Moisture Absoption

cormie

Hi,
Just looking for advice on reducing moisture/condensation in vans. It can get quite bad with droplets forming on the roof.

I hear silica gel is a good solution and I've just read it can be re-used by heating about 300deg. Would anyone know where you could buy packs locally and is it just a case of filling up a few bags with the pellets or what way does it have to be done?

I also found this: http://www.airandwatercentre.com/desiccant-moisture-absorbers-42/ says it absorbs up to 150% of it's weight as opposed to 40% that silica can do.

Would appreciate any advice

TheBigRedDog

A bag of dry rice absorbs loads of moisture. I've heard of people using it in paper bags to absorb moisture in machines... It may be worth a try?

cormie

Thanks for the suggestion would it be as good as silica gel I wonder? It would need to be pretty good as there's quite a bit of moisture build up in the van and it would need to attract the moisture too if possible?

What about Silica Gel and the products I linked to above I wonder?

galwaydude18

I would like to know as well as my van does be full of moisture and is wrecking my tools in it!

ART6

Tesco used to sell dehumidifier packs for cars etc, and as far as I am aware still do. They are a plastic gubbins with a drip tray underneath a packet of silica gel, bags of which are available from the same source. They work quite well and are cheap.

galwaydude18

would the water not spill out of the tray when driving?

ART6

galwaydude18 wrote: »

would the water not spill out of the tray when driving?

Doen't seem to. The tray is well enclosed and it's necessary to unclip the slotted plastic cover to empty it. My wife had one in her car for ages and never bothered to empty it, but there was never any sign of spillage.

cormie

Read a bit more up on the superdry stuff I linked to in my first post. Sounds good so I might just go for it. Wonder what the Tesco thing is like? How big is the pack, would it suit a van I wonder?

ART6

The Tesco ones we bought are about 230 mm long, 100 mm wide, and 100 mm deep, supposedly containing 400 g of silica gel. The packaging says they are suitable for home, office, boat, caravan or motorhome. No idea how they would work in a van as we only ever used them in a small family car.

cormie

Had a look in two Tescos anyway and no sign of this thingy, have you seen them there recently and whcih Tesco was it do you know?

Where else would you get Silica Gel I wonder, or even the product I linked to in the first post?.. I emailed the company and shipping to IRE is about £17, so it's a bit pricey for a product with no real reviews to test out.

cnocbui

I think these are all rather Mickey Mouse solutions, frankly.

Passive sacks of stuff would take a relatively long time to do any good.

I have a dehumidifier for the home and every few months I shut it in the car and run it for half a day - job done. If I had a van with actually wet area I think I would also put a fan heater in there for a short while also, to evaporate some of he water so the dehumidifier could get at it.

Silica gel is great for long-term storage where the thing you are trying to keep dry is sealed for most of the time. You only need a warm oven at 40-60 degrees to re-charge it.

ART6

cormie wrote: »

Had a look in two Tescos anyway and no sign of this thingy, have you seen them there recently and whcih Tesco was it do you know?

Where else would you get Silica Gel I wonder, or even the product I linked to in the first post?.. I emailed the company and shipping to IRE is about £17, so it's a bit pricey for a product with no real reviews to test out.

They had it in Ard Keen Tesco in Waterford. Haven't looked recently since I got rid of the car that had a damp problem.

cormie

Got 2 thingies today that sound like what you got, little plastic container with tiny balls in the top half, a white top layer and then a green holey plastic thing to put over that. It says it will last 3-6 weeks and has to be thrown out after so I'm not sure if it's Silica gell. Says "irritant" on the pack too. Wonder if it'll be any good, €2 each in Heatons Carrickmines.

ART6

cormie wrote: »

Got 2 thingies today that sound like what you got, little plastic container with tiny balls in the top half, a white top layer and then a green holey plastic thing to put over that. It says it will last 3-6 weeks and has to be thrown out after so I'm not sure if it's Silica gell. Says "irritant" on the pack too. Wonder if it'll be any good, €2 each in Heatons Carrickmines.

Same thing I'd guess. Silica gel packs always have "irritant" warnings on them, and once the gel has absorbed its fill of water it has to be dumped. Acutally I thing you can dry it out by baking it, but at €2 a throw it's hardly worth the trouble.

cormie

Yeah, was hoping they'd last a bit longer than 3-6 weeks though Will see how it works anyway and thanks again for the help!