Airchamber or Carcoon Veloce?

[lowdrag]

I seem to remember that with the Carcoon I fed it through where the zip closed, but perhaps I'm wrong.

[Alex L]

Thanks all, I’ve fed it through the small zip pocket that allows air to recirculate and zipped it back up. Appears it’s designed for the car to be driven in forwards but I’ve bought a 2.5m extension lead for the charging cable

[Murph7355]

Was there anything in particular that prompted you guys going for a Carcoon over an Airchamber? Or Cair-o-Port?

Am just about to buy one of these type of things so interested in views.

[lowdrag]

Read the thread. Some of us (me for example) have already had a Carcoon and were very satisfied with the quality and efficiency, so we are buying, or have bought, the Veloce. Which I am about to do in a couple of weeks time. Others have had the Airchamber and the overall consensus seems to have the Veloce as a better product. I sold my Carcoon to a friend with no bother, and since the weather is still benign I am not in any hurry to get the Veloce, but I will shortly just the same, so it is up and running for the bad weather when it strikes.

[Alex L]

I bought a cheapo digital thermometer and humidity gauge to go inside the Carcoon and yesterday it was reading 85%. Either the gauge is knackered or it's as humid as it is in Thailand in my Barn.

Can anyone recommend a decent smallish dehumidifier with drain hose or ideally condensate pump so I don't have to go and empty it daily? The gravity fed drains are all well and good but the holes in the Carcoon are quite low so I'll need to find a low and wide bowl or it won't work.

[rovermorris999]

Alex L said:

I bought a cheapo digital thermometer and humidity gauge to go inside the Carcoon and yesterday it was reading 85%. Either the gauge is knackered or it's as humid as it is in Thailand in my Barn.

Can anyone recommend a decent smallish dehumidifier with drain hose or ideally condensate pump so I don't have to go and empty it daily? The gravity fed drains are all well and good but the holes in the Carcoon are quite low so I'll need to find a low and wide bowl or it won't work.

I have a couple of these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/EcoAir-DD122-Simple-Desic...
A desiccant type is best as they work well at low temperatures. I keep my Airchamber at 40-50% RH and have to empty it every few days.

[swisstoni]

I think garage construction has a lot to do with it. Mine is wooden, old and draughty. I don't pay any attention to humidity but even the brake disks are unrusty after winter.

[Alex L]

Thanks both, the issue I have is that my barn was designed to store potatoes and not cars. It’s 2,500 sqft of galvanised steel and the best part of 25+ feet high so a lot of volume of air. I’m hoping that once the Carcoon is dehumidified it won’t take much to maintain this level if I don’t unzip it too often.

[rovermorris999]

I also disconnected one of the Airchamber fans to reduce the airflow and thus reducing the work the dehumidifier has to do. It doesn't inflate as much but as it's on a frame it doesn't matter, you couldn't do it with the bubble type. I did consider switching the fans off completely but I was worried about fumes from the vented fuel tank building up and the switch in the dehumidifier providing a source of ignition.

[lowdrag]

I just put a couple of kgs of silica bags in the Carcoon. it's a wooden garage with concrete floor yet I never have a problem at all when I get the car out after the winter. No rusty brakes or chrome and it starts straight away. I have a dehumidifier plumbed through the wooden wall but found that it really wasn't necessary with the silica bags.

ETA:- I've just copied this from the Carcoon site. I have just ordered my new Veloce.


Isolate from the constantly changing temperature and humidity of the ambient environment.
Stabilise by removing excess moisture, fuel/oil vapour and other contaminates from within the mini environment.
Ventilate using the patented Active Airflow Concept.
Circulate the air isolated within, by using Activated Carbon Filters under pressure.

That's why I don't need my dehumidifier it seems.

Edited by lowdrag on Friday 2nd October 13:24

[NomduJour]

Alex L said:

Thanks both, the issue I have is that my barn was designed to store potatoes and not cars. It’s 2,500 sqft of galvanised steel and the best part of 25+ feet high so a lot of volume of air. I’m hoping that once the Carcoon is dehumidified it won’t take much to maintain this level if I don’t unzip it too often.

I’ve had a car in a Carcoon in a similar building for about fifteen years - chrome etc is still all fine, no mould or damp.

[Alex L]

NomduJour said:

I’ve had a car in a Carcoon in a similar building for about fifteen years - chrome etc is still all fine, no mould or damp.

Maybe I'm overly paranoid then :-)

[rovermorris999]

lowdrag said:

I just put a couple of kgs of silica bags in the Carcoon. it's a wooden garage with concrete floor yet I never have a problem at all when I get the car out after the winter. No rusty brakes or chrome and it starts straight away. I have a dehumidifier plumbed through the wooden wall but found that it really wasn't necessary with the silica bags.

ETA:- I've just copied this from the Carcoon site. I have just ordered my new Veloce.


Isolate from the constantly changing temperature and humidity of the ambient environment.
Stabilise by removing excess moisture, fuel/oil vapour and other contaminates from within the mini environment.
Ventilate using the patented Active Airflow Concept.
Circulate the air isolated within, by using Activated Carbon Filters under pressure.

That's why I don't need my dehumidifier it seems.

Edited by lowdrag on Friday 2nd October 13:24

Mostly all they really do is slow the rate of temperature change so condensation doesn't occur. Simply pumping air through a filter doesn't remove any moisture for long as the filter will soon get saturated if it absorbs it. If Carcoons recirculate the air within through a charcoal filter then that would help remove any vapours though I'd guess that is mostly achieved by ventilation. Airchambers certainly don't do that, they only filter the air through a gauze on the way in, but whether it is much of an advantage I don't know. The only way to test whether it removes any moisture is to put a humidity gauge in there. If it does then you don't need the silica bags and I don't need the dehumidifier. In 24 hours I get about a 250-500 cc or so in the dehumidifier, maintaining 40-50% RH inside the bag.
Still, experience shows they don't rust appreciably so I suppose it's somewhat moot.
These people seem to have the physics better
https://www.dehum.com/applications/classic-car-hum...
but I expect they're a bit dearer than bunging in a dehumidifier from Ebay!

Edited by rovermorris999 on Friday 2nd October 16:34

[200Plus Club]

Have had a carcoon with a sunbeam lotus in for 2 winters. Sat inside a typical single brick garage with flat felt roof.
I ran a digital hygrometer inside the cyber and in the garage to compare.
Without any additional deuhimdification inside the chamber it was typically 10% dryer than in the garage but still went as high as 80% rh in autumn and winter. The airflow over the car is what saves it rusting as the temperature change inside is much slower and condensation doesn't occur on surfaces.

Saying all that there was a tiny bit of surface rust on the discs at year 2 and I ended up putting dessicant bags inside it to be safe.

I've now got an insulated garage door, sealed all the gaps and run a rotary dessicant dehumidifier all year round which shuts off below 50% rh. No air chamber etc now. Zero rust, no worries. Drain is fed outside to constantly empty the unit. If I don't go in and disturb the air the unit doesn't run that much other than the fan at 150w circulating air. When the unit kicks in fully it's around 450w power consumption.
Whichever way you do it, I'd still use a dehumidifier to be safe.

[Alex L]

The gauge in my Carcoon peaked at 91% humidity so I’ve stuck a Meaco dehumidifier in there with a drain hose through one of the zips at the rear into a drip tray that I can empty without clambering inside. After a couple of hours it’s already down to 75%

Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

Untitled by Alex L, on Flickr

[rovermorris999]

Now you have the dehumidifier if you have a choice of fan speed go to the lowest setting and it'll have less work to do.

[Alex L]

rovermorris999 said:

Now you have the dehumidifier if you have a choice of fan speed go to the lowest setting and it'll have less work to do.

Yep, it’s currently set to the lowest fan setting and about 50% humidity target

Edit: just checked and it’s now at 55%

Edited by Alex L on Friday 9th October 09:38

[Murph7355]

How much has it filled the tray so far?

I have an Amber Dry in my workshop...used to fill it's catch tank every day or so IIRC (fairly "leaky" workshop in terms of air flow). Ended up running to an outside drain to make it less of a pain to maintain.

On a side note, have tried calling Carcoon today with no success about an order....will try again Monday.

[lowdrag]

Murph7355 said:

On a side note, have tried calling Carcoon today with no success about an order....will try again Monday.

I have rung twice in the last week with no reply.

[blueg33]

I have heard that using a dehumidifier in a carcoon dried out seals and plastics.

I ordered my outdoor carcoon 4 weeks ago from demon tweeks as postage is lower. They are on back order, it should arrive next week.