condensation

[rwilhelm]

Hi folks
I've run into something unexpected. My last outing in Hampster the Campster was last November. Because it was cold and late and because I am old and slow, I was very lazy about cleaning out Hampster before putting him away for the winter. I left all of the windows and the utdoor sliders open. However, I did put on Hampsters slicker. The slicker is a large tarp which completely covers the trailer on the sides and most of the door. Hampster is in a relatively protected area in front of the house and next to the garage.

Yesterday, I removed the slicker and began prep for a rally coming up in about a week. There was much moisture and there are large spots of moldew. I'll be cleaning this weekend. But I had water running out of the trailer. Turns out that the foam in my almost new cushions are wet. 3 out of the 4. Now I know what the zippers are for! The foam is wet along the edge with the zipper. currently the foam is exposed with the wet edge down and wet corner low. Hoping for some migration. Tomorrow I will pull the foam out and hope it sun dries before the next drizzle shows up.

Fortunately I received today, a new 6 inch twin sized mattress which I intended to place on top of the 4 inch cushions to handle my er ah bulk. In the event that the foam does not dry, I will still have a mattress upon which to sleep.

In conclusion, I WILL be running a 100 watt bulb next winter to reduce condensation! DANG!

[Dave Fish]

I've heard that you should use a cover that breaths rather than a tarp. We had a fitted cover for our Casita but have not researched to find an appropriate size for the Campster (we store it in the carport). Even with the cover, we ran a heater on low with a fan as well as a couple of small dehumidifiers.

I don't know if you have for insulation. We have none in our Campster, just bare fiberglass. We were out a week ago in constant rain and the thing turned into a terrarium. We had moisture throughout on the glass, walls and ceiling. Running the heater and fan may have contributed to the problem, but we survived.

[John Linck]

This doesn't really address condensation during storage. However ...

We just returned after 7 weeks out. We spent 5 weeks camping along the coast from San Francisco to Victoria BC. Either on the beaches or in the rain forest every night. Two people in the rain in a 13 footer make for condensation issues. Our roof vent was open 95% of the time, closed only while towing. We used the furnace to warm up the interior evenings and early morning which created a nice chimney effect. The warm moist air made its way up thru the roof vent and while our windows were foggy or drippy each morning a quick squeegee wipe pushed the water down to the weep holes where it ran outside. We made it home with no mildew or wet cushions. Over 7 weeks we used two 20 pound tanks of propane, mostly for the fridge and furnace. Outside temps mostly ranged between 40 to 60. BTW - Our Scamp is a 2014 so the seals and gaskets are nice and tight.

But, I know why folks like the desert. No moisture issues there. We just like green things around us and don't like hot temps.

John

Pic of rain forest on Vancouver Island

[k corbin]

My Campster sits out in the rain year around and it has been a very wet 2 years. I don't have a cover on it. So maybe not using a cover works best. I have no sign of mold or mildew inside.

Even with new window gaskets and door threshold gasket it is certainly not air tight. I just noticed today that I need to install some fuzzy window felt at the join between the upper and lower panes of the rear door. It would help reduce drafts as well as stopping the metal pieces rattling against each other while driving on bumpy roads.

[rwilhelm]

Well, it certainly is possible to smother ventillation. Hampster is need of new seals everywhere. However, its not likely to have the seals replaced anytime soon. I have weathered short lived light rain and it got wet inside. I have seen low wattage heaters. I have the old standby, a clamp light with 100 watt bulb. From my experience at the last rally (rained almost the whole time), I have thought about making a rain fly to keep out the rain and a little snow. Perhaps a combination of both heater and fly. For the last rally I parked Hampster under my ez up canopy and rigged rain curtains to shade the windows. Got a little wet, but not bad. That won't work for winter storage.
I don't have insulation. Im sure that would help. The obvious solution is to put it in the garage! ..... yet.

With regards to the coast. I love Vsncouver Island! Its been a while. The Gardens, Victoria had a store called Rogers Chocolate. Ha! Named after me of course hee LOL Just loved it. Drove the coast all the way home. Wonderful trip. And there was no condensation problems in the motel rooms LOL

[John Linck]

Originally Posted by rwilhelm

Victoria had a store called Rogers Chocolate. Ha! Named after me of course hee LOL Just loved it. LOL

We too stopped in Rogers. Very nice. The DW seems to be able to find chocolate anywhere.

[rwilhelm]

Just shows good taste! Lol. And great judgement.

[rwilhelm]

Dave. I suddenly remembered that I have 2 coolaroo shade sails, one 11 ft square and one 17 ft square. They are quite porous and allow air to flow, so its hard for me to imagine wind pressure not forcing rain water through them. But..maybe.

[rwilhelm]

Karin You have both a Campster and Compaq??

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by rwilhelm

Karin You have both a Campster and Compaq??

I have a 1971 Campster.

[k corbin]

There are two of the window seals that are very easy to replace. They help reduce the air coming in the gap between the panes. They install on the vertical metal pieces on the inside and outside at the center of the windows. They slide into a channel so other than removing the screws at the top and bottom of that metal extrusion and taking out the old seals very little work is involved.

The first one I got from Amazon, current price is $5.50 with free shipping. The strip is long enough to do both windows. It goes on the outside piece and keeps the water out. I could not find an exact replacement but I found something that works great.
CRL Translucent Shower Door Vinyl "T" Seal and Sweep for 7/16" Maximum Gap - 32-5/8 in long

The seal that is on the upright vertical piece on the interior is called pile weather stripping. I got mine from Vintage Trailer Supply but there will be other sources since pile weather stripping is a common item also used on household windows.
https://www.vintagetrailersupply.com...-p/vts-277.htm

There is one more thing to check on and it is also an easy fix to do, taking only a few minutes of time. It is amazing how many odd little things that are not very obvious small cracks that can cause leaks. On my front windows around and next to the corners there was a slight gap between the glass and the metal frame. That gap happened from bending metal around a curve. It was letting water gather into the channel in the frame, because the window sits on a 7 degree slope that makes the inside edge lower than the exterior edge that water was overflowing into the interior and filling up the trough in the interior and then spilling over. But the fix is super easy to do, just get some plumbers putty, or window glazing putting and warm it up in your hands, roll into a thin rope and then use a credit card or some other stiff plastic piece to force the putty down into that tiny gap at the corners of the window. Or if you have some on hand you could even push some buty tape material into that small gap. When you are done it won't show, filling the gap with putty is a much better alternative to applying caulking on the surface of the glass and metal.

So three quick and fairly inexpensive fixes for the Campster windows to help reduce leaks.

Taking out the windows and putting in new butyl tape is also not that difficult to do. I was able to do it without a helper. I just clamped a board onto the exterior to act as my catch partner just in case the window started to get away from me as I was removing it. On the outside I dug out the old putty tape using a small O ring hook tool. Taking out most of the old putty tape first meant it did not require a lot of force to remove the window.