Carcoons - are they any good?

[gf15]

Outdoor carcoon coped well in windy conditions (we live up North). Only precaution we took was my better half made me some mittens ftom old dust cloths to put over the door mirrors (sounds sad, but w.t.f. it seemed to work).

Might have to put said mittens on Ebay. ......

[Andy 308GTB]

Apologies for dragging this post back to life...

New Carcoons/Airchambers are around the £400 mark.
So I tried to get one cheap on Ebay, I thought £200 would do it but no, second-hand they hit not far off new money.
In the end, with some plastic piping & a huge roll of sturdy plastic sheeting I made my own (total cost about £50). I've stuck my dehumidifier and a couple of greenhouse heaters in there for good measure and it works a treat. I would post up a picture but I fear I would get the p*ss ripped out of me.

But I found this on Ebay today - not a Carcoon but a very similar product for around £300 new
Seller has no feedback but looks reputable...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CarCapsule-Classic-Vinta...

[na]

Andy 308GTB said:

In the end, with some plastic piping & a huge roll of sturdy plastic sheeting I made my own (total cost about £50).

er, not quite, you didn't what about air replenishment/movement?

Andy 308GTB said:

I've stuck my dehumidifier

don't forget to allow for emptying or drainage and potential of frost to either at point of exist or power supply interuption

Andy 308GTB said:

and a couple of greenhouse heaters in there for good measure and it works a treat.

these are obviously electric and not fluid or gas powered which need air and give off water vapor

Andy 308GTB said:

I would post up a picture but I fear I would get the p*ss ripped out of me.

too late

so you might as well - you could have used kitcken rolls and sticky back plastic

Andy 308GTB said:

But I found this on Ebay today - not a Carcoon but a very similar product for around £300 new
Seller has no feedback but looks reputable...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CarCapsule-Classic-Vinta...

that's the company, I think they've been round the block before

[Andy 308GTB]

na said:

...lots...

Air replenishment, not sure what you are going on about here but it's a car not a plant.

Any excess moisture will be removed by the dehumidifier, which will be drained externally.
The heaters are electric and will further diminish the risk of condensation and will promote air circulation.

The only reason I would buy a Carcoon or similar is for ease of use.

[na]

Andy 308GTB said:

Air replenishment, not sure what you are going on about here but it's a car not a plant.

the Carcoon have two fans with filters on that draw in air to the Carcoon from outside the Carcoon, they also have a battery conditioner on the PSU which is a good idea and now have frames for more frequent use of vehicle (possibly like your design and build)

plants don't rust . . . do they(?) well heavy plant yes but the green and smelly stuff!?!

you seem to have it sorted (except electricity consunption)

so where that photo

ETA: did I mention my mate that laughed at the idea of his dehumidifier freezing up overnight in his new build insulted garage with C/H boiler in - he just caught it in time

Edited by na on Sunday 8th January 19:59

[Andy 308GTB]

na said:

so where that photo

Mate, I would never live it down

As you have probably guessed I'm quite proud and defensive of said construction...

[Getragdogleg]

I have been reading this with interest, The way I see it is the carcoon only uses air flow replenisment as a way to de-humidify, moving air picks up moisture by sublimation so flow promotes drying, carcoon use this system as it is cheaper than putting a full dehumidifier in the kits, plus the end user gets a product that is a bit cheaper to run.

I have a very lightly heated workshop (one tiny tube heater next to the body panel store area ) with a dehumidifier in it and I empty around 7 liters every morning in the winter, slightly less in summer.

I want a carcoon type of product to keep the dust off my car but i am not spending the money on it so I have been thinking about a load of alloy tubing and a load of pvc, i could get a local sailmaker to stitch it all up and bung the car in it, once in a while move the dehumidifier to the tent I have created and let it dry out the car if needed. I have a battery trickle charger so that side of it is all ok already.

[Trommel]

Remember that the Carcoon works by creating a controlled environment to prevent condensation forming due to temperature changes, it doesn't dry out the car by passing air continually over it (unless the drying vent is open).

[Andy 308GTB]

Getragdogleg said:

I have been reading this with interest, The way I see it is the carcoon only uses air flow replenisment as a way to de-humidify, moving air picks up moisture by sublimation so flow promotes drying, carcoon use this system as it is cheaper than putting a full dehumidifier in the kits, plus the end user gets a product that is a bit cheaper to run.

I have a very lightly heated workshop (one tiny tube heater next to the body panel store area ) with a dehumidifier in it and I empty around 7 liters every morning in the winter, slightly less in summer.

I want a carcoon type of product to keep the dust off my car but i am not spending the money on it so I have been thinking about a load of alloy tubing and a load of pvc, i could get a local sailmaker to stitch it all up and bung the car in it, once in a while move the dehumidifier to the tent I have created and let it dry out the car if needed. I have a battery trickle charger so that side of it is all ok already.

I think you are on the same wavelength as me.

The key things are the rate of change of temperature from very cold to warm.
Condensation on a car will occur in an unheated garage if after an Arctic spell we get a big South Westerly (warm damp air) - metalwork will literally be dripping.

The rate of change of temperature will be controlled by putting the car in its own environment (i.e. an airtight-ish bubble).
But beyond that I think heat and a dehumidifier will work better than simply circulating air in a bubble (i.e. a Carcoon)
Carcoon or its followers make much of the filters that the air passes through on its way to circulating over the car but there is no way they can extract on a long term basis any meaningful amount of water.

Deep breath...

• * Trommel, you beat me to it ***

[Skyedriver]

Could do with one to fit over my garage up on Skye
Anything metal that goes in there gets damp & rusts. Ventilation you say, well ventilating it with damp air aint good....

[na]

Andy 308GTB said:

Mate, I would never live it down

As you have probably guessed I'm quite proud and defensive of said construction...

Proud enough to put up a photo

go on, go on, go on

nothing wrong with gentle ribbing either

the garage or container if it has heat and dehumidifier will probably do well

removing things that promote or hold damp from the garage helps no end too and as said controlling the enviroment by fixing water leaks, perhaps putting blinds at windows, having air movement where required, ect., ect.

I'm not on commision for Carcoon but support them as they support my club but other provides are available some seem to be not so good copies but I don't really know

I think the best thing to do is to drive the car regularly but I don't have a car like yours even when I had the Carcoon it was because I rented a concrete garage where it was usully wetter inside than out and the car was only usually in the Carcoon for a few weeks at a time at most

[A900ss]

Sorry to bring this up again but I've only just seen these and a, really impressed.

I have a TVR that I can't get into the garage so lives on the drive outside.

My question is how noisy are the fans? We have neighbours and I really don't want to annoy them (any more than I have to!) so are these things quiet? Are the fans on continuously?

Thanks

[nta16]

I think the fans run all the time but I can't remember - I do remember them being very quiet even in a garage

the fans are filtered so I'd guess you'd want to occasionally clean the filters which would help to get more air through and less muck on the fans perhaps helping to keep the fans quieter

you'll also want to isolate the battery or use the built-in (if it still is) battery conditioner or your alarm/immobiliser/satnav/clock/added electronics will pull your battery down after a few weeks

[lowdrag]

Big cleanable filters and if they are anything like the indoor ones you won't hear them at a couple of yards distance.

[V1DL3R]

gf15 said:

There is some good stuff if you use the search on "Carcoon".

However in summary, I kept my TVR in an external version for 2 years. It was a superb bit of kit. It has 2 fans with Charcol filters and runs off the mains, and also connects to the battery in the car. I believe that it will occassionally run off the battery of the car, but will always leave enough charge in the battery to start the car. Useful if you have a power cut.
If you had more than 6 inches of snow you would have to brush it off the carcoon. Importantly if some thug lobbed a traffic cone onto it, it would just bounce off without any damage to the carcoon or the car. Over the time I had the car in the carcoon, all the oxidised aluminum came up like new. You could put the car away wet and within 24 hours it was bone dry. A fantastic piece of kit.
When we moved we had a nice dry warm garage and I still used the carcoon indoors.
takes 5 minutes to put the car away / remove from carcoon.
I was so impressed, I kept it, even though I do not have anything to put in it at the moment

Hi, sorry to bump this thread. I have been researching "outdoor" air chambers although my first choice would be to get a garage, living in London garages are hard to come by and about £150pm to rent. The carcoon seems to be anywhere between £1pm to £3pm to run which makes far more sense however, with your outdoor carcoon above, was there any way of securing the chamber and the power unit (to say a gate post or similar) in case someone decided to try and take it for a walk?

Also, did your TVR need an Anderson connection to the battery, if so was this an issue?

Thanks in advance.

Edited by V1DL3R on Wednesday 2nd October 20:10

[A900ss]

V1DL3R said:

Hi, sorry to bump this thread. I have been researching "outdoor" air chambers although my first choice would be to get a garage, living in London garages are hard to come by and about £150pm to rent. The carcoon seems to be anywhere between £1pm to £3pm to run which makes far more sense however, with your outdoor carcoon above, was there any way of securing the chamber and the power unit (to say a gate post or similar) in case someone decided to try and take it for a walk?

Also, did your TVR need an Anderson connection to the battery, if so was this an issue?

Thanks in advance.

Edited by V1DL3R on Wednesday 2nd October 20:10

The power source is inside the carcoon so out of view (but only a zip to open...).

I don't have an Anderson connector on my Tiv.

[rtg0616]

Rather than leave any windows open, I've found that using "Damp traps" (From B & Q, hardware shops etc. They're usually bagged granules and a plastic water catcher) do the trick brilliantly. I've used them whether I'm storing in my garage or in longterm storage facilities. I put one in the footwell and one in the boot. I put one in a brand new car and found within a week it had collected an inch of water in it. They're cheap and really effective. No strange chemical smells and no smell of damp!

[99Chimaera]

I had a carcoon once for my MGB Roadster, which I kept in a prefab garage the garage got rather damp during the winter. One morning the car was covered in condensation eeek! I bought a carcoon after that. Brilliant bit of kit, the car was always dry and charged up ready to go after its winter layup.

[A900ss]

I am worried about scratching my paint taking the outdoor carcoon on and off. Does anybody use a dust cover inside their carcoon?

[coppice]

Bloody hell you are a worrier! Fear not , the Carcoon is just some robust plastic which has never done my cars any harm and I have used Carcoons since '97. A dust sheet would defeat the object - which is a fresh flow of air from the fans. My Caterham lives in a shed which in the winter months is damp and horrible. After the car's winter sleep she comes out dry as a bone every March. Superb devices..