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We have just returned from a few days in North Wales in our 9 year old Bailey Delamere (Ranger 500/5 type).  On the second night I was horrified to find the wallboards soaking wet in BOTH back corners of the van, under the rear sofas where the floor meets the back, rising up above to cushion level.

The water was clean, the boards felt solid, and there was no smell of damp.  I was horrified and spent the night thinking of what I had read on a post here "damp in a van is like cancer"

I rang a nearby caravan dealer on sunday who suggested it was condensation because it was allegedly minus 7 that night and we had 4 of us sleeping in the van with the heater on full. He also suggested that it might be an onboard water leak.

We have come home now and it seems to be drying out, but can anyone offer any advice, please?  I have had the van 14 months and the warranty has just expired.  Does anyone else with a Bailey get condensation here?

Hope you can help, as the van is still on finance I was heartbroken to think of this years holidays ruined by the cost of repairing damp...

If we use our van in winter, we typically get quite a lot of condensation forming during the first night away - on some of the 'cold surface' wallboards - e.g. around the front window and particularly close to where sleeping occupants have been breathing.  It also mists up the windows quite badly first thing in the morning.

Usually by the second and subsequent nights, the condensation goes away as the fabric of the van warms up and airflow improves.

I think if the moisture is a film or beading droplets on the interier surface, especially where a cold surface meets warm air, it is more likely to be condensation - if it is soaked into the wallboards (from the outside in) then I would be inclined to think of it being damp ingress.

on days like we are having now really cold,any heat on the inside will cause condensation in abundance. we have this problem odd times in march.the more people you have in the van the worse it gets.some people are getting the same in brand new caravans with bunks at the back and bailey are fitting boards on to the walls to give air behind the beds.our old baily had these boards but the new one does not. see

2005 Bailey Pageant Bretagne

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/search.asp?search=condensation&searchMode=allwords&searchIn=Topic&forum=8&searchSort=dateDESC&Submit=Start+Search

It is most likely to be condensation , and normally happens when the caravan has been stored for a while then put into use . If your windows have lots of water proplets on the inside and around places like door rubbers then it's a sign that it's condensation .

atb

Wizard

Hi

We had the same with our Ranger, we had to lift the matresses each morning to "dry" them out. It was only during cold weather though.

Our Sterling has ventilation boards which seem to go somewhere towards reducing it.

Make sure you have plenty of ventilation and I think it will disappear.

HTH

Paul

Phew...thank goodness for your advice.  I feel much better now.  It must have just been because the weather was so bitterly cold and it was the first outing since last October.  I was shocked because it hadnt happened before.

I am so grateful to you guys for putting my mind at rest.  I will definitely get those condensation crystals and might even consider getting a heater vent put in the back of the van.

God bless

Christine

thank you for asking this question. we have just returned from our 1st trip in brand new bailey pageant bretagne it has fixed bunks at rear and rear walls and matresses soaking wet. i have been going spare with worry. i also had small pool of water in shower tray. would this be condensation also as we have warm air vent in bathroom and kept door shut all the time. if not the toilet is leaking !!!

tracey

We always keep dishes of salt in our van, we've always done this, it absorbs all the moisture, seemingly drawng it out of the air into the salt. We change this salt every few weeks & thankfully have never had a problem.On a nice day we open all the windows to allow the air in the van to change.

I hope your problem is only condensation, a damp van must be a nighmare.

BB

We had a Bailey Ranget 500/6 2002 model. The rear bunks were the same. every time we did'nt use the van the matresses were soaked when we went into the van. We got into a habit or putting the matresses/cushions on the floof and placed a crystal de-humidifier in the van that got rid of the problem. We now have a Bailey Sennator Montana and i still lift the cushions when not in use.

steve

Our Ranger got wet at the rear too (and the front corners - low down) in the cold weather.  

 ahh the luxury of ventilation boards.

not cheap but this is the answer to the mattress soaking.old caravanners use a double thickness of corrugated cardboard under the seats.it does work as it keeps the air flow on the underside.also soaks up any water droplets.

http://www.airflowsprings.com/acatalog/index.html