Condensation

[Jabberwocky]

We travel with a dog and we need ventilaion....

 

[zeratul]

I hadn't thought about the blinds ... You're right about that.
I like the thermal screen because it's so much darker than the original california internal blinds (at least in our beach) and just as easy to setup. But it does take space.
And how effective are these tailgate hooks to keep it a little open but still secure at night?

 

[Cathy1]

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.

Do you still close your blinds with the side windows open for ventilation?

 

[WelshGas]

I hadn't thought about the blinds ... You're right about that.
I like the thermal screen because it's so much darker than the original california internal blinds (at least in our beach) and just as easy to setup. But it does take space.
And how effective are these tailgate hooks to keep it a little open but still secure at night?

Very.

 

[zeratul]

Thanks. Seems like the best and most affordable option then. I'll go for that.

 

[Cathy1]

I hadn't thought about the blinds ... You're right about that.
I like the thermal screen because it's so much darker than the original california internal blinds (at least in our beach) and just as easy to setup. But it does take space.
And how effective are these tailgate hooks to keep it a little open but still secure at night?

Do the blinds have to go fully down? If they were up an inch or so there would still be some ventilation but not sure how they operate yet.

 

[zeratul]

Yes, true, if you can sleep with light leaking in... also I just realized that the airsafe has the disadvantage of mosquitos.. which in the case of ventilation through the side window you can solve with magnets and mosquito screen on the outside (a very cheap and compact solution)

 

[Cathy1]

Yes, true, if you can sleep with light leaking in... also I just realized that the airsafe has the disadvantage of mosquitos.. which in the case of ventilation through the side window you can solve with magnets and mosquito screen on the outside (a very cheap and compact solution)

Yes we've bought some of that and some magnets but also an external screen which wraps round the side windows so would it work at night ?

 

[Cathy1]

Yes we've bought some of that and some magnets but also an external screen which wraps round the side windows so would it work at night ?

sorry was referring to front side windows

 

[zeratul]

It worked very well last year on our trip to Slovenia - Croatia.

 

[Black Sheep]

Do you still close your blinds with the side windows open for ventilation?

Hello Cathy1. Yes we do and it still provides us with sufficient ventilation.

 

[Scott and Linda]

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 ?

Just checked our Cali Ocean ready for a trip tomorrow after 3 weeks or so on the driveway, purchased new on 26 August .We found that the left hand kitchen cupboard had got wet and some papers there were v wet??Is this condensation or something more sinister? Both grey and fresh water tanks empty ,residual in a leaking pipe? Or is this a lesson to air our van regularly? any advice, similar experiences welcome before I go down the warranty road, hopefully not !Many thanks

 

[Scott and Linda]

Just checked our Cali Ocean ready for a trip tomorrow after 3 weeks or so on the driveway, purchased new on 26 August .We found that the left hand kitchen cupboard had got wet and some papers there were v wet??Devon has had rain for over a week now with Storm Alex .Is this condensation or something more sinister? Both grey and fresh water tanks empty ,residual in a leaking pipe? Pop top locked, not opened. Or is this a lesson to air our van regularly? any advice, similar experiences welcome before I go down the warranty road, hopefully not !Many thanks.

 

[T6 CFO]

Can’t see it being condensation as you weren’t sleeping in it. Leak in sliding window would be my best bet from what I’ve previously read on here.

Here is a previous thread.

Sliding window leak (-NOT a new topic!)

Just for the record my "no fault" score has been tarnished by the infamous leaky sliding windows. Sigh. The actual sliding bit does not look like a great fit (seems to fit badly at the base coming a way from the main frame) despite being used only once. Checked it was properly closed. Then it...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Mike

 

[Elly Swanson]

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

We have the cabin window vents which are very good. You need patience to put them in as sometimes the window goes up into the gap and if you don't stop it quick enough, or go up in short bursts it goes down again. Very sweary when we first got them and now it's my job to put them in.

You can't drive with them in though. I think it's worth the faff of puting them in/taking them out as they do let a nice bit of air in.

We are 2 adults plus a little dog, who sleeps on the passenger seat facing forward, and use internal thermal screens and although the windscreen gets a little condensation we've never had any in the cupboards as yet. If I did I'd be inclined to open the doors a lttle at night.

 

[Elly Swanson]

Just checked our Cali Ocean ready for a trip tomorrow after 3 weeks or so on the driveway, purchased new on 26 August .We found that the left hand kitchen cupboard had got wet and some papers there were v wet??Devon has had rain for over a week now with Storm Alex .Is this condensation or something more sinister? Both grey and fresh water tanks empty ,residual in a leaking pipe? Pop top locked, not opened. Or is this a lesson to air our van regularly? any advice, similar experiences welcome before I go down the warranty road, hopefully not !Many thanks.

Don't think that should happen. we've been in a few really nasty storm and that's never happened.

 

[ArunAlec]

Just checked our Cali Ocean ready for a trip tomorrow after 3 weeks or so on the driveway, purchased new on 26 August .We found that the left hand kitchen cupboard had got wet and some papers there were v wet??Devon has had rain for over a week now with Storm Alex .Is this condensation or something more sinister? Both grey and fresh water tanks empty ,residual in a leaking pipe? Pop top locked, not opened. Or is this a lesson to air our van regularly? any advice, similar experiences welcome before I go down the warranty road, hopefully not !Many thanks.

I’d put mone on it being the window leak.

 

[Laura Hill]

Just checked our Cali Ocean ready for a trip tomorrow after 3 weeks or so on the driveway, purchased new on 26 August .We found that the left hand kitchen cupboard had got wet and some papers there were v wet??Devon has had rain for over a week now with Storm Alex .Is this condensation or something more sinister? Both grey and fresh water tanks empty ,residual in a leaking pipe? Pop top locked, not opened. Or is this a lesson to air our van regularly? any advice, similar experiences welcome before I go down the warranty road, hopefully not !Many thanks.

We had the same problem last year. There are a couple of tiny drain holes for the sliding window on the passenger side. It seems they can get blocked and with nowhere else for the water to go, it will flood inside. Our drive has a very slight slope, so the water was flooding the kitchen area and back to the rear door as well but luckily not the front carpets. There are also a number of electrical wires in the kitchen cupboards that were sopping wet as well as the red first aid bag thingy I had to stuff towels into the back of the kitchen cupboards and keep swapping them out morning and evening (also in Devon and it was raining non-stop for weeks). I wasn't too happy about it.

Anyway - the entire window had to be replaced under warranty. I thought it might be a rare problem but the dealer said that it happens more often than it should. The useless drain holes are another design fault.

A couple of months later and I had a problem with the sliding door ... it simply could not be opened. It turns out the lock mechanism had completely broken inside. Again, the dealer said it wasn't the only time they have seen the fault. I've also had problems with the AdBlue sensor not working correctly, a rip in the seat material on delivery, an intermittent gas burner, + more (sorry, just wanted to get that off my chest, but if I had known beforehand how many silly faults there would be I probably wouldn't have purchased).

 

[Karlos]

Sounds like a window leak.

 

[BeagleMum]

We had the same problem last year. There are a couple of tiny drain holes for the sliding window on the passenger side. It seems they can get blocked and with nowhere else for the water to go, it will flood inside. Our drive has a very slight slope, so the water was flooding the kitchen area and back to the rear door as well but luckily not the front carpets. There are also a number of electrical wires in the kitchen cupboards that were sopping wet as well as the red first aid bag thingy I had to stuff towels into the back of the kitchen cupboards and keep swapping them out morning and evening (also in Devon and it was raining non-stop for weeks). I wasn't too happy about it.

Anyway - the entire window had to be replaced under warranty. I thought it might be a rare problem but the dealer said that it happens more often than it should. The useless drain holes are another design fault.

A couple of months later and I had a problem with the sliding door ... it simply could not be opened. It turns out the lock mechanism had completely broken inside. Again, the dealer said it wasn't the only time they have seen the fault. I've also had problems with the AdBlue sensor not working correctly, a rip in the seat material on delivery, an intermittent gas burner, + more (sorry, just wanted to get that off my chest, but if I had known beforehand how many silly faults there would be I probably wouldn't have purchased).

Sorry you’ve had such annoying faults, should’ve happen on any vehicle particularly one at £50+K, it sounds as if you’ve been very unlucky. I hope you can put it all behind you and still enjoy using your Cali.