Forget all our inane prattle about making a 'silk purse out of a sow's ear' [expecting a FWC to be an igloo] ...PaulT said:Happyjax has the right idea in moving the cold surface, where condensation can form from moist air, to the outside of the pop-up wall. Either warm the interior surface enough to keep it above the dew point, or add insulation to the outside, or remove the moist air through ventilation.
I remember a winter spent in 100 mile House BC in a cabin with 2x4 walls insulated with sawdust and covered by wood paneling inside. The nail heads holding the paneling to the 2x4's would get very cold in -40 degrees. Each morning there would be a quarter inch frost ball on each nail head even though the cabin was well heated. Our breath was enough to provide sufficient moisture.
Paul
"ice/condensation on water glass" had been mentioned, "windows" were my continuation. The crux of it rests in a belief that double pane windows are more thermally efficient - that the room side surface in winter will be "warmer" - than a single pane in the same conditions and that this would aid in reduced condensation and heat loss from the structure. My comment on an insulated softwall as a desirable replacement to the current, single layer type involves this same principle, and belief.Wallowa said:Odd you would mention double pane window....we live in a very dry climate and our double paned windows accumulate ice on the inside on cold nights behind thermal shades...as to what you described, air will still be between the outside vinyl of the camper wall and the outside of the soft wall fabric...hence ice/condensation will form...
Good point. We don't. My area has been wet of late, with a forecast for 2-3" of rain tomorrow, hardly newsworthy here.we live in a very dry climate
Ah, the 50s and 60s....you forgot the cowl vent in front of the windshield...push the lever arm under the dash to open...for one I miss wind wings...you could roll down the side windows and not get blasted if the wind wings were open...way back the bottom of the windshield could be tilted out...but alas there were the vacuum windshield wipers...going up hill, forget about it!DavidGraves said:Way back when.... in the earliest days of motoring ( the sixties ) we were taught to open the little triangular Vent windows to help defrost a windshield....not sure but it seemed to work....with cold air from outside the vehicle.
David Graves
Good idea. It is a bit of a puzzle how to access that end of the tank. Looking down in there beside the tank I did see a nut driver and a pen I'd dropped some time ago and remembered why they are still there...access is really tight!klahanie said:^ cjudson, can you access the water tank easily and add a simple inline shutoff valve inside the camper ? then for freezing temps, close the inside valve and open the outside drain to clear any water between the valves.
There have been a few threads about water winterizing and replacing that drain spigot. Might be some other ideas buried in them that could work for you.
Found it. The tube runs along the left side along the floor under a piece of wood I thought was just trim. Not sure how to reference the post by Stan that shows it, but search on: "The 20 gallon fresh water tank drain runs along the floor (in most floor plans)".klahanie said:^ cjudson, can you access the water tank easily and add a simple inline shutoff valve inside the camper ? then for freezing temps, close the inside valve and open the outside drain to clear any water between the valves.
There have been a few threads about water winterizing and replacing that drain spigot. Might be some other ideas buried in them that could work for you.
Thanks for the tip. I just spoke to Dometic support (very helpful and personable support, FWIW). They said there was no recall for my unit, they don't recommend using it un temperatures below "20-30F", and recommend running it on 12VDC while driving.Mighty Dodge Ram said:The Dometic 3-way in our RV had a recall to add a light gauge sheet metal barrier that does exactly what you’re talking about. Might be worth reaching out to them or one of their dealers.
A relighted sounds like a great idea no matter the case. Any idea where to find one for this Dometic unit? The backside of the unit in your photos looks the same as my 2193RB.craig333 said:
I think it was about $50 back then...patrickkidd said:Wow that’s expensive! How well did it work? Were you able to lessen the original problem at all by protecting the flame with playing etc?