Drying out CT

[matthecat]

Hi all,
Looking for hints & tips on how you all cope with a wet CT upon pack-up. In this case dew on the outside and condensation on the inside - was down to 2 on our last night
Don't have undercover space at home to full open it up and currently have it propped open with milk crates to try and get some airflow.
Hopefully there is a dry day over the weekend so I can set it up on the lawn for the day and fully dry it out.
How long would it take for mould/damage to occur?
Regards   

[Beachman]

I’ve been in the same situation where needed to pack up wet Sunday and not being able to properly dry it out until the following weekend. I just put in in the garage and used buckets between the roof spreaders to let air flow around it. Seeing I fold the annex roof over the tent roof I also pulled this open so it lay over the front of the trailer and by the time I opened it properly the following weekend it was totally dry.

I just looked like a dogs breakfast for that week it was in the garage drying.

[ScottT]

Hi all,
Looking for hints & tips on how you all cope with a wet CT upon pack-up. In this case dew on the outside and condensation on the inside - was down to 2 on our last night
Don't have undercover space at home to full open it up and currently have it propped open with milk crates to try and get some airflow.
Hopefully there is a dry day over the weekend so I can set it up on the lawn for the day and fully dry it out.
How long would it take for mould/damage to occur?
Regards

About a week before it gets nasty.

Get it open, all the way. You need to get airflow through the tent aswell. Get it outside and opened up. Even if it rains again, just leave it out
so it can air and dry.

I can't stress enough, get it opened, no folds etc... as if you're setup to camp !

Cheers

[burks]

Lost a car to doing this. Wonderful dry Easter weekend a few years ago turned into a downpour on the Monday morning, packed up the camper wet and set it up in the double garage at home. Got it open enough with a heater going in the garage to dry it all out over a couple of days.

Only problem was the car was parked on the street out the front, and it took all of about 9 hours before a freshly-minted P plater came screaming around the roundabout far too fast, rear ended my car hard enough to push it half up on the kerb, along with the neighbour's car parked in front of mine. Due to the heavy duty tow pack, the chassis folded instead of crumpling, and bye-bye car 

Camper trailer dried out nicely with not a spot of mould though, and lived on for a few more years before being sold! 

[Redcherokee]

Where you live might have something to do with this. 

We have done the propped half open thing too many times to count, with no issues when we do eventually get a chance to open it up all the way. 

But, humidity is usually low where we are.  If the weather is warm and humid where you are, then you probably have a lot less leeway.

[Barrabart]

Hi all,
Just be careful if you are attempting to open up and air out the tent in a double garage or the like, I did this once and had the roller door open, hence the roller door/garage light was on, some of these lights put out fairly high heat, and with the canvas nearly touching the light it could of ended not so well....... luckily for me, after about 30mins of stuffing about, I walked into the mostly open tent and only then did I notice the bright light shining through the canvas...... touching the canvas found it alarmingly hot already....... luckily no damage done.
 

[kizza1]

Put a couple of tubs of damprid in the camper before you close it up and they will help to absorb the moisture till you can open it up. I have used them for wet carpet in cars.they work the best when its all sealed up.

[slydar]

have packed our tents and camper away soaking wet too many times to bother counting - like everyone has said all you can do is open it out and wait until it dries. vinegar is good for anywhere that looks like mould is forming or may do so, last summer after the dreaded three days of rain storms up at port stephens and successive warm days afterwards we started getting mould in the corners and just went straight down to the supermarket and bought a large bottle of it and a big packet of sponges (they wear away quick) and wiped down anywhere we saw it starting to form. when youre packing away its worth using a canvas mould killer/inhibitor just to  make sure.

unfortunately its not really the season for drying canvas (surely you didn't need to be told that!) we once used a camping gas heater and a fan to just blow the warm air around with the camper zipped up, it was carefully monitored/supervised though. a friend has a small diesel workshop heaters that does a pretty good job

[matthecat]

Thanks for all the hints & tips.
Looks like a window of opportunity tomorrow so I'll get it out & up and see if any signs of mould although thankfully it has been pretty cold this week.

[slydar]

cheers - now I just have to dry the tug out