Another condensation ?

[JRJR]

We have a 2016 Northern Lite camper and have been cold weather camping a few times in the past month. The problem is that a lot of condensation is forming at the head of the mattress on the nose wall. Anyone else experience this? I was thinking about putting a strip of the pink foam insulation between the wall and the head of the mattress. What's your opinion.
Thanks
John

[JRJR]

Thanks for all of the great information. Looks like we will order the Hypervent for under the mattress.

[Wardster]

Install Hypervent under your mattress to resolve the issue

[markchengr]

We have a 2008 Northern Lite. Initially we had the condensation problem under the mattress in cold weather. Bought some Hypervent online, laid it under the bed so that a bit of it curled up vertically along the head end and no more problem. It was pricey but in my opinion it was money well spent. -Mark.

[RamblinAnne]

SideHillSoup wrote:

free radical wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
The material that goes under the mattress is called HyVent. It is a firm material that resembles many layers of nylon mesh. Highly recommended for use on any platform bed in a poorly insulated area. Otherwise, moisture from your bodies and breathing will penetrate the mattress and condense under it, resulting in mold growth.

Something like this?

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1%257C2276179%257C2276186&id=1818021

That is the stuff we have under our mattress and that Northern Lite now puts under the mattress in their new rigs.
Soup.

x2 - I have had this hypervent under my mattress since day 1 and never had any issues with condensation. (I full time and cook often).

[SideHillSoup]

free radical wrote:

coolmom42 wrote:
The material that goes under the mattress is called HyVent. It is a firm material that resembles many layers of nylon mesh. Highly recommended for use on any platform bed in a poorly insulated area. Otherwise, moisture from your bodies and breathing will penetrate the mattress and condense under it, resulting in mold growth.

Something like this?

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1%257C2276179%257C2276186&id=1818021

That is the stuff we have under our mattress and that Northern Lite now puts under the mattress in their new rigs.
Soup.

[billyray50]

coolmom42 wrote:
The material that goes under the mattress is called HyVent. It is a firm material that resembles many layers of nylon mesh. Highly recommended for use on any platform bed in a poorly insulated area. Otherwise, moisture from your bodies and breathing will penetrate the mattress and condense under it, resulting in mold growth.

It is called Hypervent and it is pricy. I purchased a product few years back for a previous TC called Dry mesh that worked good but forgot to remove it when TC was sold. It was much cheaper than Hypervent. Cannot find a U.S. distributor now. I use blue or pink foam board that's works good too for around 10.00 bucks at Lowes.

[free_radical]

coolmom42 wrote:
The material that goes under the mattress is called HyVent. It is a firm material that resembles many layers of nylon mesh. Highly recommended for use on any platform bed in a poorly insulated area. Otherwise, moisture from your bodies and breathing will penetrate the mattress and condense under it, resulting in mold growth.

Something like this?

https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1%257C2276179%257C2276186&id=1818021

[coolmom42]

The material that goes under the mattress is called HyVent. It is a firm material that resembles many layers of nylon mesh. Highly recommended for use on any platform bed in a poorly insulated area. Otherwise, moisture from your bodies and breathing will penetrate the mattress and condense under it, resulting in mold growth.

[RickW]

As others have noted, moisture from respiration (or cooking and propane appliances) plus cold surfaces with lack of circulation equals condensation.

I built a small air to air heat exchanger (described somewhere in the archives here) to remove moist air and bring in drier air. Basically it has 2 small 12 volt fans, one to bring air in and one to exhaust air out. I have had very little condensation and no condensation problems when using it.

More importantly here, I use a 1-1/4 inch plastic bilge hose to direct the fresh air where I want it. I found I want it near the head of the bed. We are talking about a very small flow rate, maybe 1-5 CFM, that makes all the difference. The hose is easily run alomg the edge of the mattress.

In my opinion, a small forced ventilation system directed to the nose area will improve your situation.

[rutzbeck]

I had the same problem in my Bigfoot when I sealed the vents. It kept in the warm air but also the moisture. I now almost always have the vents open at least 1 inch. After my shower in the morning I run the exhaust fan for at least 30 with the heater on with the vents opened even more. Hot air seems to carry out more of the moisture. A fan up at the head of the bed helps a lot also.

[Grit_dog]

Common issue with TCs in general.
One thing that helps is change your sleeping orientation to feet forward. Your feet don't produce near the condensation as your mouth while sleeping.

[Kayteg1]

In my case the main issue was condensation on front glass that was running under the mattress.
We have thick mattress that was covering part of the glass and that added to the issue.
And yes, I replaced cabover floor beams this summer.

[Photomike]

There are a couple issues that are leading to this:

- First that is where you are breathing and the moisture in the air is VERY high around there

- Second at the head of the bed there is very little if any air movement

Add those two things to the fact that the walls are cool or cold and you get the wet walls.

Adding insulation will help but it is a fix that will only mask the bigger issue. As others have said leave a vent open or a window will help but again the big issue is the lack of air movement and the constant pocket of humid air, this is more of a problem in TCers as the space is so tight up there. The best thing is to open some vents / windows in the morning and aim a small fan (I have a 12v fan) to that area to circulate the air. This will dry it out.

Cooking can also add to the humidity up there and suggestions to vent while cooking is right on, better to get rid of it ASAP then to deal with it later.

[SidecarFlip]

Let it sweat, then you can repair the rot later on. Makes for a good summmertime project... instead of camping...