It's raining INSIDE! GRRRRR!!!

[Catman6]

rluhr, thanks for your multi-facited reply. You got me to thinking (usually a dangerous past time for me). The camper sits on a concrete pad with a slight angle so the water drains away. When it's not raining the pad stays dry. I have carbon monoxide detectors installed in the trailer. I assume that since they aren't sounding off the heater is fine. I know the water system is sealed. I found two small leaks about a month ago, and just went over it again after I had a drain line cut loose under the kitchen sink - soaking the carpet under the sink and cabinets across the front (WTH was AS thinking?!). Friday night I opened up the cabinets & cranked up the heat a littld to dry it out. That may have been the source of the extreme moisture - I never really gave that a thought. I had everything sealed on the roof about 6 weeks ago by an SOB dealer, but I'm wondering if they missed something. It's been raining really hard all day, and I had some dripping in the bathroom by the ceiling vent. I pulled the trim cover and found; A) I have sprayed on foam insulation in the ceiling, B) there's no directly visible leak, C) there was moisture droplets all over the roof ribs (How the he$$ do I dry all that out?) It's going to be raining all week, so I'm sorta stuck for a quick fix. I guess Sunday when it finally quits raining I'll crawl up and reseal it all myself (ya figure you pay someone to do the job ... ) Anyhow, Thanks again everyone. I guess I have multiple issues causing this. Any more advice, particularily on drying out the ceiling with removing it - would be greatly appreciated!

[Catman6]

Any more advice, particularily on drying out the ceiling WITHOUT removing it - would be greatly appreciated! (apparently I can't edit a post from my cell phone)

[Ganglin]

Just my personal opinion but the first thing I'd do is get a dehumidifier to work in the trailer. To paraphrase 2air - that amount of moisture is not just where you can see it - it's going to be everwhere and sooner than later your going to end up with a mold problem.

I have a 2.5 gallon Whirlpool portable dehumidifier in the basement that I just checked - it draws 5 amps. I'm not recommending this just telling you what I might do. I'd pull that GFI breaker and replace it with a standard breaker then go with GFI outlets at the galley and bath. Plug the dehumidifier in on a non GFI outlet and get the moisture under control.

Sealing the roof again is obvious but until then.....

[REDNAX]

I was amazed at how much water was collected by the dehumidifier I bought in it's first three days of use. I can't imagine another way of adequately getting the trailer interior dried out. Ours was a 34' and the $150 machine from Lowes did a great job set up on the counter to run constantly while in storage, draining into the kitchen sink.

[Catman6]

Well, I got home early this morning, and found the leak. I need to reseal the bath vent. I've left the trim cover off so it drips on a rubber backed mat. The GFI plugs & standard breaker sound like a good idea. Where do I get a new breaker from? It doesn't look like a house style breaker

[Catman6]

It'ds a 20 Bryant GFI breaker in there now. Who carries them?

[Ganglin]

I'd take it to an electrical supply house for replacement but even Lowes or Ace Hardware should have a standard breaker that will fit it. 20 amp indicates 12 gauge wiring - as is in our unit also. The new GFI outlets would be 20 amps. - the type with the trip indicator light would be a good idea. Please confirm 12 gauge in the outlet boxes if you do the replacements. If you have wires entering and also leaving either of the outlet boxes - make sure you follow the directions on the GFI for where power line and load go on the outlet. Both of mine were single line boxes.

electrical supply northeast maryland - Google Search=

[Catman6]

FYI to all those with similar moisture problems;

I want you to know that the advice about running the Air conditioner, and the Heater at the same time really does work to remove the moisture from the camper. I've done this for the past couple of days, and when I woke up this afternoon, there wasn't any condensation on the trim/ceiling like there has been despite the leak at the ceiling vent.

My unit has dual controls, but if your unit has single controls, they can easily be switched out to a double thermostat set up. It's just a matter of switching the thermostat wires to the new thermostats [one heat thermostat, and one A/C thermostat]. I never got mine to run smoothly together, but honestly, I don't really care because it works

[Forrest]

If your GFI is tripping it could be due to a hot ground, not necessarily in the GFI outlet but anywhere downstream from the GFI. Pay paticular attention to your outside outlet(s). I once discovered that my GFI inside was tripping because the outside outlet had filled with water, causing a hot ground. Although water isn't a good conductor, it can create the situation you describe. If you simply replace your GFI with a standard outlet without locating the source of the problem then you risk injury to yourself or damage to components. Most likely your GFI isn't defective. Most likely it's doing its job.

[Ganglin]

Originally Posted by Forrest

...If your GFI is tripping it could be due to a hot ground, ....

Good point and a good reason to own one of these:

Amazon.com: Tripp lite 3-LED PLUG-IN CIRCUIT TESTER ( CT120 ): Electronics

[bugnot1]

Early this morning the UPS guy arrived at our door (to a chorus of schnauzers who thought his appearance was really rude and untimely). He was delivering two items - a new dehumidifier and a little Pelonis 'furnace' (the latter for 'just in case').

I quickly read the directions for the dehumidifier - placed it centrally, plugged it in, and "HOUSTON, WE HAVE DEHUMIDIFIER"!!! It's been running about six hours......humming along.......and I had to see if and how much water was collected. There must have been a gallon!! YIPPEE!!! We're working!!! Already my windows are showing significant signs of NO MOISTURE!! Dad used to tell me that with A/C it took 3-4 days to dry a house in the summer......so, is the same true here? With me, hubby, and 8 critters (dogs and 1 cat) - I'm thinking it's just going to be something that we always need!!! And, does anyone use the dehumidifier to help their A/C???? Seems like it would help the A/C.

To all of you who recommended the dehumidifier - thank you!!

As for the little Pelonis 'Furnace'......cute little dickens. Haven't turned it on yet, but I'm sure I'll give it a 'test drive' when the sun goes down. Our temps didn't get out of the 30s today.....but we're going to have a 'January thaw' of sorts this weekend - might even get to 50. We have a cover (Airstream-Port) for the Tincan - that keeps snow off and gives us some sun protection but the furnace seldom runs unless it's really cloudy and the temps stay in the 20s (in the daytime). I have two fake fireplaces (front and back) and they do a nice job of assisting the furnace........but lastnight the tank switched over and the Mercam did it's dirty deed again. Had the Pelonis made it's appearance one day earlier I would have given it a good test run. As it was, all that was needed was the same old thing......take off the furnace door and clean off the burner and ignitor. Good news is, it seems as though the soot is lessening which means the Mercam is burning out slowly. We want to purge the tanks but the gas co. insists that we need a really warm day - and that should happen sometime in May.

Thanks to all for the dehumidifier recommendations. What is the 'favorite' brand out there? I ended up with a Maytag - but I got a wonderful price on eBay and it's brand new - but - I also know that you get what you pay for -

jan