Dehumidifier

plrock55

I have a new  to me 2018 T@B 400. I live in Florida. The fella I bought it from ran his AC during the day as it sat in his driveway.  Someone else recommended using a small dehumidifier instead of running AC. As it will be sitting beside my house when not out camping, do any of you have experience with this? If so what brand/model do you recommend? I did run the AC a bit this morning and water was dripping from the area, I do not see a drain pipe. So would rather us dehumidifier to keep moisture down during the time not on the road. Thanks in advance. Newbie to T@B

Tampakayaker

Dollar Tree is your friend.

They have an off brand of Damp Rid.  I put one in a plastic bin in the middle of our 320 while we had it covered.

It sucked up a lot of moisture.  I've seen people buying it by the case.

swiftwave

I live on the Pacific Coast of British Columbia.
I’ve had good success this winter using two DRI-Z-AIR chemical dehumidifiers in my TAB 400 while it’s in outdoor storage.  I have turned on the heat for several hours every few weeks to give the dehumidifiers a boost.
drizair.com

My preference was to have storage with electric power, so I could plug in a Stor-Dry warm air circulator, but my powered options were limited this winter.  I imagine the Stor-Dry does a better job of dehumidifying than the chemical option.
seekr.caframobrands.ca/moisture-control-seekr

VictoriaP

I’ve had less success with DriZAir/DampRid than I have with a dehumidifier in the trailer. I track my humidity levels using a remotely monitored sensor, and while the chemical absorbers produced no measurable difference over a matter of weeks, the cheap dehumidifier I bought drops humidity in there by at least ten percentage points within a few days. So if you have the ability to stay plugged in, I do recommend considering one.

That said, I bought a small tabletop dehumidifier for my 320, and I probably should have gotten a larger one. Because I’m in a colder climate, I also run an Air Dryr, which raises interior temps in the 320 by about 10° over outside temp. That combination has kept the trailer humidity around 50% despite an exterior humidity of 85-98% all winter.

Denny16

Verna has the right idea, I use a small amount of heat (10-15 degrees warmer than outside), and a small 12 VDC fan to recirculating the air in the TaB.  This has kept the i side dry here on the wet, damp Northern California coast during the winter.  I leave the lockers and interior doors slightly open and the bunk bottom propped up about 3/4-inch to aid in air circulation.  Learned this when I had a boat. A small a amount of heat, and air circulation is key to keeping humidity down, and spaces dry.
cheers

JeffroNC

We used a Damp-rid container until I knocked it over. LOL
We have recently been running an Eva-Dry plug in unit while it is parked. Last night was the first time we camped with it. There was zero condensation with two of us inside. The outdoor temperature was 34 and inside 68. I will keep checking over the next few days but this is good news for us. 

Tampakayaker

JeffroNC said:

We used a Damp-rid container until I knocked it over. 

I only used it in our 320 while it was sitting unused.  But I set it inside a plastic shoe box just for that reason.

Sharon_is_SAM

We have contained DampRid in a plastic wash basin.  You just know you are going to spill it😂

JeffroNC

@Sharon_is_SAM Good point. I should put all containers of liquid in a secondary container with my track record. LOL

TNOutback

I purchased a small room compressor dehumidifier with the idea of taking it camping with us on damp trips when it is too cool for the a/c, and using it during the off season.  It only draws 2 amps, so I figure I could use it while boondocking as well.  However, I’m now reading the small print in the manual that says it can raise the temperature in the room by 35 degrees!  Now I’m rethinking this idea; at least the taking-it-camping part.

VictoriaP

@TNOutback Powered dehumidfiers do produce heat. I don’t notice much change from the tiny countertop one in the trailer, but that one also isn’t powerful enough to make a big difference in the humidity by itself. The bigger one in my basement raises the temp of a 500 sq ft space by as much as five degrees, so in a smaller space like a Tab 400, I can easily see it getting pretty warm. 

pthomas745

I can't do the math...but I can't see how a 2 amp device can raise the temp by 35 degrees.  Maybe they skipped a decimal in the small print?

But: try it and see!

JohninMissouri

   During winter storage we use 4 round 10,5 oz size containers of Damp Rid.  Put one in the bathroom.   Monitored the humidity and all was well.   Keep the Tab tightly closed.  You can purchase bulk material to refill the containers.  

JP2558

We use (what we typically used to throw away) silica packets. We put them in every drawer and in other non-visible locations. There are probably a dozen scattered throughout our 320-CS. We also leave the roof vent slightly cracked year round. Seems to work for us in NW Ohio where humidity can be often be high, but nowhere near what it's like down south.

KimmieGuy

I have used this little mini machine for two years.  It seems to really do the trick!  Indiana high humidity here 😆