most mornings. Used as daily driver. AC always on. Heating set to 9oclock, ie. Windscreen and footwell. We do have waterproof seat covers on, having read up thread I am concerned that there maybe damp under the covers... scared to look now!
We are back into camping season from next weekend and will make sure to be ventilating more than before, but any further advide?

 

[WelshGas]

I have a problem with condensation on the inside of the windscreen most mornings. Used as daily driver. AC always on. Heating set to 9oclock, ie. Windscreen and footwell. We do have waterproof seat covers on, having read up thread I am concerned that there maybe damp under the covers... scared to look now!
We are back into camping season from next weekend and will make sure to be ventilating more than before, but any further advide?

Stick a couple of Disposable Humidifiers in the vehicle and check them weekly. You'll be surprised how much they collect. Also check under the front carpets for any dampness.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/142047091327?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[kave]

I have a problem with condensation on the inside of the windscreen most mornings. Used as daily driver. AC always on. Heating set to 9oclock, ie. Windscreen and footwell. We do have waterproof seat covers on, having read up thread I am concerned that there maybe damp under the covers... scared to look now!
We are back into camping season from next weekend and will make sure to be ventilating more than before, but any further advide?

Go full wack on the heat 20 minutes before parking, when arriving home let it stay with open doors until cold inside. I had the same issue and it was gone after this treatment.

 

[zeratul]

Opening front window to put vents is hard with the external windscreen cover I have which also wraps both front windows. Is there a pure ventilation solution for the side panel window? One that prevents rain from entering. Of course one can roll out the awning a bit for the sliding door in case of rain.. But what solutions exists for the side panel window (near the kitchen in an SE)? We want to open both the side panel and sliding door windows as we are 5 sleeping in the car.

 

[Jabberwocky]

@Lalala You may find an earlier post of mine in another thread interesting/informative.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/moisture-on-inside-of-front-windscreen.16807/page-2#post-193054

JW

 

[WelshGas]

Opening front window to put vents is hard with the external windscreen cover I have which also wraps both front windows. Is there a pure ventilation solution for the side panel window? One that prevents rain from entering. Of course one can roll out the awning a bit for the sliding door in case of rain.. But what solutions exists for the side panel window (near the kitchen in an SE)? We want to open both the side panel and sliding door windows as we are 5 sleeping in the car.

Reimo have side window vents

https://www.reimo.com/en/D-camping_...ts_for_caravan_motorhome/DUY-window_air_vent/

Personally I would ditch the external screen. Yes it stops condensation on the windscreen, but the condensation is still there in the vehicle on whichever surface is the coldest eg: the vehicle body panels in the wardrobe/kitchen, other window, whichever is the coldest. Front window vents then easily fixed and effective.

Side window vents effective as long as not covered by the blinds.

 

[Hotel California]

Why should the vents in the front window be hard to put up in combination with external thermal screen .
Sure you not putting the external screen up and then the window vents...
I'd try it the other way arround next time , might be handy...

The insert for the sliding window is a solution but as Paul is saying closing the blind when it is in results in damaging the blinds when wind goes thru or you open /close the sliding door getting the blind pushed out the rails by heavy airflow.
There also is a plastic cover with two suckers to silde in the Brandruprail prevents rain to come in the open sliding window . But (again) way overpriced and useles when sidewind blows.

All you need to do is improvise depending on the situation , how much rain , wind , on campsite or wildcamping ,....every situ as a diffrent set-up

I said it before in other topics , when i arrive at any site or even when i park up for longer than a few hours , the firs thing i do is slide the window open above the sink and/or put at least one vent in a front-side window depending on winddirection
We travel with a dog and we need ventilation...