Seeking enlightenment !! I bought a Hi Gear Atom 3 a couple of days ago which has a hydrostatic head rating of 2000. Asked the assistant in GO what this rating meant and so I decided, given all the rain we have been having recently, to buy some additonal weatherproofing stuff to up its waterproofness, Nikwax Tent and Gear Solarproof. Treated the tent once pitched on Friday. We had about 20 mins of rain that night, no problem with leaks. Then we had an hour or two of heavyish rain this morning (but not what I would call torrential and no wind) and it started to leak by the small air vent at the back and also in the porch area and from the apex. It was definitely not condensation. I saw on other posts on this forum that a new tent shouldn't leak or need water/weatherproofing but the hydrostatic ratings must mean it will leak after x amount of rainfall has hit the tent? Do you think it's faulty or I just got more rain than it is designed to withstand? Can anyone explain what the hydro head ratings mean in reality? ie a hydrostatic head rating of 2000 should tolerate how many hours of heavy non stop rain before it will leak? I was very pleased with it until this happened...
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I'm no expert on HH but if its rating is 2000, I believe that means that it can withstand 2000mm (2 meters) of water pressure from above. Which is a fair amount when you think about it. In this case I'd be surprised of your tent would leak from what you've described.
I would personally never treat a new tent, or even one I'd owned for some time unless I felt it needed it.
I do know that polycotton or cotton tents need a few outings in the rain before they reach their most waterproof, but I am not sure about polyester. Condensation is often mistaken for a leak. Especially in polyester tents. Make sure you ventilate as much as you can whilst keeping dry.
Did Go Outdoors suggest that you added proofing to the tent? It sounds like a bit of an odd thing to do on a new tent.
The minimum recommended HH for the UK is 1500hh, our old Vango Venture was 1500hh and it performed perfectly well in torrential rain in the UK and in Europe - in fact we chose it in an absolutely torrential rainstorm at our local camping shop as we were so impressed with the performance of the demo tent.
I'd be surprised if you have been in rain in the UK recently that would cause the fabric of the tent itself to leak.
Did you look at where exactly the tent was leaking? Was it through the vent? Was it through the seam where the vent has been sewn in? Why are you sure it wasn't condensation?
I suspect, you've probably invalidated the warranty on the tent by proofing it but try talking to Go and see what they say.
When I asked the assistant at GO about the ratings, he explained about the metres of water , ie 2000 was 2 m but when I asked about what this meant in reality he wasn't sure how many hours of rain it would tolerate (just made it sound like an hour of heavy rain would be pushing it to stay dry with a 1500 rating) but said if I treated it with this stuff then it would increase its waterproofing...so that's what I did. I thought it might be condensation to start with but was looking at where the drops were coming from and could see the water drop trail on the outside of the tent at the apex come through the fabric to the inside. Around the vent area it seemed to come through just above the seams. The porch on this one is quite long and again I could see the water beading on the outside and pop through to the inside. Does proofing a new tent in fact do more harm than good? (many thanks for your replies BTW, very helpful)
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Technically 2000 HH for the UK/Europe is fine as anything over 1500 HH is considered waterproof. Only a few years ago most family tents had a rating of only 3000 HH. The advice about using a product to give additional waterproofing was incorrect as you should not need to do this for a new tent or indeed even an older polyester tent.
Condensation can easily be mistaken for leaking especially if the outside temperature is cooler than the inside of the tent. Any water vapour produced from breathing or present in the air will condense on the cooler tent fabric on the inside of the tent. All tents suffer from condensation however some more than others depending on the fabric and ventilation. If you are sure it’s a leak (constant dripping water in a rain shower) then I would take the tent back. Go Outdoors are fairly good at dealing with returns and they will probably offer a full exchange or refund.
Don’t get obsessed with the HH value as long as it’s over 2000/3000 it will be fine.
We had an Atom 3 for a bit (sold as it was too low for us oldies). In the instructions it advised sealing the seams before use... so I did, using the sealant supplied with the tent, and applying it on the inside of the seams as advised.
We only used it in the rain once after this, but had no problems as I recall. What do your instructions say?
It seemed odd to have to do this with a new tent but hey, it worked.
As your leak points do seem to be near seams it sounds like seam sealant is the answer. We had a tent that leaked where hanging points had been sewn into the seams. The water seamed to 'wick' through and then drip down. Seam sealant solved the problem straight away.
... but do make sure you note the instructions about how long you leave the sealant to dry before you put the tent away!!
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many thanks for your replies - I took the tent back to GO today and they agreed I should not have been told to use the weather proofing stuff on a new tent and exchanged it for another one (the same as I liked the design). Will see how we get on next time with it: may just have been bad luck. My OH who knows more about camping and tents than me said it was definitely a leak not condensation so maybe we were just unlucky. Brilliant forum BTW !
many thanks for your replies - I took the tent back to GO today and they agreed I should not have been told to use the weather proofing stuff on a new tent and exchanged it for another one (the same as I liked the design). Will see how we get on next time with it: may just have been bad luck. My OH who knows more about camping and tents than me said it was definitely a leak not condensation so maybe we were just unlucky. Brilliant forum BTW !
Another point people may not be aware of is that Nikwax Tent and Gear Solar Proof is to prevent degradation due to UV, it has a water repellant function, which increases the beading effect of rain, but it is not waterproofer. The waterproofness(?) is the laminated layer on the inside of the tent.
HTH
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