Garage Conditions

[franrca]

Hi All

I thought I was doing things right in my garage...dehumidifier (albeit a cheapy one), Hamilton Classics breathable cover, heater primed for sub 5 degrees turn on etc...but I am finding that when I take my cover off the car, I am finding a greasy mist across a lot of it, which is most obvious on the chrome and the glass. This takes some elbow grease to remove.

Does anyone else find this? I'm thinking it's a temperature problem (i.e. humidity), and am a bit disappointed that the cover isn't allowing breathability etc. I'm considering leaving the cover off and just letting it get dusty

Richard

[BigCatXJS]

"greasy mist" - mmm - I sometimes get this on the Merc that was parked-up outside under an All Weather Classic Additions Utra Outdoor cover. Given that its had to endure heavy snow / rain - some moisture and subsequent evapouration mist marks are to be expected especially on the glass areas. It soon wipes off with some detailing spray for the paintwork and Autoglym glass cleaner (the blue cream one) without much effort.

However, in the garage is my XJ-S with an indoor cover and then a light use outdoor cover (both Classic Additions). I never find any moisture underneath despite there being a self condensing tumble dryer in the double garage.

Could it be that your cover is such a loose fit that it is letting moisture seep in? I'm sure you mentioned that you lost your family pets / children under it once . Is your garage drafty and causing the cover to flap around (lets hope not)? Or are you ocassionally using the car and then putting it to bed partly wet?

Cheers, Rich

[franrca]

Thanks Rich - well, the cover is loose-ish fitting, but t is elasticated at the ends and isn't exactly wafting about.

I have had a bit of a gap at the botton of the garage doors which I have now removed by means of a spiffy draft excluder, so I'm wondering if colder air was wafting in under the door and hitting the (very) marginally warmer air in the garage and causing the warmer air to rise and create mild condensation within the cover.

I suspect that sooner or later I'm going to need to invest in a proper dehumidifier...for the moment, the cover remains off.

[Tintin]

I thought I was doing things right in my garage...dehumidifier (albeit a cheapy one), Hamilton Classics breathable cover, heater primed for sub 5 degrees turn on etc...but I am finding that when I take my cover off the car, I am finding a greasy mist across a lot of it, which is most obvious on the chrome and the glass. This takes some elbow grease to remove.

Does anyone else find this? I'm thinking it's a temperature problem (i.e. humidity), and am a bit disappointed that the cover isn't allowing breathability etc. I'm considering leaving the cover off and just letting it get dusty

You may be expecting too much from your set-up Richard. The best way to keep moisture at bay is to raise temperature, and +5 is too low. I would suggest +10 as an absolute minimum. I have never been a fan of portable dehumidifiers - they collect a lot of water but don't seem to have much effect on the environment around them. I have a similar arrangement to you and also find a film on the bodywork on removing the covers when the car is stored in winter months - in the summer ambient temperatures are high enough that the problem doesn't occur. I view covers (used inside) as protection against insects, flaking paint from the ceiling and the like, but don't expect the bodywork to come out in a "just polished" condition.

Hope this may help.

Robbie

[PPV]

Hi, I use a dehumidifier and have a quite well sealed garage but do not use a cover as I have had problems in the past. However, when the temperature drops the dehumidifier obviously does not work so i turn it on the heat setting to try and keep things dry. Seems to work somewhat but because of dropping temps then the car does get a film on it but I find a quick clean with waterless cleaner gets the film off. During warmer weather have no such issues and I find the dehumidifier does help prevent internal section corrosion (coupled with a good dose of preservation products like waxoyl etc etc).
Regards,

[Tintin]

Ideally the internal garage temp needs to be kept several degrees above external air temp. It should be possible to wire 2x thermostats to achieve an automatic set differential. Take this morning for example - the external air temp was +12 but the internal garage temp was only +6 (because a spell of prolonged cold weather was replaced by a day of mild humid air). Result - when the garage was opened up condensation started to form on the relatively cold internal surfaces.

Humidistats are available - and it may be possible to wire these in to the heater controls so that heating is switched on at the appropriate humidity level.

Robbie

[franrca]

Just came back to this thread after a break annd realised I hadn't thanked all for your input - so here it is...thanks very much and apologies for the delay. As mentioned by others...summer months = good. I'm still considering leaving the cover off pretty much permanently now as I see the mist issue (in colder times) as being worse that a dust issue.

[3.8etypephil]

I have just had a friend / customer's XJR in for various works, from me it is heading to a sprayer for rectification of an unsightly bloom caused by moisture being trapped under one of these covers. To be frank, cars will survive better exposed to the elements where air can circulate, and they have the opportunity to even occasionally dry out thoroughly, than "protected" by anything less than a properly controlled environment.

[BigCatXJS]

I'm not too sure about leaving a XJS out in the elements. We are talking mild steel and limited / no galvanisation protection in most cases especially pre-facelift examples. Mine would most likely have rusted to pieces years ago had it sat outside all year, not to mention UV damage to the interior. The XJ40 is suffering from this (and rust) as it lives outside all year. With the XJS, when it rains or the car washed, water often collects in awkward to access places that are difficult to dry out. As such, repeated exposure will unfortunately lead to rust if not kept in check. Breathable covers used indoors are fine, but there is a duty of care to put a dry, waxed or detailed clean car under it. Personally I have used an indoor cover with an outdoor cover on the XJS in my garage with some dehumidifying tablets inside the cabin and boot. This arrangement has worked fine the last 10 years. My biggest challenge is the bumper chrome work which is not as smooth as it was 10 years ago - so at some point some re-chroming work will be required.

I don't doubt that some vehicles have incurred damage through the use of covers, but I'd suspect that this could be more with outdoor covers (I use one on the CLK) and very wet/damp cars and/or cars with poor paint / lacquer condition as there is more scope for things to go wrong.

Cheers, Rich