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Subject Topic: Leaky groundsheet. New footprint needed? Post Reply Post New Topic
PersonAge4rcard
02/9/2018 at 11:53am
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So my new Coleman Instant Tourer had its first outing. Generally fine. Though when packing up, noticed small amounts of water seeping up through the groundsheet. These matched exactly where the legs of my campbed and the wheels of my camping trolley had been. No signs of leakage elsewhere on the Gsht.

Said bed and trolley had castors and tent carpet between them and the groundsheet. I can’t see any signs of tears or other damage to it. However, I

was using the footprint for my other , smaller tent , and wonder if this might have somehow contributed to the leaks as not all the surface area would have been covered . Any advice? I think I’ll need to put a new footprint top of the shopping list for next year!


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PersonAge4rcard
02/9/2018 at 11:54am
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Forgot to say that the ground I was pitched on was quite bumpy. Prob used as grazing land most of the time.


PersonFrancais
02/9/2018 at 5:04pm
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Yep if your tent has got a SiG or ZiG, it needs wrapping up in cotton wool!

To protect our ZiG, we put down a cheap £2 disposable footprint aka tarp, and on top of that goes a 1mm thick Butyl Rubber groundsheet aka pond liner!

Inside the tent we have wall to wall Outwell tent carpets, somewhat modified to fit, in both the bedroom pod and living area.

Needless to say the ZiG has remained as new for over 10 years, and we have never experienced any water ingress issues.


PersonAge4rcard
02/9/2018 at 5:49pm
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Ok, thanks. So looks as if I’ll need an extra layer under the tent! I’ve several cheapie tarps already and will invest in a generic thick groundsheet for next time My original Vango was a Eurohike one cut in half but the new tent is a good 20m2.


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Personlidds0
02/9/2018 at 9:37pm
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I suspect it's condensation which has just travelled to the lowest points inside your tent. The Instant Tourer is a single skin (no inner) tent, isn't it? It's really important to keep some vents open and, even then, you'll still get condensation in a synthetic tent. Check out the Cross Camping YouTube video and you'll see what I mean!


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PersonAge4rcard
02/9/2018 at 10:01pm
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Good point. Actually had less condensation problems than I’d anticipated. I set bed and trolley well back from the sides of the tent, and the only bother was when we had rainy, windy weather when a little moisture came in when the front wall was blown against the end of the bed. (I’ll put up some photos, you can see where I’ve covered it with a bin bag!). If it was condensation, then why would it only accumulate between the footprint and the groundsheet?

Separate point- I’d been forewarned about possible leakage problems via the door from reading reviews and threads here and and done some seam sealing beforehand. Think I will need to rig up some sort of porch next time, so that the rain doesn’t come in every time the door’s opened. My old Vango tarp was being used as a rainhood over the crown of the tent.


Personfoggers
03/9/2018 at 11:26am
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duplicate post (no idea why!)


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Personfoggers
03/9/2018 at 11:27am
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If it was windy and rainy then the rain could have been blown in between the footprint and the tent groundsheet, especially as the ground was very uneven as you described it. I often find that when packing up our pyramid which has a sewn in groundsheet. But its far easier to wipe a bit of clean water off the SIG than scrubbing mud, leaves, wormcasts etc!


Personlidds0
04/9/2018 at 8:47am
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Apologies if I misread the initial post, was the water inside the tent or underneath, trapped between the SIG and the footprint? If the latter, I totally agree with Foggers; driving rain and uneven or sloping ground can result in water being trapped between the two, even when the footprint isn't protruding.


PersonDeborahTurner
04/9/2018 at 9:04pm
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Condensation between the carpet bottom and the groundsheet? Gathering where the bed legs and wheels made a dip.


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PersonAge4rcard
04/9/2018 at 10:18pm
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That’s about it. When I lifted the carpet I found pools of water gathering where the bed legs and wheels made a dip. Now where else. Assuming it came up from water trapped between. The SIG and the footprint as liddsO and foggers have suggested. Checked the SIG, no signs of s tear.


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PersonDeborahTurner
05/9/2018 at 7:09am
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I don’t think the water will have come from the ground underneath, through the groundsheet.

But either condensation formed between the groundsheet and carpet, and pooled, or else condensation from the walls of your tent made its way down the side, under your carpet and pooled in the dips.

Condensation in single skin tents does happen. It won’t be a leak.


PersonBob61
05/9/2018 at 10:11am
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Your tent groundsheet would normally be around 10,000mm HH which is pretty leak proof. Your footprint would probably be around the same if you bought a waterproof one.

My take on it is that water managed to get between the footprint and the groundsheet and pooled where the table legs were. Cold puddle below the groundsheet...warm moist air above the groundsheet = condensation inside.

A second possibility is that even at 10,000mm HH your tent is not a boat and if sat in water for any length of time it could eventually seep through where the groundsheet is stretched by the weight of the furniture.

How the water got between the footprint and the groundsheet is something you need to work out. Is the footprint not waterproof or could water have managed to get onto it from outside? Only you know the answer to that.

Post last edited on 05/09/2018 10:19:03


PersonDeborahTurner
05/9/2018 at 10:34am
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Also water blown in through the door when opened in the rain could have got between SIG and carpet.

Was the water between SIG and carpet, or beteeen SIG and footprint?


Personlidds0
06/9/2018 at 7:21pm
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If you've used a pvc-backed tent carpet, you can still get condensation underneath (not just from the sides and roof of your tent). Where warm air (inside the tent) hits cold surface (the ground) you can get condensation on whatever is in-between.

We once put a picnic rug on a solid pic groundsheet in a caravan awning, the kids say on it and we had a fan heater on to take the chiĺl off on a typical UK evening. The kids went to bed, I picked up the picnic rug and it was dripping wet underneath. I assume it was a combination of warm air and warm bodies meeting cold earth. I suspect you've experienced a similar thing.


PersonAge4rcard
06/9/2018 at 9:29pm
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Deborah, the water I saw was between the carpet and the SIG.

lidds0 sounds like that’s what might have happened. It didn’t bother me, though it would have done if the bags stored under my bed had got soaked. They were fine and the clothes inside them stayed dry!

Thanks for answers, all. I’ll take it all on board next time .



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