desiccant?

Hi everyone,

I was told that we need to get some desiccant for our trailer while it sits in storage. A desiccant, of course, is something that will leech the humidity out of the air.

What kind do I get? How much do I need, etc.?

Thanks!

You can get it on line or at many stores. Buy one that changes colors so you can exchange it and reuse it. Various types of Silica Gel are the most popular. Some large box stores carry various types as well as outdoor stores like Cabelas. You will probably want something larger than this link.

http://cgi.ebay.com/5-PAK-DESSICANT...emZ390131041326QQcategoryZ97044QQcmdZViewItem

We use the small tubs that are available at the box stores.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

We buy the calcium chloride for refilling from pool supply stores. A 5 gallon bucket will last you a long time, as long as you keep it sealed.

There is nothing happening in your trailer when in storage that will produce water vapor. I have stored my RVs outside for years and never used dessicants ... and never had condenssation problems.

grizzlygiant said:

There is nothing happening in your trailer when in storage that will produce water vapor. I have stored my RVs outside for years and never used dessicants ... and never had condenssation problems.

Click to expand...

Temperature goes up temperature goes down, the trailer will breath a bit and that can cause a moisture problem.

I use the above listed tubs on my boat and usually drain them 2-3 times during the off season, change out the CC at least once.

I haven't had a problem with my trailer either, but I tend to be in and out of it during the off season, and will let it air out if the weather is not too bad.

We haven't used any desiccant since we've had the maxx -air type vent covers. We've found that leaving the vents open a little helps even out the humidity and we don't have to worry about it. It's not terribly humid here tho.

We use to clean the unit before storing it, Its a No No, it introduces to much moisture. The day we park the unit we heat her up to room Temperature and run the A/c to remove moisture, that is without introducing any outside air. Then we just park her, and let it cool off.

At the recommendation of our RV dealer, I ended up purchasing four of these units: http://www.drizair.com/. The manufacturer of these suggests one unit for every 10'x10' area, so I have 3 or them in the trailer, spaced at the front, middle and back, and then one in the basement.

Where we live (Vancouver, BC) we get a ton of humidity through the winter. Yesterday when I went out to the trailer to put the units in the trailer, it was 95% humidity outside, and 72% humidity inside. Inside the trailer, it just felt damp.

Back when we were shopping for our trailer, we did look at used units and some of them definitely had a mildew smell to them that the air fresheners the dealer had around just didn't cover up. I would hate for that to happen to our BigHorn.

Chris

I guess I don't know what difference there is between humidity in the North and humidity in the South. We live in South Texas, 50 miles from the coast. Our humidity in the winter ranges from, once in a great while a low of 30 - 40%, only when a dry cold front comes through for a day or so, normally in the 60 - 95% range. Temps run rarely in the 30's for a few days to avg 45 night to 60-75 daytime. Summer humidity 70 - 95% daily, with temps 70 night to 95+ days. We never use dehumidifiers or when we store we don't use desiccant and we never have mold problems.

Jim,

Good question. Maybe it has something to do with how short our days are up here in the winter? We also get rain for months on end through the winter. Not sure what the other factors might be. Someone here might though.

Cheers,
Chris

PS - looks like we had 8 hours and 13 mins of daylight today.