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Van Condensation

AGlassAct

Well-known member
Messages
1,129
Location
Burton On Trent
Hi Guys - Happy new year to one and all! :party:

My first post so please be gentle - I'm one of them weirdo's that lurks in the background for a year or so then peeps out hoping no one will notice the 'new' guy! :ninja:

I've planned a few weeks off to get my van sorted and pimped, I have been running it on bones since I switched to a van mount system a few months back. I'm only a part timer so have the luxury at the moment before I go balls deep at the end of the month.

Question is - what's the best way to get rid of the condensation? I was thinking of stripping the ply lining and painting the bottom half with Protecta-Kote UVR (the ply is in good condition just a bit of white furr!). It's got a full metal bulkhead which is lucky as the mushroom smell doesn't come through to the cabin. I've done the usual in making sure nothing is left in the van that is wet and I definitely have no leaks.

Has anyone fitted a roof vent with any success?

Would you insulate, ply line everything and paint/seal?

I have seen a thread where someone had mentioned they had speed-lined the back - which looked very smart - but I am a DIY'er through and through and like to play with my own toys! I am not a sharer :bangheadwall:

Any suggestions are very much appreciated.

:addict:

 
I was wondering about roof vent also. Easy to fit I guess.

I leave doors and windows open loads. Seems to help.

 
I was looking at the Flettner roof vents on eBay - a few have installation videos in the AD and they are literally a 75mm hole and two 6mm mounting holes. My back doors are open most evenings (excuse the pun! /emoticons/biggrin.png) and it doesn't make much difference - I assume the weather doesn't help things much.

 
I saw a vid with wagga where they get Tristan's new van and fibreglass over all the ply lining and then paint that

The fibreglass would be smooth..durable and waterproof

 
daveyboy - nice idea in theory but I worked with fibreglass before and vowed never to do so again, blummin stinks and is nasty stuff if the matting lifts or splinters - I thought the UVR paint would do the same without the 'dangers' involved. I would be interested to see how the Tristan van is holding out, anyone in touch with the aforementioned Wagga and son?

boarcity - I will try this, if it works I could remove the majority of it from around the rear doors - keeping a couple of areas to stop the doors chattering and such like.

 
When I was a pikey, I had cups full of salt around my trailers. Really does work, sucks all the moisture out of the air.

 
tell u how i know it works yrs ago was a mechanic and it was a known dodge if a car had a sunroof leak and got condensation bad inside remove door seals

 
roof vent helps but doesn't stop it , the only way to stop it insulate the roof then ply over the top , then fible glasss the roof and full van or if you don't like that stuff get it speedlined , I wouldn't use procrapacaote paint if it was given to me free its utter poop

 
My mate has boxed his tank right in has a hinged flap for filling. The whole back is carpeted there is a hook for everything it looks more like an office. He gets no condensation at all. Iv just wiped over the cab of my van it was coverd in mildew just got ready for tomorrow.

 
I worry about damp in my van, the ply is always damp from small water spills and no matter how much I try to stop them there's always some dripping from the reel and pole tap areas at some point during the day.

About once a week I empty the back and lob a fan heater in the back for a few hrs. Gets it nice dry but the following working day it's back to normal damp state.

Hope my van doesn't rust up!

How important or useful are these protector coat paints?

 
Noddy - it was your van in another post I saw referencing the speedliner. Do you have a roof vent as well, I couldn't tell from your photo? how did you insulate before it was over boarded. If I could stretch to getting the van speed -lined it would be my first choice, that or the x-line bedliner. It's just not in my budget at the moment being a newbie, especially as a new clutch is going to cost the best part of £700. I have been looking at the Raptor kit that seems to get really good reviews on durability but also needs spraying on. Has anyone used 'procrapacoat' as Noddy refers to it?

Solar' - I have plenty of salt lying around for regenerating my softener so will but some small buckets of it in the back. Hopefully that will provide a temporary solution as well as dropping the seals down.

Andy - I had considered encapsulating :)whistle: big word for me I hope no one notices!) my tank and have seen a you-tube video of a guy that has done so (and put his squeegees in clips on it too), if I had side doors on my van it would be possible but I only have bomb doors at the back so access would be a right pain in the ****. I've been out to my van this morning and it smells like a teenagers bedroom with the odd mouldy plate on the floor so I will be stripping it on Tuesday. I will see if the condensation reduces when the tank isn't inside the back.

Thanks for all of your input so far - really appreciate everyone's views.

 
Kahoona - I have spent a while considering the benefits of the paints and the main positive for me is the waterproofing capacity they offer, having the van ply lined they are supposed to offer a protective waterproof coating to preserve the life of it. I am hoping that if I line the back of my van and put the hose reel in a shallow plastic tray with blanked off hose connectors my van and equipment will far exceed its current predicted life.

 
You need to tackle the source of the water problem.

The worst issue for us was water leaking from the hose reel when it was put back in the van. So we filled the back of some Hozelok connectors with silicone adhesive.This acts as a seal and stops water drips. We have female stop valves on the end of the hose reel which don't drip once the pole hose is disconnected. We also shake the brush head and drain the pole hose of water before the brushes are put back into the van.

Thankfully the tank lid is pretty water tight although we sometimes get a leak through the vent when the tank is very full.

We still get a little condensation on the roof of the van in cold weather, so I do dry it off with a towel occasionally. I also try to air the back of the van when the weather is ok and the van is parked on the drive.

Plylining on the floor of the van traps moisture. We have all seen the damp under a front door mat. You need to have as much floor open to breathe. We put Protectakote down onto the metal floor mainly as its a slip hazard. I have a Relay SWB van which I climb into occasionally. If you have a small van then this probably isn't necessary but I did both our small vans anyway (Partner and Transit Connect.)

 
if your wanting to keep the cost down , buy a vent off evil bay , then get a self fible glass kit and do it yourself just the sides and the floor , ok this doesn't stop the water on the roof in the morning but stops the floor from rotting out ,ive done this two vans and buy dinner time the roof dry so is the floor with a quick wipe

but ask yourself this how long you going to keep the van ? if under three years and its a cheap secondhand van just gloss paint it makes it look tidy and once a month throw a heater in it and dry it out , who cares if it rots out as u will just be tradeing it in for a much new one anyways save the money and buy a 47plus foot pole to earn you more

however if its nearly new and your looking at keeping it until it dies then you need to spend the money on the good stuff , we change our vans every 3/4 years so this time ive just fiber glassed them but the carpet cleaning vans are bought new and we keep them until they start costing money on repairs so they get speedlined ect ect

ive just put out a old window cleaning van (55 reg dispatch)old shape I only want two years out of it so I just gloss painted the lot vans a one owner with 55k on the clock I give 1500 pounds for , ill run it for two years and weight it in or sell it for what ever it takes with 1 mounth mot on it save now buy new later try not falling into the trap of have 1000s of pounds in a old van worth northing been there and done this

 
Interesting thread this as I've just made some quite big changes in my van.

I was getting worried about dampness and water getting under the ply even though I had protectacoat, sealant etc etc.

It takes one significant leak (usually an accident caused by human error) and the whole lot needs replacing sooner or later (at least in my opinion :) )

So........I pulled all the ply out and now just have a huge rubber floor mat in the back of the van - see photos.

I pop a big towel underneath it plus a small one where the side door is which both absorb any small drips as they occur.

At the end of each week I just pull the mat and towels out, dry wipe the base of the van and wash the towels with my clothes over the weekend - there's photos of the back of the van before and after the clean.

Best thing about this method is that I can see any water if there is any and clean it up whereas before it just felt like a guessing game which I wasn't keen on.

But - there is still room for improvement with this method as I currently can't clean under the tank - something which will be resolved soon.

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congrats on your first post:thumbsup:

the damp van symdrome is one most people have at this time of year-you'll never really stop it completely,the air is around 4/5 ths water at this time of year and with the back doors open most of the day the air will condensate to water when the temps drop overnight you could place a heater in there to dry it out but that just takes the water from the ply and into the air-when the temps drop again the moisture goes back into the ply again:bangheadwall: ,one of the better ways to reduce the condensation would be to insulate and ply line the sides and roof of the van,the floor ply lining could be taken up and 25mm insulating placed underneath,tape all joints

then undercoat it all and use several layers of gloss paint-i say gloss as i've tried protecta coat and its great until until you get in and out of the van and it gets dirty to clean it you need a hosepipe and a brush,kinda defeats the object,gloss paint i've found is easy to mop up water spills(old sqeegee does the trick)and is easy just to touch up the odd mark,you could add some sand to the paint on the floor for extra grip if needed and gloss is v cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this way the moisture won't get into the ply and on dry days open the doors to dry it all out:)

you could use floor paint aswell,

are you going full time at the end of the month?

 
I reckon garage floor paint would be great

100% waterproof and not too pricey

Wipes clean too

 
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