Car dehumidifiers

[James k]

Hi,

Has anyone had any luck with car dehumidifiers? Either the crystal bags or electric. There seem to be lots available but the reviews are very mixed so it would be good to know if anyone had any real life experience with one in a Morris.

Thanks,
James

[nutmegct]

James - I'd think that unless the car is in a climate controlled garage, small dehumidifiers would be fighting a losing battle.
Tom M.

[Classiccars]

We use the cheap moisture traps as the cars are standing in the garage all week.Coukd not find any portable ones to suit as they need electric and I have none.

[KeithL]

How timely. For many years I have used a pair of these in the Mazda MX5 that gets left outside all the time, one in the cabin and one in the boot, to combat condensation. They do the job very well but it does take time to dry them out before you can re-use them, which is why it is recommended that you buy them in pairs - one in the car and one drying out. Both are currently sat on the radiator.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-a ... 70096.html

Yesterday I bought one of these and am trying it out in the MX5. I'm not sure if it will work or not, but Lakeland stuff is usually pretty good. The reviews either say it's brilliant or it's rubbish, but I will update you in a few weeks.

https://www.lakeland.co.uk/24627/Lakeland-Moisture-Trap

Our Morris is kept in the garage and we have one of these running 24 hours per day. It extracts about 2 litres every 1.5 - 2 days. Being a desiccant type you don't have to worry about it freezing up if it drops below 5 deg.C.

https://www.meaco.com/products/meaco-dd ... humidifier

Is your car kept outside? Is it just condensation you are concerned about or is water getting in somewhere, in which case it would be good to address that first.

[philthehill]

I keep a de-humidifier inside my Minor all the time.
It is the crystal type made up of calcium chloride (Ca Cl2) and it is placed in a moisture catch tray. The moisture catch tray is placed inside a non hole in the bottom plant tray. This ensures that any spilt calcium chloride or resultant liquid is kept within the plant tray. If any is split on the metal of the body it can cause corrosion.
I have had the de-humidifier inside my car for as long as I can remember and it is very good and keeps the inside of the car dry.
You must remember to inspect the de-humidifier every so often to empty the resultant caught moisture and top up the crystals.
At the moment I am using Damp Kontrol Krystals www.kontrolukltd.com but the crystals are widely available.
Here is the de-humidifier inside the car at the moment:-

de-humidifier 2.JPG (1.85 MiB) Viewed 887 times

[philthehill]

Just to add - my Minor is kept in a well ventilated building, covered with a breathable car cover and it is is still surprising how the moisture gets inside the car.

[James k]

Thanks for the responses. The car is kept outside, unfortunately, as I don't have a garage. It's also a daily driver so I don't think a car cover would be much help as it would always be getting wet and needing to dry out anyway.

There is still some water getting in and I'm trying to work out how to deal with it. It ends up at the edge of the floor on the drivers side, near the back seat and it's had the same problem the whole time I've had it. It's had the chassis completely refurbished and been stripped down with new wood, all new seals, sealant in all the right places but it still gets in, and only on the driver's side. Any ideas?

Phil, it looks like you've got that dehumidifier in the driver's footwell. Do you take it out when you use the car or have I misinterpreted the photo?

[nutmegct]

James - you mention you keep your car outside, but you only notice water buildup in one specific spot. That's puzzling. The outside air carries the moisture, so a car outside is always exposed to some moisture.

But I can't understand why you only notice the buildup in one small area; usually moisture in the air condenses on any cooler surface, then runs down by force of gravity. If you have a dehumidifier device inside the car, soon as you open a door the moisture returns.

Where do you live? Do you notice moisture condensation on any other interior areas of the car? Dash panel, passenger side, A pillars and B pillars, for example?
Tom M.

[philthehill]

The de-humidifier is removed when the car is used.
Just in case you ask - the car is not fitted with carpets or mats.

When I had my A35 I used to get water in the footwell and could not find a point of entry so in the end I drilled a hole in the floor where the water pooled to allow it to drain and just got on driving the vehicle.

[panky]

Probably it's getting in by running along the sliding window channel, are all the waist rail drain holes clear? and have the channels been drilled so the water drains out via the waist rail. I drilled extra drains and fitted extra seals but still couldn't keep all the water out, but my drive is on a slope so the water easily ran along the channel.

[KeithL]

What panky says. I was getting water running down just behind the 'B' pillar on the passenger side when it rained. I ran a drill through all the holes in the channel and through the wood, and made sure all the aluminium swarf and burrs were removed and it never happened again.

[James k]

Hi,

I think it must be getting in through the window channel and then tracking down the b post. It's just curious that after a rebuild, it's still on the driver's side only. I wonder if the capping could be the problem and it could be sealed with some body caulking. I imagine the only way to do it is going to be to take the seat, carpets and vinyl trim out and sit inside while someone sprays the car with a hosepipe.

My thoughts about dehumidifiers were more to do with the general moisture in the car, misted windows, musty smelling carpets, rather than the specific leak. I live on the South Coast so it's quite damp and windy here lot of the time.

[Sleeper]

James

Living in Manchester I find this useful , 12 Volts , not so much in the Summer ( May-August ) , but gives a nice supply of clean water for topping up the battery, ironing etc.
Sits on the back seat.

dehumid2.jpg (2.17 MiB) Viewed 769 times

John ;-)