Storage in Rainy locations

[MoreQuestionsThanAnswers]

Originally Posted by BritCanuck

I’m just ‘up the road’ from you. Same climate.

I just put a marine ceramic coat (Glidecoat Marine Ceramic) on our brand new 5.0. Supposed to protect from UV, and other weather related issues for upto 2 years. The ceramic is designed for gel coat fibreglass. Designed for extreme usage such as seawater based boats in the harsh Florida sun.

The issue we have is high humidity. I’ve got a small dehumidifier and some of those dehumidifier crystals which soak up water vapour. I’ve got a temp/relative humidity monitor inside and I’m struggling to keep the humidity low inside. Last week I put our large dehumidifier inside overnight and got it down to 54%. But it’s back up to 70% now, which I don’t understand as I’ve got all the windows/vents closed (high outside humidity).

So still experimenting with that.

It’s super slick and shiny now and should be pretty easy to keep clean.

Attachment 71788

Man in the last three days I’ve gone from the 19 to thinking the 5.0 looks so sexy. I appreciate the information. Will yours be stored outdoors, or will you build a carport?

[Civilguy]

We bought an Escape largely because we wanted to be able to store it outside here just down the road from you. It’s on the north side of the house, so it doesn’t get an excess of direct sunlight. So far I have never covered it.

One thing I learned over time was to adjust the tongue jack height so that the water drains off the roof. A few years back when I had it parked perfectly level and we weren’t taking it out much due to the pandemic the roof became a slimy mess.

Lesson learned. Now I tip it down ever so slightly in the front and it’s been a world better. It really doesn’t take much slope. The trailer is still level enough that I can turn the refrigerator on a couple of days before we travel.

[BoomerStu]

I’m very happy with the metal carport we have for our 5.0.

[CE Vogel]

I live down the road from you, near Portland, and have similar climate. The dehumidifier is a good idea, but you have to deal with water drainage and possible freezing. I run a small heater instead. I suggest you move the mattress and seat cushions into your house to keep them from getting too damp and possibly moldy. Otherwise, reposition them in the trailer to allow air circulation around them. The rest if the trailer should be fine as others have stated.

[brroberts]

We don’t heat our trailer in storage, and it’s stored indoors, but we do make sure cushions and mattress have airflow as well as open everything inside. We also leave the trailer plugged in.

[iamunique127]

Originally Posted by BoomerStu

I’m very happy with the metal carport we have for our 5.0.

No kidding! I'd be ecstatic with something like that.

[nepaweb]

Originally Posted by BoomerStu

I’m very happy with the metal carport we have for our 5.0.

Same here.

[Civilguy]

I finally sprung for a small mechanical dehumidifier last week, (Hogarlabs PD14AS 2000 sq ft, 25 pint). Someone had a new unit on eBay for $88, well below what I have seen elsewhere, so I anted up.

The unit has several operating modes:
- Setpoint Control (enter the target humidity and it will cycle on and off at the preselected speed)
- Continuous (enter hi or lo fan speed and it will run continuously)
- Drying (it will run continuously on hi speed).

Apparently it will automatically cycle off at about 41 degrees f, but I have not been able to test that yet as the minimum temperatures have been a bit above that. It will also resume operation at the selected settings after a power outage, which I did test.

I've been running it in the trailer for six days here as the pineapple express has set new rainfall records here in the northwest.

It's manufactured in a land far away and the documentation provided in a little booklet is actually not too terrible, though it fails to include the nameplate specifications. I put it on an inexpensive watt meter today which measured 119 watts as compared to the 128 watts noted on the nameplate. I don't know how accurate the meter is but that was a satisfactory match for the time being.

I've been monitoring the humidity in the trailer with an Aqara bluetooth temperature and humidity sensor tied into a hub which reports to my phone via the internet; these are modern times indeed. The sensor and the dehumidifier are in "broad general agreement", with the sensor being located on the countertop beside the dehumidifier.

I started off running on setpoint control and it appeared to cycle frequently. I then set it to run in Drying mode over the past couple of days and the humidity quit cycling up and down.

I've been quite impressed as the humidity in the trailer has dropped from 68% to 48%, knowing that the process is much slower in our current cool temperatures, and that it's had to pull water not just from the air but also the various materials in the trailer such as the cushions, paneling, etc. I'm also liking the very low power consumption.

[Civilguy]

The Hogar dehumidifier has been running for just over three months now. Broadly speaking, it's maintained humidity levels at around 50% here in the rainy Pacific Northwest.



The bill for 109.6 kwh electric power in 85 days at $0.11 per kwh was $12.06 as of the other day, all as per the little $12 power meter I purchased in early December.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MHGK6MT/

So, I'm in for a total of $100 capital cost and about $12 operating cost so far. Our most recent electrical bill was about 30% lower than last year's, when I ran a small ceramic heater in the trailer. It's working for me.

We now return you to our regularly-scheduled programming.

[Rockhead]

We use this one when relaxing in wet conditions. Does a very good job and is inexpensive.

[dosby]

Originally Posted by ghosthunter

I live in Mount Vernon, WA

I store my 15 B in the drive way with just a cloth cover. No issues.

Same in Bellevue, WA, on a 3rd winter now
Cloth cover keeps it clean, and the cover does get moldy/mossy on the outside. I also cover spare tire post and hitch/propane tanks/front box.
I keep vents slightly open to circulate air, and a fridge door open.
As long as temps are above freezing, there is no frost build-up/melt. Slight condensation is ok, I guess, as the trailer has weeping holes.

[Bobbie54]

I store most of the time in the garage- it's out now as I'm trying to finish cleaning/waxing but it keeps being crappy weather- but outside isn't bad because we get lots of wind which despite the rain keeps things drier overall. My rowing boat in back where there is less wind and sun does grow algae in the winter but the trailer is fine. I just like to keep it out of the wind-blown salt and sand.

I'm on Whidbey in the rain shadow though (mostly shadowed!)

[Ron in BC]

Same conditions here except probably far more rain as I live in a rain forest.

Depends on whether a trailer is plugged in or not. In my Ceramic Heat Emitter thread I detailed how well that small amount of convection current worked keeping the interior condensation and mold free.

Ron