Flooded trailer
My neighbour camper just got back from running some errands and found the water running inside her trailer. Water is everywhere !!! She has mopped it up but what else can we do to help out here? She i...
Forum Discussion
I would not try to dry a trailer out with heat only. The additional heat promotes the growth of mold and mildew. There's a chance that the additional heat can actually raise the humidity level higher than exhaust fans can remove it turning the trailer into a little greenhouse. Extract as much as you can visibly see first with anything (towels, shop vac, etc). If you live in a drier climate then the atmosphere can do the majority of work for you. Just open the windows to get the air moving. You can aid this with fans. The moisture will wick up into the drier air and get carried away with the airflow. If you're in a humid climate then a dehumidifier/fans would probably be best. Keep the doors and windows closed or the dehumidifier will be working against the outside air to dry the trailer.
There's also a cool/heat cycling method that works really well. First turn on the A/C to cool down the trailer. When the warm moist air inside hits the A/C coils it will condense and the moisture will get dumped outside. Once the air cools down, it can no longer hold much moisture. This isn't a good thing since there still probably still tons of water in the in the floor. Once it get really chilly, turn the heat back on to warm the trailer back up to 75-80 or so. Since warm air can hold lots of moisture, any remaining moisture will easily reenter the air. Turn the A/C back on to run this air through it. Once again the moisture will condense on the coils and dump outside. Depending on how bad the situation, you may have to do this multiple times. It's basically the same operations dehumidifier without needing one.
Whatever you do, make sure you pick up a hygrometer to monitor the moisture levels on the inside. You can get them pretty much any where and for cheap.
There's also a cool/heat cycling method that works really well. First turn on the A/C to cool down the trailer. When the warm moist air inside hits the A/C coils it will condense and the moisture will get dumped outside. Once the air cools down, it can no longer hold much moisture. This isn't a good thing since there still probably still tons of water in the in the floor. Once it get really chilly, turn the heat back on to warm the trailer back up to 75-80 or so. Since warm air can hold lots of moisture, any remaining moisture will easily reenter the air. Turn the A/C back on to run this air through it. Once again the moisture will condense on the coils and dump outside. Depending on how bad the situation, you may have to do this multiple times. It's basically the same operations dehumidifier without needing one.
Whatever you do, make sure you pick up a hygrometer to monitor the moisture levels on the inside. You can get them pretty much any where and for cheap.
