Wet under mattress

[Schilly]

We just finished our first camping trip. It was a success. We noticed that when we folded the beds in that the surface underneath each mattress was very wet. On both beds. Is this normal? Does it have to do with he outside/inside temperatures?

[norty1]

It might help to tell us what type camper you have.

[TWP723]

Either that or someone has a bladder problem! lol

Most likely condensation. What was the temp in/out?? And what kinda camper ya have?

[bedrck46]

he has a Jay Feather x17z.


Based on his post and saying "we folded the beds in" it was obvious its a hybrid

[mike837go]

Excessive moisture INSIDE an RV is generally considered unacceptable.


If it was just condensation, figure a way to get better airflow through the area.


Otherwise find the leak and fix it!

[Schilly]

Thanks. It's a x17z

We had the heat on at night and the outside temperature was somewhere around 40°
Since we were gone most of the day we didn't leave the windows by the bunk areas unzipped but closed.
But yeah we had to use a towel to dry off those areas.

[TWP723]

That may have been the problem. The heat escaping through the bunk ends and the cold temps outside seem like the culprit. That used to happen to me in my Coleman alot. Unzipping the ends should elminate most of the moisture. But have it known, when temps are that low and the heat within the unit is high, there will always be condensation. Venting is a must.

[Swardy]

That usually happens in our unit when it's chilly out. Usually a little worse when it's chilly enough to turn on the heat!
In those cases. I make sure to lift the mattresses up for an hour or two in the morning - it dries pretty quickly.
It's best to crack a window or vent to keep the condensation down to a minimum.

[bucko]

This issue of moisture around and under the matresses is a known problem, especially when it is cold outside, and you have the heat on. Some suggestions to keep this moisture to a minimum have been to unzip the sides or corner windows by an inch or two to allow airflow from the inside out. Others have suggested a dehumidifier.

I open the zippers at each end about two inches worth; this has helped keep the moisture buildup to a small amount.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Something like this might help.

[RedHorse1]

We kept the bath vent open in the 23B all the time and never had that problem. We also seldom ran the furnace, using a space heater instead. We've been good down to abt 25deg with no probs. We use a down comforter in cool weather and like it chilly at night.

[norty1]

Originally Posted by Lady Fitzgerald

Something like this might help.

Looks like it is online sales only at $12 a lf. May be worth the $$$$.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

We kept the bath vent open in the 23B all the time and never had that problem. We also seldom ran the furnace, using a space heater instead. We've been good down to abt 25deg with no probs. We use a down comforter in cool weather and like it chilly at night.

We had moisture problems on the inside of the windows in our van conversion and class-B... until we opened a window/ceiling vent a bit. Doing that didn't drop the temp a noticeable amount, but did remove excess moisture in the air and ended the dripping windows.

[glsimms]

Originally Posted by RedHorse1

We kept the bath vent open in the 23B all the time and never had that problem. We also seldom ran the furnace, using a space heater instead. We've been good down to abt 25deg with no probs. We use a down comforter in cool weather and like it chilly at night.

Originally Posted by oldmanAZ

We had moisture problems on the inside of the windows in our van conversion and class-B... until we opened a window/ceiling vent a bit. Doing that didn't drop the temp a noticeable amount, but did remove excess moisture in the air and ended the dripping windows.

We open the bath vent as well, and use a space heater too. The space heater will almost run us out if we set it too high.

[Husker Red]

We had that issue with our hybrid too, but the bigger problem was water dripping on us from the canvas top while we slept. This only happened in cold weather when we were running the heater. It's condensation from the humid interior on the cold surfaces. As others mentioned venting should help a lot.

[Swardy]

Originally Posted by Husker Red

We had that issue with our hybrid too, but the bigger problem was water dripping on us from the canvas top while we slept. This only happened in cold weather when we were running the heater. It's condensation from the humid interior on the cold surfaces. As others mentioned venting should help a lot.

Oh yes, we've been rained on in the middle of the night from the condensation on the tent ends. It's a real unexpected refresher!

In the morning after a cold night and there is a substantial amount of condensation on the tent end, I like to hide onder the covers and tap the tent so my wife gets rained on. Then I escape through the screen and run for my life.

[TWP723]

Originally Posted by Swardy

Oh yes, we've been rained on in the middle of the night from the condensation on the tent ends. It's a real unexpected refresher!

In the morning after a cold night and there is a substantial amount of condensation on the tent end, I like to hide onder the covers and tap the tent so my wife gets rained on. Then I escape through the screen and run for my life.

Wife: "He has to come back sometime."

[Allamuchy Joe]

We didn't notice any moisture in our 2012 X17Z. It had mattresses with a plastic coating on the bottom. However, our new 2015 X23B has Denver mattresses and we then noticed it. I am not sure why.

Our solution was to add a thin air mattress under the regular mattress. When we are off the bed, the air mattress pushing up and allows some air flow underneath, thereby allowing for the bed end to dry. We'll see how it goes this fall.

[Husker Red]

Originally Posted by Allamuchy Joe

We didn't notice any moisture in our 2012 X17Z. It had mattresses with a plastic coating on the bottom. However, our new 2015 X23B has Denver mattresses and we then noticed it. I am not sure why.

Our solution was to add a thin air mattress under the regular mattress. When we are off the bed, the air mattress pushing up and allows some air flow underneath, thereby allowing for the bed end to dry. We'll see how it goes this fall.

The condensation is probably from water vapor coming off our bodies during the night. It travels through the mattress and forms drops on the cold surface of the bunk. I would guess that the condensation is there with either mattress, but with the plastic bottom mattress it gets trapped inside the mattress so we don't see it.