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Starting in damp weather

Technical issues not related to a DLOC car marque, eg tyres, ethanol, other car makes, etc. and legal, political and insurance
Chris_R
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Location: Twickenham

Re: Starting in damp weather

Post by Chris_R »

John Hitchins wrote:It may be over the top to suggest but would a Carcoon with a domestic house dehumidifier inside work? The machine extracts and holds water up to half a gallon to dispose of. Just a thought.
It would work, but you really shouldn't need to add anything. The car in my outdoor one stays perfectly dry and condensation free no matter what the weather conditions.

1949startinghandle
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Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2016 1:56 pm

Re: Starting in damp weather

Post by 1949startinghandle »

WD 40 is only a temporary measure, try Waxoyl, slop it on the battery connections, remove the leads and dip the ends in waxoyl, I used to even paint the inside of the distributor cap with it. The only trouble is it picks up dust and dirt, but if done right you can pour a bucket of water over the engine running, and it won't stop. Luckily my garage is quite dry ..

Fossil
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Re: Starting in damp weather

Post by Fossil »

A couple of observations on condensation and garages.

Many moons ago I had a brief experience of keeping a M Major in a large wooden garage with wide door gaps in Ely; we had just moved in to a house and had a dispute with the vendor about the garage, which breached the planning consent for the estate. In cold damp winter weather the conditions inside the garage were really wet and the car covered in dense condensation. Fortunately that garage was removed by the former owner of the house and replaced eventually with a new brick garage and better door. Once the initial phase of cement drying was complete the new garage was much much drier in cold wet weather. So why was the wooden garage so bad?

Second observation, the west of Scotland can be very very wet, sometimes for long periods. Many times in cold damp weather I've found that the cars inside my current (unheated) garage are dry when I first open a door, but if I leave it open they become covered in condensation on all outer surfaces within minutes. This is on any type of body - steel, fibreglass and aluminium. It takes a little longer for the engines to become badly affected. Nonetheless, before the engine rebuild in 2011, the SP was prone to the clutch sticking in damp weather during the winter unless it was started and the clutch exercised every week or three. This hasn't happened since the rebuild, although the last few winters haven't seemed quite as continuously wet as they used to be. The garage construction does include air bricks in the walls so the interior is ventilated but not as much as when a door is left open.

Conclusion ; a sound dry brick or stone garage with close fitting doors seems to keep out much damp air even in very wet conditions, provided that the doors are not opened. Wooden garages are less able to do so. Strange. Perhaps a brick garage has less air flow through it than a wooden one? My conclusion with the wooden garage in Ely was that the car was no worse off if left outside, and perhaps better because the underside was better ventilated by wind, and therefore possibly less wet if not driven. This didn't take into account rain penetration into doors of course, so the final decision of where to park it revolved around security.

Geoff

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John-B
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Re: Starting in damp weather

Post by John-B »

Luckily, the dampness I had in November hasn't been repeated.

We had a rainy spell in November, then a week of below-freezing weather when the damp on the engine must have frozen, then a mild misty spell.

I hadn't run the engine for three weeks and found the engine sopping wet, presumably melted ice. I mopped the engine with a cloth but there was no spark, so I used the hair drier for only a minute or two over the coil, leads, distributor and dynamo and the engine started within two seconds.

Since then I've run the engine until the fan came on at least once a week, twice if it's been very wet weather, and the engine has been dry and started quickly.

My garage has very loose fitting doors so the ventilation is good and it must be nearly the same as leaving the car outside, but rain is kept off. I hope the problem will be rare in future and I must run the engine once a week.

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