Most RV owners are familiar with the potential problems of water intrusion. While the proliferation of aluminum framing and impervious composite materials has come a long way, water is still a long term threat via mold, cabinetry rot, and sidewall de-lamiation.
To combat the water assault, we recommend routinely checking and maintaining your camper seals. Always be on the look out for the sights and smells (on the smell out?) for internal leaks. For example, if it’s raining buckets, vigorously inspect the interior of your camper to see if any water is coming in.
Angela: Water you doing?
Gordon: Leaping around looking for leaks!
Harley: Oh brother.
Let’s say you’ve been vigilant about maintaining your seals and routinely inspecting the inside for signs of trouble and everything is high and dry. That’s it, right? Well, no. Condensation from breathing and burning propane can bring a considerable amount of moisture into your campers. All that caulking and gawking and you still have water problems? Yup.
If it’s particularly cold outside, we will need to wipe the metal frame of our cabover escape hatch in the mornings. It will be literally dripping with condensation. This can be mitigated by cracking open the escape hatch and another window inside the camper, but a considerable amount of condensation still occurs. It’s always advisable to have a little cross-ventilation when sleeping in a camper.
Under the same weather conditions, we have also experienced interior condensation around the metal framed windows. On rare occasion, this too needs to be wiped to prevent the moisture from dripping.
Having talked to numerous industry leaders and experienced truck camper owners about this topic, the common wisdom is that condensation is just part of truck camping, and not a big deal. Find it, wipe it, and forget it. I agree, but any time there’s potential for moisture in a truck camper we should remain focused on preventative measures.
TCM reader, Donald Pryor, has a slightly different take on why we should avoid condensation in our truck campers.
“Camping in cooler climates can cause condensation on the inside of windows and walls. Unlike larger RVs that have much larger interior volume, truck campers seem to suffer from from internal dampness magnified by high humid areas. People can sweat out as much as a quart of moisture in as little as eight hours while watching TV. This can lead to mold and possible sickness. How do your readers deal with the air quality and condensation issues?”
As someone who is allergic to mold, I see Don’s point. We may be chasing our tails on this topic, but let’s give it a shot. This week’s Question of the Week is, “How do you prevent condensation in your truck camper?”
Click here to read how readers prevent condensation in their truck campers.
