Condensation forming on interior of slide

Took the family to Ft. Wilderness this past weekend in our 2012 CK3300 (still under warranty). It got pretty cold for Florida. Last night's temp was 32 degrees. Needless to say, our furnace got a good workout. It did not rain all weekend. This morning it was time to go home. My son told me his mattress and the wall was wet above his bunk. (This is the slide bunk). Sure enough, the wall had a generous amount of condensation that formed. Any ideas on what to do... Don't want to deal with a mold problem...
 

danemayer

Well-known member
When we're in cold weather, we pull the mattress about an inch away from the wall to let air circulate.



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Birchwood

Well-known member
Anything wet goes either outdoors or in the basement.Don't dry anything inside the RV(its not a house) If you have over 2 people in an RV there wil be lots of moisture from breathing.Use your fantastic fan to change the air from humid to outside dry air.I don't want to alarm you but quite often if there is a humidity problem its due to water leaking inside your RV.
 

MTPockets

Well-known member
COld weather, single pane windows, and lack of fresh air = condensation, especially if showering, cooking, or dish washing goes on without venting air to the outside. Also drying wet towels.... We always run the vents when showering, cooking and are careful about hanging wet towels inside without ventilating. That moisture will collect on any colder surface if it has nowhere else to escape..
 

Speedy

Well-known member
Purchased a dehumidifer and problem went away. The above suggestion to move the mattress away from the wall works as well as venting while showering and cooking but our condensation mostly formed over night from the colder temps and breathing. Once we started using the dehumidifer letting it run on automatic problem solved. That thing pulls close to a gallon of water out of the coach every 36 hours.
 

Dtaylor52

Member
We had the same problem with ours forming moisture around the head of the bed. I pulled the mattress out and dropped in two short pieces of a 4x4 block. With the curve of the wall, the top of the mattress is about 2 inches away. I do plan to add a de-humidifier before the weather gets cool again.
 

ParkIt

Well-known member
The average person emits 1 quart of humidity while sleeping (head full of useless information) so you can imagine that combined with cooking, showering, running the AC or heat, damp clothing or towels can put into your unit in just one night. Like others I sleep with one window open even if its cold out about 2" even with the shade drawn down and keep the mattress pulled out a little at the head to keep moisture condensation build up from happening.
Propane heat also emits an amount of humidity so running a dehumidifier helps when you are in the unit.
Its why you see those "DryZAir" balls for when your trailer is in storage because even then, condensation can build up just from the cold/warm/cold can cause humidity build up.
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
Most owner's manuals for trailers tell you that condensation will happen, especially when it is cold outside, and the heater is running inside. As is mentioned above we put out a fair amount of moisture when sleeping. The manuals also suggest opening a window or two, slightly, in the trailer. I usually open the window over the kitchen sink and if the garage bunks are being used I open one of the garage vents a bit. Slightly cracking the bathroom fan cover helps also. You can buy dehumidifiers but if you dry camp they are not much good without AC. From what I have read even in Florida the humidity outside will be lower than that inside with several people sleeping.

Use vents and exhaust fans when cooking and hang bath towels outside if at all possible.
 
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