motorhome damp

[bevo]

after my experiances of the habitation check on my motorhome i decided to buy a dampmeter from aldi (9.99) went all over the van in the places where the habitation check showed damp. and couldn't get any readings. only one place where the check said 40% damp did i get a reading of 20%.
when i spoke to the supplying dealer he said all motorhomes are inherently damp and this time of year more so.
on the habitation checklist it says that anything up to 20% damp is ok.
sounds fishy to me.
but seriously what is and isn't acceptable.

 

[warwick]

I had a high damp reading at an off-side window during a December Hab Check, dealer recommended van was re-checked (free) 3 months later in fact it was April when I returned and they could hardly obtain a reading, I was present at the April check. I understood from the tester that during the winter high readings can be obtained so your story sounds quite plausible.

 

[pappajohn]

Mmmm........shouldnt be any damp at all.

condensation yes, damp no.

i reckon if a test is done on a cold, damp day then the test will be flawed.

i noticed on new years day morning the rear end inside panel was wet through.....nothing more than condensation....it was the wall facing the wind and we had the heating on all night plus the two of us and two dogs breathing out moist air all night..

 

[wildcamper]

IMHO Damp is damp!
If you get a reading saying there's damp in your van , if not sorted, eventually it'll cause damage

 

[sinbad1]

I bought one of these damp testers from aldi and could not find any dampness in the motorhome.

have you calibrated the meter, ie select cal then adjust to read 100,then reading will only show if dampness is present, works on conductance between the two points, it doesn't tell you how much dampness is there, only its conductance between the two points.

Any dampness will give a reading depending on the saturation having said that metal will give 100 reading.

To locate the source of dampness several reading needto be taken the higher the reading the closer to the source you will be.

Regards

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[C.L.S]

The damp meter i use cost close to £150 and as to calibrated anually ,I have no experience of the Aldi meters Personally i would be inclined to trust the dealers readings . Readings upto 16% are judged to be ok. 16% - 20% require further investigation , anything above 20% i would consider to have water / damp penetration

Mark

 

[pneumatician]

Damp Meters

Are theses Damp Meters the two pronged affairs that you push into the wall / wood or whatever ?
I purchased one such to test our last van and it registered no damp at all. I tried it on garden shed but pushed it in a little harder and it registered damp. So I took it back into the Van shower cubicle and pushed it in and lo and behold, damp.
So you are then faced with the decision. Do you go all around the van leaving little snake bites in all of the likely spots or do you purchase an expensive meter without the two points? If you decide on the former do you then fill all of the little holes to prevent the ingress of damp? Or is it best to contract out to a Very Expensive damp meter owner?

The responsibilities of Motorhome ownership are never ending almost as trying as raising childrenhttp://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/images/smilies/smile.gif

Steve

Steve

 

[wildcamper]

Don't know if this would help anybody as regards to putting holes in your camper, but a friend of mine had a damp detector and he soldered a wire on each prong and connected a safety pin on the end, so when he checked for damp the holes where minute plus the lenght of wire meant he could get into the smallest/akward places. :thumb:

 

[C.L.S]

When using these type of meters try to be as unobtrusive as possible , peel the window rubbers up and take a reading from there , in cupboards , under seat / bed lockers . Chances are damp will not manifest itself in the centre of a wall. Best places to check are around windows and door , along the bottom of the van and along the top where roof meets wall plus any additions to the van bike racks , awnings , satellite etc.....


Mark

 

[sinbad1]

Are theses Damp Meters the two pronged affairs that you push into the wall / wood or whatever ?
I purchased one such to test our last van and it registered no damp at all. I tried it on garden shed but pushed it in a little harder and it registered damp. So I took it back into the Van shower cubicle and pushed it in and lo and behold, damp.
So you are then faced with the decision. Do you go all around the van leaving little snake bites in all of the likely spots or do you purchase an expensive meter without the two points? If you decide on the former do you then fill all of the little holes to prevent the ingress of damp? Or is it best to contract out to a Very Expensive damp meter owner?

The responsibilities of Motorhome ownership are never ending almost as trying as raising childrenhttp://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/images/smilies/smile.gif

Steve

Steve

I have done a series of tests with this meter and find it gives a fair indication if damp exists, the instructions say to gently press the tips against the surface and when testing soil the tips need to penitrate the surface.

For the price i think its a useful and cheap way of monitoring potential problems,all
damp testers work on the same principle, conductance between two points.

regards

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[Tony Lee]

I find it interesting that people are quoting such accurate figures in the measurement of something that is so dependant on all sorts of factors as to be likely to have huge errors.
Type of cladding material, closeness to conductive material, atmospheric conditions, presence of condensation, soiling of surface (by body fats, cleaning compounds, salt air from a week by the beach etc), permeability of cladding material, etc etc

How can people quote 17% as being OK and 20% as being not OK.

I can accept that if the meter reads relatively "low" everywhere except in one or two spots where it reads relatively "high" , then it could be due to water penetration (or condensation of course) and need further investigation, but to talk in absolute values is just not scientific. Those quoting such accurate go/no-go limits are either having themselves on, or worse, having their customers on.

 

[sinbad1]

I find it interesting that people are quoting such accurate figures in the measurement of something that is so dependant on all sorts of factors as to be likely to have huge errors.
Type of cladding material, closeness to conductive material, atmospheric conditions, presence of condensation, soiling of surface (by body fats, cleaning compounds, salt air from a week by the beach etc), permeability of cladding material, etc etc

How can people quote 17% as being OK and 20% as being not OK.

I can accept that if the meter reads relatively "low" everywhere except in one or two spots where it reads relatively "high" , then it could be due to water penetration (or condensation of course) and need further investigation, but to talk in absolute values is just not scientific. Those quoting such accurate go/no-go limits are either having themselves on, or worse, having their customers on.

I agree, the only way to acheive accurate readings would be to weigh a sample of the material dry and reweigh under lab conditions.
However does give you a indication of damp areas, the meter itself does not read % just a value.

Taken from the distructions


INTRODUCTION

Water/moisure conducts electricity. It is therefore possible to measure the extent of any moisure in any matter by measuring the level of conductivity between two points, and on this moisture detector unit it is the two probes at the top of the detector.

In itself, the reading doesn't mean anything specifically, but the higher the reading the higher the level of moisture. It is then possible to compare the reading at one point, or at one moment in time, with another reading at a different point or a later/earlier time (for example yesterday the reading on a wall make have been '005' but today on the same location it is only '001', so the dampness is reducing.

 

[bevo]

damp or is it condesation

thanks for all your replies especially the trade members, very informative.
the garage on my motorhome is very cool inside and tends to condensate along the bottom of the doors.