Karcher window vac

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Bought a Karcher a while back, great around the house or in the MH shower but useless on a Transit based motor due to the angle of the screen/dash. You have to tip it up to get into the corners and along the base so the water runs back out. Now using Taylormade externals, no condensation and loads warmer. We also buy loads of cheap little dehumidifier boxes which work well.
Tompa.
 
hairydog said:
I know about this stuff: clearly a lot better than you do.

You are correct: water vapour is not a problem in itself. It is only a problem when the air is saturated and the water condenses. As you rightly say, this will happen at the coldest point that the air comes into contact with. In most motorhomes, that is the windscreen.

However, by insulating the windscreen, you stop it being the coldest place. Face the fact: you don't know where the coldest place is now, so how can you tell me it is OK? In theory, it is possible to insulate every single component and section of a vehicle and make sure that all the surfaces are the same temperature then ventilate enough to prevent condensation, but in a motorhome that simply is NOT going to be possible.

You could go round the van with a temperature gun and find the coldest points, but the worst places are the spaces you can't see. Behind the panelling, the other side of the insulation.

My Hymer is a generation newer than yours. Not the "classic" shape. The dash panel is still a rather silly sheet of plywood (which I keep meaning to replace with a thicker replacement of sandwich construction to reduce engine noise) but that's not really relevant. Yes. some condensation does run down the windscreen, which is a convenient place to collect it from. My primary objection to external screens is the damage the damp (that they don't trap) going elsewhere in the vehicle.

My experience of having external screens was on a previous motorhome. They were dead easy to fit, but much too much hassle to bother with getting them out of the bag, opening both front doors, tucking the corners round the doors, closing the doors, folding the mirrors back, folding the day flap down, packing the bag away. Then reversing all that to set off again. So much easier to just reach across and slide the blinds across. Takes five seconds.
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My externals go through a awning rail above the screen and side windows,they hold top and bottom corners with hooks onto cleats on the body,takes seconds to remove ,next to no condensation.
 
Before I went away this weekend I retrieved the Karcher vac from the house with the intention of using it in the shower.
Have to say it worked a treat, much easier and more cost effective than the usual half roll of kitchen towel I would normally use !
 
Obanboy666 said:
Before I went away this weekend I retrieved the Karcher vac from the house with the intention of using it in the shower.
Have to say it worked a treat, much easier and more cost effective than the usual half roll of kitchen towel I would normally use !
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Glad that something good has come from this discussion, I had my Karcher for over a year before I started using it to dry the shower.
People are very set in their preference of blind type preferred. I must say that I would have found it most entertaining last week to see someone try to fit an external blind in a 60 mph gale 😀
 
I have to say I bought externals for my Hymer Fromm eBay but I find them to difficult to fit as they have to go so high I have to have a stool to stand on and then no matter what I do the sliding window keeps creeping open.
 
Can't be arsed dissecting all the minutiae (Google guessed, it could be the correct word?). Silver screen on - no condensation on the slanty low profile cab window. Take it off to look at the early morning view and it misted up immediately - it's about warmth - the screen keeps the mh warmer.
We have a karcher - it sucks the moisture from the screen, and yes, on a slanty screen it escapes and drips down my arm.
 
It seems like you know how to get the last word in.:raofl:
 
I know someone is going to pull me up on this so if the screens keep it warm but as soon you take them off would it not be better just to use the vac? And yes I know the screens keep the cab warm but as Elaine said when she takes them off the condensation is there?
 
The way I see it is the windscreen is a big dehumidifier with no collection tank. I open the front doors and wipe it down ringing the cloth out as I go. Takes about 2.5 minutes and the bit that's left soon evaporates with the engine on. You don't need a vac or external screens.
 
jeanette said:
but as soon you take them off would it not be better just to use the vac? And yes I know the screens keep the cab warm but as Elaine said when she takes them off the condensation is there?
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hi Jeanette, yes, that's what we end up having to do to see the view. The condensation doesn't form until the screen is off, and even then only if the temp diff is high enough.

Back to the karcher - we also use it for the shower area, and the rear side windows which have condensation on by the morning. Just wish the seal was better so the water doesn't escape when held at odd angles.
 
I've got a karcher vac, just waiting for the motorhome, lol.
Mickey.
 
Well just to add my bit I use external screens but still get condensation on the window at the end of the bed, which has internal screens on, maybe they both have there uses, cos if your gonna use one wouldn't you use it for all the windows? not just the windscreen? either way it is a good price
 
Tompa said:
Bought a Karcher a while back, great around the house or in the MH shower but useless on a Transit based motor due to the angle of the screen/dash. You have to tip it up to get into the corners and along the base so the water runs back out. Now using Taylormade externals, no condensation and loads warmer. We also buy loads of cheap little dehumidifier boxes which work well.
Tompa.
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I also use Taylormade external screens on my A class windscreen and they work well with very little condensation in the morning even after a cold frosty night.The problem I have is that I normally take the screens off first thing in the morning so by the time we have put the kettle on and had a cuppa the windscreen has steamed up because there is little ventilation with the doors and windows closed,not good with the kettle boiling.The Karcher deals with it in about a minute-much quicker than sitting with the engine running and demister on full.
 
Delivered today ill give it a try tomorrow. Funny I seen one the same in BQ for £48. So woks out half price.
I've got a shed full of bargains my wife said I'm a sucker for somebody advertising a bargain if I put all my sat navs on dash I wouldn't see out window 😳
 
hi
if you have internal screens i find if you also close the curtains over them
it cuts down the condensation.
 
Made sense to me. If you don't trap it on the windscreen then suck it and dump it, it's going to hide in the cupboards and irrigate the latent vegetation.
 
External screens make a big difference in cold weather but having some ventilation is the best way to reduce condensation. A little bit goes a long way.
 
I must say after extensive testing and contrary to some comments on this thread that using the karcher at any angle including upside down and i have done the transit screen from bottom to top. I have not noticed any leakage. there is an anti siphon tube in the waste collection container to stop this happening. Assuming the waste water is not above this tube, so i imagine either the seals are faulty on the offending units or this tube is not fitted. I wonder where the water leaks from exactly?
Dave
 
dr dave said:
I must say after extensive testing and contrary to some comments on this thread that using the karcher at any angle including upside down and i have done the transit screen from bottom to top. I have not noticed any leakage. there is an anti siphon tube in the waste collection container to stop this happening. Assuming the waste water is not above this tube, so i imagine either the seals are faulty on the offending units or this tube is not fitted. I wonder where the water leaks from exactly?
Dave
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On mine, the water sprays out of the bottom if held at too much of an angle. They may have sorted this now as I've had mine 2 or 3 years. I just hold a cloth over the vent.

I wouldn't be without mine and will probably buy a newer one soon.
 
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