Need help with humidity....can you advise?

[memcamper]

Ok, so I have an interesting problem.  My Coleman ('97) has roof air, looks like it was addded but it too is a Coleman unit. Anytime I camp, it seems that the pop-up gets too humid inside. Linens feel damp all the time and any clothes stored in the camper feel damp as well.

Before I run out and buy a HUGE dehumidifier, I was wondering, has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you correct this problem?  Could there be a problem with my air conditioner? Am I crazy....ok don't answer that one!

Any help, thoughts, insight...anything you have to offer would be great. thanks guys!!

[wavery]

Ok, so I have an interesting problem.  My Coleman ('97) has roof air, looks like it was addded but it too is a Coleman unit. Anytime I camp, it seems that the pop-up gets too humid inside. Linens feel damp all the time and any clothes stored in the camper feel damp as well.

Before I run out and buy a HUGE dehumidifier, I was wondering, has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you correct this problem?  Could there be a problem with my air conditioner? Am I crazy....ok don't answer that one!

Any help, thoughts, insight...anything you have to offer would be great. thanks guys!!

Sounds like it could be a problem with the AC. The AC unit is supposed to remove moisture from the air.

Now, having said that, if it is super humid outside, your AC can only do so much because the dryer it is on the inside, the more the humidity will keep coming through your canvas.

Check to make sure that your AC is draining properly. If it's that humid, you should have quite a bit of water coming down off of your roof.

[memcamper]

Sounds like it could be a problem with the AC. The AC unit is supposed to remove moisture from the air.

Now, having said that, if it is super humid outside, your AC can only do so much because the dryer it is on the inside, the more the humidity will keep coming through your canvas.

Check to make sure that your AC is draining properly. If it's that humid, you should have quite a bit of water coming down off of your roof.

Wavery,

There always seems to be a lot of water draining from the air conditioner, but I wonder if it is charged fully with freon. It would seem to me that the air conditioner would draw the majority of the moisture from the air unless the air conditioner wasn't operating at peak effeciency or it's just so humid outside that nothing will help. I'm leaning toward having the air conditioner checked before buying a HUGE dehumidifier.

[wavery]

Wavery,

There always seems to be a lot of water draining from the air conditioner, but I wonder if it is charged fully with freon. It would seem to me that the air conditioner would draw the majority of the moisture from the air unless the air conditioner wasn't operating at peak effeciency or it's just so humid outside that nothing will help. I'm leaning toward having the air conditioner checked before buying a HUGE dehumidifier.

It may be worth having it checked. Too much freon can be as bad as too little. They must put gages on it and check the pressures. However, if you have a lot of water draining, the AC is working.

It is equally as important to be sure that you have no openings where outside air can come in.

When we run the AC, I put duct tape down both sides of the door opening. and I stuff rags in the corner of the bunk ends (where the canvas opening is). Look around and fill all of the holes. It makes a HUGE difference. It's hard to seal up a PU camper and AC works best in a sealed environment. Just think about what happens at home when someone leaves the front door open with the AC on.

[ScouterMom]

Maybe it's not the AC at all - you said "Linens feel damp all the time and any clothes stored in the camper feel damp as well."

Your AC is not running when your camper is folded up, right?  maybe you have a minor leak somewhere? or if you have a water tank or water stored in the camper, could it be leaking very slowly?  

years ago my ex had a new station wagon with a rear facing, fold down seat - since we didn't have kids, we seldom used this as a seat and he used it as a trunk to store paper files for his sales job.  the papers back there always felt damp, but not 'wet' and we never could figure out why.  after having the car for a 6 - 8 months, we took my nephew and neices somewhere and emptied out the 'file cabinet' so they could ride back there. Mike put his 'files' in milk crates and didn't put them back in the footwell.  One time I went to put stuff back there after the car was left out in the driveway after a rain, and found an inch of water in it.  Turns out one of the seals was missed on the roof luggage rack and water was seeping down inside the body of the car and pooling in the footwell.  It would drain out pretty quickly and we seldom used that area right after a rain, so we had never noticed it before. the files had been absorbing the moisture and slowly drying out, so Mike never saw a puddle, either.

I've always had 'old' campers and done alot of tent camping, so I never store things directly in the storage compartments - at least, not food or fabric.  Most of our stuff is in rubbermaid containers which fit  inside the cabinets, just to keep out all damp, road dust, bugs and critters. anything else is hard surgfaced and could take getting wet, or at least, damp.  

I'd suggest putting all your linens and clothing in plastic, inside the cabinets and see if some kind of condensation shows up, or a leak.  

laura

[butterflyfish]

Ok, so I have an interesting problem.  My Coleman ('97) has roof air, looks like it was addded but it too is a Coleman unit. Anytime I camp, it seems that the pop-up gets too humid inside. Linens feel damp all the time and any clothes stored in the camper feel damp as well.

Before I run out and buy a HUGE dehumidifier, I was wondering, has anyone else experienced this? If so, how did you correct this problem?  Could there be a problem with my air conditioner? Am I crazy....ok don't answer that one!

Any help, thoughts, insight...anything you have to offer would be great. thanks guys!!

We had a similar problem last camping trip.  We were running the AC on the high cool setting with the temperature dial all the way on cold when I put the kids to bed.  A while later I went to check on them and it was really cold inside, so I raised the teperature dial to about the middle but kept the ac on high cool.  A couple of hours later, we went to bed and the sheets were damp and some towels were damp as well, but I don't think our clothes were (I can't stand damp sheets!) then I realized that I didn't have the AC on the highest (coldest) setting (the temperature dial).  I turned the dial up and, it took a long time, but the dampness finally went away.  We haven't camped in the real humidity, yet, so we will see how it works then...

I like Wavery's Idea about the duct tape and rags.  I will have to try that next time.  

[PattieAM]

You might get a couple containers of 'Damp-Rid' for use in the camper when stored just to see whether it is humid when storing the camper or just when the AC is being used.

You might also find a owners manual for your AC and be able to check the trouble shooting guide.  There might be some gunk buildup on the condenser coil or something that is not allowing the unit to operate at peak efficiency - remember to clean your filters often.