Condensation?

[guitarman160]

Has anyone had any problem with interior condensation in cold weather? We toured the factory Friday. Great camper.

Don

[bugeyedriver]

It is not uncommon for there to be a bit of condensation found on the inside of the outer shell if the Ollie is shut up tight. You can feel it by opening a cabinet and reaching to the outside wall. To overcome this, simply opening the roof vent a small crack will usually do the trick. A tiny window opening also works.

 

A small cube heater will still adequately warm the trailer even though you've cracked a window or vent.

[DCKiefer]

Condensation can not be avoided in RV, it is par for the course. Bugeyedrivers recommendations are the best you can do. The great thing about the Oliver is that you don't get the walls absorbing moisture since it is all gelcoat.

[allenpamela]

I keep the bathroom vent open and the bathroom window opened a crack. I leave all the cabinets and drawers open a bit. Last winter I left a small portable heater on low. I also placed some Dri-Z-Air in the trailer which absorbs moisture. We live near the coast so it is pretty damp most of the year. The trailer has remained nice and dry, with no condensation problems. This winter I'm going to try leaving the little heater off and see if the Dri-Z-Air can do the job without the heater.

 

Can never go wrong buying an Oliver.

 

Pam

[mountainborn]

Excelent advice from Oliver owner/users ! This is especially true at 10 K elevation where the temperature swings are extreme.

[technomadia]

Yup, we did experience quite a bit of moisture last winter when we wintered over in San Francisco. We lost a good bit of paper products we had stored in the upper cabinets, and also found a good bit of moisture under neath our bed cushions.

 

We'll be trying the above tips this winter to see if it helps reduce it.

 

- Cherie

[dougi]

I ran across this product and thought it might be appropriate to post a link on this thread:

 

http://www.air-n-water.com/product/SD-652.html

 

This is a mini dehumidifier that is small enough to place in the Oliver and it's not overly expensive. I havenot purchased one but it it is certainly appealing to me. It does require 115V AC electrical operation, so you would have to be hooked up to shore power to use it.

 

I just ordered a couple of electric heaters for our Oliver and I'll let you know how we like them as soon as we receive and use them. Here is a link to the heater:

 

http://www.compactappliance.com/VH101-V ... lt,pd.html

 

These heaters have two heat settings (375 and 750 watts) and should be very quiet, based on my experience with other Vornado heaters I've owned over the years. They are tiny and will fit just about anywhere. We will place one near the entrance and the other near the rear of our trailer.

[jam49]

I just finished lining the upper cabinets with the silver bubble liner that I got at Camping World. I taped it to the fiberglass and the rubber with heavy duty gray duct tape for the purpose of "insulating from moisture". Monday a.m. (4 or so) CST a heavy rainfall passed through. It was raining when I left for work and I didn't get home until after dark to go check whether the liner helped keep the moisture away from the inside of the camper or the cabinets. It is cold now - around 56 degrees and it is plenty humid because of the rainfall. It is supposed to be cooler this weekend (around 70 degrees). I am hoping to try my little Lakewood 1500 watt portable heater then. This moisture control thing is a work in progress! I used some stuff I bought at the store which worked exactly as it was supposed to buuuuttt it worked too good. I don't remember what it was but it filled up with the moisture like overnight and it was about $4 for a little container. I am thinking that I have to find a better moisture trapper than spending $4 a night on moisture control. I have a comment about the filters which I will start another topic. Good night to all and keep the e tremely beneficial discussions going. I do appreciate alll of you sharing your knowledge. jam49

[SeaDawg]

We just spent three weeks in NC, DC, and Western New York. A few nice days early on in NC, but most of our weather has been damp, cold rain... luck of the draw.

On our way to DC, I picked up a small $15 portable Sunbeam heater at a WalMart. It has a thermostat with six or eight settings, high/low setting, a very quiet fan, "cool touch", and "over heat cutoff", though no tipover protection. It's about eight inches wide by four deep by 10 high, and we left it under the small table at night on low, with the roof vent cracked about an inch or less.

By the time we got to DC, my rugs were quite wet from all the rain we tracked in, and a day I forgot and left the roof vent open in the rain (manual setting) while we were out in the woods on the ATV. The little heater dried everything up, and life was pleasant again. We used it again during the nights in New York, where we had an electrical cord running from my sister-in-law's garage. Nice and dry, even with the Lake Erie autumn rains and dampness, with temps down into the forties and high thirties at night. Again, we left the roof vent open an inch or so at night. I leave the bathroom door open a crack, and the big drawer open a bit, as well.

 

I think the little Sunbeam, at $15, is one of my best buys this year for the nights when we have electricity. It's very quiet, and kicks a surprising amount of heat for its size. I tried it one night on the table, but it heats the whole cabin better from its place on the floor beneath the small table.

 

Sherry

[SeaDawg]

Doug,

The little dehumidifier ( http://www.air-n-water.com/product/SD-652.html ) looks interesting. If you do decide to try it, please let us know how it works out for you. I see it has a tube discharge option as well as a small tank, with auto shutoff, with 12 volt adaptability.

 

We haven't had any issues with condensate in Florida, so I don't think we'd be looking at one. During storage, I just leave Fantastic fan on auto, and it seems to provide sufficient ventilation and circulation.

 

Sherry

[Bruce W]

I wonder if a dehumidifier would put out enough heat to be a heater in the winter?

[Raspy]

When using the trailer in cold weather, there is no way around having higher humidity inside.  This always leads to condensation against the colder exterior walls.  Having some ventilation is very important.

 

I haven't noticed water on the wall anywhere in Ollie, but I've dealt with it on my boats for years where there is dripping moisture.  Breathing adds moisture.  Cold surfaces condense that moisture.

 

In Ollie, I try to leave the bath overhead vent open all the time.  Ollie is so air tight that I like to leave one of the windows cracked too.  After hours of being in there with my wife at night, I can tell it's getting harder to get oxygen if it's closed up tight.

[KarenLukens]

I wonder if a dehumidifier would put out enough heat to be a heater in the winter?

You're replying to a 7+ year old thread from before the factory shut down, so things have changed. We've Wintered in our 2017 Legacy Ellite II since February, 13th and haven't had enough moisture to worry about. It would rain inside of our Casita, where the Oliver stays mostly dry with just a touch around the corners in a window sometimes :)

[Mike and Carol]

I wonder if a dehumidifier would put out enough heat to be a heater in the winter?

When we're camping in cold weather a small cube heater is enough to keep things toasty inside.  We just left Banner Elk, NC where morning temperatures were mid 30's and our small heater kept us toasty on low.  The few times I've run the furnace is when temps were in the 20's, just to keep the area between the shells warmer.  I always have one or both of the ceiling vents open.  No condensation issues.

 

I keep it buttoned up when we're not traveling because of insects (mud daubers).  If it looks like sustained temps below freezing I will turn the cube heater on low and open cabinet doors and drawers.  No condensation issues.  Mike

[bugeyedriver]

Controlling the temperature and humidity in your Ollie is the key to stop condensation.  You can't change the fact that water vapour will go from a gaseous state to liquid if it comes into  contact with a cold surface.  But by using a few simple strategies you can minimize the issue.  Ollie's double paned windows are a huge help.  I found a good blog entry that offers nine methods for protecting your rolling palace from condensation.

 

 

[Mike and Carol]

I just ordered a couple of electric heaters for our Oliver and I’ll let you know how we like them as soon as we receive and use them. Here is a link to the heater: <!-- m -->http://www.compactappliance.com/VH101-V … lt,pd.html<!-- m --> These heaters have two heat settings (375 and 750 watts) and should be very quiet, based on my experience with other Vornado heaters I’ve owned over the years. They are tiny and will fit just about anywhere. We will place one near the entrance and the other near the rear of our trailer.

Our heater is a Vornado and has three heat settings, the highest is 1150 watts.  You should only need one.  We keep ours on the lowest setting 90% of the time and only go to the middle setting (750W) when it's real cold.  They are very quiet.  Mike

[SeaDawg]

For those of us who almost never have power,and run on propane and solar, this can be a big deal, I guess.

We chase cool weather. It's not always without humidity.

That said, we carry neither a dehumidifier not driz the air

 

We leave the vents open. Put a maxxair cover over the fan years ago, which I dislke for the noise, but love the rain protection. Newer owners likely have the newer combo fan.

Fwiw, my husband doesn't ever hear the fan, so I guess for most, it's not a big deal.

I have, apparently, oversensitive hearing.

Sherry