keeping truck shell drier when sleeping in it?

[nctacoma]

Does anybody have any ideas on keeping the back of a truck a bit drier when you are sleeping in it?
We have two people sleeping in the back of the truck and it is a bit moist most mornings.
We sleep with the windows open when we can, but being the pacific northwest for the past 5 weeks during what seems like the rainiest season ever that is not always possible.

We always air out/open the windows when we are driving when it is not raining to dry things out. We have tried a candle that heats up a tera cotta pot to absorb the moisture(works somewhat as a heater, not as a drier though). The truck cap is carpeted so that helps, but the condensation is pretty visible on the windows and metal fittings each morning.

I just don't want to start growing mushrooms or mold in the back of the truck.

I am looking forward to when we are in a region where our breathe is not visible at night and we don't have to worry about this as much.

Any suggestions or ideas? It is not really a big deal as we have been dealing with it for a few months but just something I was curious about in terms of how other people deal with it.
I guess 40sq. feet of living space isn't that much for two people, but I know this happened when we had our truck camper as well.

 

[windsock]

My brother had a 12V dehumidifier for his small yacht. It worked well enough to maintain a dry living space in an otherwise damp environment in all seasons. Don't know where he got it from but he says they are not hard to find in marine shops - ask around or google I guess.

 

[Bogo]

Ventilate is the solution. Before boats got fancy things like dehumidifiers they had vents. Vents designed to work even when it was storming out and waves were breaking over the deck. You don't need to go that extreme, but a top side RV vent. RVs have been wrestling with this issue and heat build up for ages. There are covers to go over a standard 14" escape hatch vent, and fully rain proof ventilation systems. You could also put a vent with fan into the back wall/hatch and a couple passive ones in the front wall. Any vent you put in should have an ability to fully close it for dusty roads.

Another option would be rain louvers for your side windows. A strong wind would be able to blow rain in, but most times rain would shed fine.

 

[rusty_tlc]

It's a trade off, ventilate and get a chill from drafts or don't and get wet then get a chill. The best solution is lots of ventilation and a good sleeping system, be it down bags or quilts.

 

[sseaman]

You could use some small 12v fans, like from a PC to draw air out. This is used a lot with small teardrop campers. They are cheap and don't draw much power.

 

[Desert Dan]

Is it condensation?
Open the windows and less heavy breathing?
Can your crack the tailgate window to get more air flow?

 

[Bogo]

You could use some small 12v fans, like from a PC to draw air out. This is used a lot with small teardrop campers. They are cheap and don't draw much power.

If you are wanting to use a quiet computer fan, Digikey has the decibel and cubic feet per minute numbers for the computer fans they sell. The fan sizes I'd design for are 120mm SQ by 38mm thick, or 80mm SQ by 38mm thick. 38mm is the normal maximum thickness for the two most common fan sizes. 80mm square is more common now unless the computer manufacturer is going for the ultimate in quite, them 120mm often gets used. Any thinner fan will fit in the 38mm thick area so if you need a replacement it should be available from nearly any computer scrap heap.

For continuous ventilation, for each person in a house they recommend 7.5cfm. Who knows what you really need in a cruiser or RV. For two people that is 15CFM. For the house square footage they say to divide it by 100 so a 120 sq ft van the rules say to add an additional 1.2CFM. I'd go for a bit more CFM, but who knows what you really need. It may pay to have two fans, each one alone meats the minimum. That way you can have allot more airflow if needed. For intermittent ventilation they suggest going to allot higher CFM rates. 4X for only having the fan on for 50% of the time.

At Digikey http://www.digikey.com/ click on "Product Index" and scroll down to fans. Click on "Fans- DC" for DC fans. Select the "In stock" check box, and also select 12VDC for the voltage. You can select other parameters to use for narrow down the selection. If there are more than ? number you will be brought back to the same screen with only the parts that meet your previous selected criteria. From there you can narrow it down further or have it display them in a paged list.

 

[Riptide]

For ventilation, it's hard to go wrong with a Fantastic Vent fan. Variable speed, some models with a remote. To set up good ventilation, you match the fan speed with how far you crack open a window. At slow speed, which is probably sufficient for a truck cap, you'd hardly hear it, yet still have plenty of air exchange.

I put one in our camper; highly recommended. Their customer service is hard to beat; in the process of fitting mine, Bob, the owner, sent me several interior garnishes, free of charge. Rare in these times...

www.fantasticvent.com

 

[riveroceanandmountain]

Ventilation even when it rains, as others have said is key....

I put a Maxxfan in the last trailer I owned. It is just like a fantastic fan but comes with built in rain shield. I thought it was a brilliant idea. No matter what the weather we could have the fan running to ventilate.

I am working on a smaller camper design, and plan to put a MaxxFan in.

just my .02

 

[Jeff Wanamog]

Sound levels

How was the sound level between the two fans? Is the Maxxfan any quieter?
Thanks.
Jeff

Ventilation even when it rains, as others have said is key....

I put a Maxxfan in the last trailer I owned. It is just like a fantastic fan but comes with built in rain shield. I thought it was a brilliant idea. No matter what the weather we could have the fan running to ventilate.

I am working on a smaller camper design, and plan to put a MaxxFan in.

just my .02