Condensation drips from transporter roof, any ideas??

[Chris Wilson]

I have a four car, double deck, rigid transporter that has to be stored outdoors. In the winter you get condensation drips from the inside of the roof sheeting. It's not leaking, it's definitely condensation. The roof is single skin translucent fibreglass, It looks fairly straightforward to insulate it with a double skin, and being in the sticks I have access to dairy boarding, a 3 mm white flexible and waterproof plastic eight by four foot sheeting used to make a hygienic walling system in dairies. That stuff screwed to the alloy roof support cross beams with some insulation material between would probably fix it, but I would lose nearly all internal natural light, having only two side windows allowing any daylight in. Before taking that route has anyone any easy fixes? I thought of running a de humidifier inside, but it'll probably be costly. It would have the upside of keeping the cars drier I suppose. Extra fan assisted ventilation, maybe?

Thanks.

[hairyben]

what about some of those self-ventilating spinny things you see on van roofs occasionally?

Or you could run a small 12v fan via a little solar panel.

[Mikey G]

Condensation is caused by the warm air inside condensing against the cold panelling of the transporter. I would first go with the ventilation idea before trying to insulate anything as insulating may only mask the problem and you could end up with a wet cavity (ooer) which may cause even more problems.

[Munter]

If you are thinking about going down the take the moisture out of the air before it condenses route. Trays of sylica based cat litter apparently.

Or a few of these http://www.frost.co.uk/item_Detail.asp?productID=9...

Other styles are available. Saw some on E-Bay at one point.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CARAVAN-CAMPER-DRY-BAG-DEHUM...

edit for e-bay link

Edited by Munter on Wednesday 16th December 16:44

[munroman]

Ventilation every time, even if it was 'boarded up, you might still be getting hidden condensation and rust which might be a worse problem.

[TheArchitect]

Dont insulate without sorting damp issues, youll end up even worse off.

ventilation is the key.