Curing condensation on cistern

Compudaro

I have a small plastic cistern in my ensuite it's behind a tiled wall with a marble top. Condensation is building up heavily (to the level of the water) on the sides and underside of the cistern.
Any cures? I can't ventilate it (unless I leave the marble lid off which will look unsightly). I've read about insulating cisterns. Is there an easy way of insulating the cistern without draining and dismantling it? I'm wondering if insulating its exterior might work?

Any advice appreciated!

Carlow52

could u dry it off and use expanded foam?

Martron

insulate it. what you could do is place a larger cardboard box around it( to form a shutter) and as carlow said fill it with expanding foam from a can.

then cut it back when finished.

Compudaro

Thanks, could try that. Trying to think of an even simpler solution! Hmmm

Martron

what is the condensation doing? is it damaging anything? its condensation on a plastic tank.

is it dripping onto a wooden floor? or soaking through the tiled wall?

if not i would leave it if its just a case of it annoying you.

but insulation i reckon is the only way to go. will prevent condensation forming.

oleras

Compudaro wrote: »

Thanks, could try that. Trying to think of an even simpler solution! Hmmm

Replumb it through the hot loop...;)

mad m

Would it not be better in long run to take cistern off wall and insulate the wall its hung on with some insulated plasterboard. And then rehang cistern.

Carlow52

mad m wrote: »

Would it not be better in long run to take cistern off wall and insulate the wall its hung on with some insulated plasterboard. And then rehang cistern.

its the cold water in the cistern that is causing the condensation, not the wall. hence the hot loop suggestion:D

Joey the lips

The condensation is forming on the cistern because the change in temperature from the water coming from the attic to the room. Is most likely because your water tank in the attic is very cold. The first thing i would do is make sure that the attic tank is not insulated under it and off course it has a lid.. This will cause the temp in the tank water to rise slightly..

I would not use filler foam. I had to remove if it does not work. You need a simple solution that can be removed. If it were me i would use fibreglass packed in a thick plastic bag or waterproof fibreglass if available(I am not too sure about fibreglass i usually use the black bag)


As said above if its not staining i would not bother.

Another simple solutio would be to drill a small hole at the base and top allowing air through. Although this might look unsightly.

Martron

Joey the lips wrote: »

Another simple solutio would be to drill a small hole at the base and top allowing air through. Although this might look unsightly.

you meant the wall not the cistern right

Joey the lips

Martron wrote: »

you meant the wall not the cistern right

Yes off course and make sure not to hit anything of importance...
extreamly hung over today...posts may be a little confusing...ok so...more confusing than normal.

Carlow52

The issue here is that the cold water in the cistern is cooling the plastic to c 11 or so degrees centigrade. The air in the vicinity is laden with water vapour and when the dew point is reached the water vapour condenses out.

this is a problem this time of the year due to higher humidity levels generally: I have the problem in an outside toilet where the air temp is just whatever it is

The physics suggests 3 or 4 possible solutions

1: raise the water temp in the cistern: not practical
2: reduce the vapour content in the air around the cistern not practical
3: provide enough ventilation with air that is not vapor laden to pass by the cistern in sufficient volume to evaporate off the condensation not practical
(drilling 2 holes as suggested earlier will not do anything for the problem
4: stick an airtight layer of water vapour impervious insulation on the cistern surface. IMO the only feasible option.

Joey the lips

Carlow52 wrote: »

The issue here is that the cold water in the cistern is cooling the plastic to c 11 or so degrees centigrade. The air in the vicinity is laden with water vapour and when the dew point is reached the water vapour condenses out.

this is a problem this time of the year due to higher humidity levels generally: I have the problem in an outside toilet where the air temp is just whatever it is

The physics suggests 3 or 4 possible solutions

1: raise the water temp in the cistern: not practical
2: reduce the vapour content in the air around the cistern not practical
3: provide enough ventilation with air that is not vapor laden to pass by the cistern in sufficient volume to evaporate off the condensation not practical
(drilling 2 holes as suggested earlier will not do anything for the problem
4: stick an airtight layer of water vapour impervious insulation on the cistern surface. IMO the only feasible option.

and most def the worst option.1, You cannot control where the filler foam goes so it WILL be patchy.2. It will be impossible to do any repair work on the cistern later if the op decided to3. One applied that filler foam will not budge and will most def damage some lower down part that cannot be reached...Filler foam is a brillian product but must be used with sense and this is not senseable.but haveing said that we have both made our points...

Carlow52

Joey the lips wrote: »

and most def the worst option.1, You cannot control where the filler foam goes so it WILL be patchy.2. It will be impossible to do any repair work on the cistern later if the op decided to3. One applied that filler foam will not budge and will most def damage some lower down part that cannot be reached...Filler foam is a brillian product but must be used with sense and this is not senseable.but haveing said that we have both made our points...

PM sent

Martron

well if you applied a bit of common sense and not go crazy with the foam it should be ok. i suggested that if you get a carboard bow that fits around the outside of the cistern. you could then fill the box slowly with the foam.

its nasty stuff i will agree...... but i would not totally rule it out not saying there is not another option either. unless you want to wrap a towel or something around it form some sort of lagging. .

but again if the condensation is not damaging anything i would not worry about it.

Joey the lips

Carlow52 wrote: »

PM sent

and an interesting one at that....

Martron wrote: »

well if you applied a bit of common sense and not go crazy with the foam it should be ok. i suggested that if you get a carboard bow that fits around the outside of the cistern. you could then fill the box slowly with the foam.

its nasty stuff i will agree...... but i would not totally rule it out not saying there is not another option either. unless you want to wrap a towel or something around it form some sort of lagging. .

but again if the condensation is not damaging anything i would not worry about it.

I still would not use it...