T2590 Frost Underneath Lenolium?

[jaybird1016]

This is the second winter, that I have had this camper. For some reason this year, there is frost in between the lenolium and the sub floor. We live in Middle TN and so far the coldest nights we have had is mid teens. I didn't notice anything last year, but the heater was on most of the year because we were remodeling the inside during the winter. This unit is a four seasons model with an inclosed underbelly, and when we put the new sub floor and lenolium in we put as much or more insulation than factory. There is no leaks anywhere in the camper. I have the small damp rid canisiters thru out also. There is a very small creek about 50 to 60 ft from where my camper is parked at the house. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas or thoughts on why this might be happening, and should I be worried about it?

[JohnB]

Hi Jaybird

2 things stuck out in your post. Enclosed underbelly and fours seasons. I happen to have enclosed tanks for what I believe Sunline called “extended season” camping. The rest of the camper is standard, no other true 4 seasons upgrades, like dual pan windows, thicker doors, better insulation. You are the 1st one I have found that has enclosed tanks in a TT. The fiver’s have them but not ran into to many TT’s. I would be real curious to see pics some day of the tanks compartments on how they did it

Do you believe yours is 4 seasons with the upgrades? If so I'm really interested in how Sunline did them.

Now to your frost issue. H'mm that is a new one. There is obviously moisture under the linoleum. How did it get there?

We winter camp and part of it is inside moisture control. We always crack one of the roof vents a good 1 inch at the opening end to let the moisture out or else it will collect all over everything on the walls. Venting like I mentioned has kept that in check. Some use dehumidifiers if they have the power to run them.

Have to done any work or camping in the trailer during cold temps and not vented? That may be the path on how it is ended up there, it is trying to escape with no means of doing so. I do not know if the Damp Ride can keep up with people inside and camping and not venting.

Also how did you come to find the frost? Do you see it all over or only by certain areas?

Hope this helps

John

[jaybird1016]

Hey John,
I must be wrong about the four seasons. I do know it is a fully enclosed underbelly & tanks, but from what I can tell they are normal doors & windows.

As far as the frost, as of now the camper has been parked about a month with the roof vents closed, that could definetly be the problem. I have not been in the camper in a couple of weeks, but went in over the weekend to check on it, and could hear the frost crunching under the lenolium. I removed a piece of floor trim to look under the lenoliem and there was frost underneath.

Thanks for the help

[JohnB]

H'mm the roof vents where closed? When storing for the winter I do close the roof vents on purpose. At least from my way of thinking. In the summer I leave them open to let the heat out but not in the winter. Dampness can come in and in your case make your Damp ride work even harder.

Odd it some how picked the floor to condense under....... From what I know, in times of heavy dampness in the weather outside I would close up the vents.

The odd thing is, if the camper was closed up how did heavy enough moisture get in? While these things are not air tight for sure, they do help keep a lot of the damp out.

I don't know or have any good guesses at this point.

How is the weather in your area? Is your area naturally damp? While central Ohio has zero problems growing mold on house roofs and side walks I have not run into any camper issues from it.

If this was in the spring I have better answers. I know here in the winter the metal (tractor or anything else) in my outside shed turns the same temperature as the outside. It can be 12 degrees F and solid all the way through. Come a balmy spring morning the concrete in the shed and the steel will actually sweat when it gets to about 36 or 38 outside. The metal and concrete will still be, well frozen cold and the high moisture will condense on it. The camper that lives outside does not seem to have that problem. The steel frame warms up quicker and this sweating does not occur or as much that I can see it like it does indoors in the non heated shed.

Hope this helps and if you find out anything please post back. This one is odd.

John

[Sunline Fan]

I wonder if something has leaked or burst that caused water to leak out and it happened to get under the lino and then froze? I've never heard of this either.

[clueless campers]

Maybe I'm way off, but jaybird states in his original post

Originally Posted by jaybird1016

I didn't notice anything last year, but the heater was on most of the year because we were remodeling the inside during the winter. This unit is a four seasons model with an inclosed underbelly, and when we put the new sub floor and lenolium in we put as much or more insulation than factory.

any chance the moisture is trapped from the new floor installation?

[Poppy & Nana]

could it be the adhesive material used with the new install of the linoleum? Perhaps it had a high liquid content?

[jaybird1016]

Sunline Fan: No possible way that anything could have busted, no water hooked up, camper is winterzied, water lines blowed out, etc. No leaks as far as I can tell.

Clueless camper: I don't see how anything could have got trapped underneath because when we took the old lenolium, old subfloor, and old insulation out. We rented 2 dehumidifers, ran them for 2 days then went back with new insulation, sub floor & lenolium.

Poppy & Nana: As far as the adhesive for the lenolium, I didn't use any. I cut it to size, stapled it down around the outer edges, and put shoe molding around it.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm just at wits end on trying to figure out why there is frost/moisture underneath there. If it ever decides to quit raining/snowing/sleeting and get above 30 degrees, I'm gonna take another look around to see if I can find anything. Thanks for the help.

[Jim-Bev-2363]

Jaybird, Don't know if you solved your problem or not but if your having freezing under the lenolium your getting freezing air past your insulation somehow. Maybe a opening around a pipe hole in the floor of a storage compartment, or someother opening.