Well we left Disney today at 2:30pm which was later than I wanted to. We had a great time and have turned about 15000 miles today since having our 1991 U280. She's only got 135000 on her now and has been an exceptional blessing in many many ways. EXCEPT FOR... the dad blasted defroster! I read the recent post with "defrost" in the title & dont believe we have any nest or blockage problems. However, SOMETHING is screwy. When ever we get to that time of the day when a temp drops, night time comes or rain & theres a need for defrost, the window will get a little steamy and you will start to see the clearing glass where the best air flow is. As it turns out more than not.....its not enough to really do the job in all areas needed. Tonight we went from no need for defrost to ok it just got colder and is raining out and we need it. Dash defrost was ok for a bit.....then as it got wetter and wetter ( Atlanta at 12:40 a.m.) I had turned on the overhead satellite fans which are also tied into a couple adjustable vents right over top of the windshield blowing down. This combination did an "ok" job but the side windows were all fogged up. Now the rain was really coming down AND the temps dropped a little more. The problem is that this process works me up when I'm doing my best to be safe, responsible and get my family down the road while awake & alert in the late hours BUT attitudes become disturbed from nothing working. Then my wife makes one of those "this is what makes it no fun and not worth having a coach" comments. Then I become "pig bite n mad" and everything goes south.
We have what I believe to be very good dlowing from the dash fan & combination of functions. The satellite fan system blows very well on low & high. When the front overhead A/C unit heat strips was turned on to try circulating hot air it seemed to increase the inside window moisture and had to be turnedoff. We then turned on the front furnace to at least heat up the cockpit with overhead blowers and dash heat going but only had a couple patches of clear to see through. The rain was pounding, wind was blowing, temps continued to drop and then out came the "clean towel" ..... that smeared up the whole glass. Im driving down 75 with all of the above going on and as a last and frustrating effort I cracked my drivers vent window. It worked for about a minute...seriously. ..you could see clearing of for like Moses parting the red sea......then within seconds it was a mess again. I tried things one at a time and also in combination with all options. Is it to much to ask for interior windshield moisture to go away with a defroster?? I cant take it nor can my wife. I need a solid solution and would like it to be one that dont require additional fan / blower apparatus mounted to the dash.
Ive tried everything and am very frustrated.
Good blowing from all options...in my opinion. Good heat and circulation.....just terrible ability to really clear the glass.
Oh my gosh...does someone have a suggestion. ..BESIDES STAYING IN WARM WEATHER, LOL!?!?
We cant take it
Thanks in advance as always
When you come up with one market it. Try cracking the bathroom vent and maybe a window in the center of the coach. The problem is among other things moisture build up inside the coach just from simply breathing let alone showers and cooking. We actually keep a towel handy to wipe the condensation up. The old windshield is just like the Ice tea glass cold on one side warm on the other.
I at one time in my life used to fix high PSI Steam leaks and used a plastic face shield to protect my face...After a minute or so the plastic see thru shield would fog up on the inside to the point I could no longer see thu it. After trying all kinds of stuff to cure the issue I found a solution by simply buying Rain-EX wipes from the store.. "Wal-Mart sell it"
Try using Rain-EX on the inside windshield and see if it helps.
You need to dry out the air in the coach with a dehumidifier.
Not one of those table top things, get a real one. I used one that sat on the floor under the end of the kitchen table. We still had room behind it for our legs when sitting at the table. You will need to drive with the generator running but if you want to drive in those conditions that will be necessary.
Life will also be better when in an RV park. When you get up in the morning you won't have fogged windows or wet walls, and you will confortable at lower temperatures .
For a temporary measure, this might help:
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And run your dash A/C with the defroster!!! But I agree with John! Right now you really have to much moisture buildup and need a dehumidifier. That moisture buildup is not good for the interior!! Good hindsight now, but when stopping overnight or for any length of time, you need to the bathroom and kitchen vents open, even during during winter temperatures.
;D Pat, Great idea!
Use it in a car, why not MH?
Carl, when i use the furnace i need to add moisture cause forced dry heat removes the moisture. Some how it seems like your getting outside air into your system, in my 88 GV the air box damper control arm set screw came loose, tightened positioned all ok.
Had a ski trip in an 1988 ored that had us moving at 3am at -20. Windshield fogged up.
Started the gen and used my wife's hair dryer to defrost the fogged windshield somewhat.
An industrial strength harbor freight used a lower setting might help. The a/c compressor must be running with the defrost on
Bob
I agree too with the comments of vents etc open all night. Cooking and body heat (and especially if you have kids and animals) all add moisture to the inside which is "hidden" till the right time ie cold damp outside.
ALLWAYS have a window partly open in back and roof vent open NO matter the time of year during night. You may have other mechanical problems with system Carl but these I mention will add greatly to it being solved. It never amazes me the number of people that live in a closed up home and wonder why their place smells and have clouded windows on inside. Some even drive their cars like that and cannot see out!!
John H
I can't agree with John more. In some ways you had a Perfect Storm for foggy windows: Days spent in the warm humid weather of Florida with all the fabrics, wood and clothing absorbing up the moisture and then plunge the coach into cold weather and all that moisture has to come back out and it does so on the coldest thing in the coach: the windshield. Even if your dash AC is working perfectly it can be overcome with that amount of moisture - I speak from experience.
In our opinion, you guys have unrealistic expectations. Dash defrost function is quite limited.
We solve the same problem with a 12" 120-volt fan sitting on dash, blowing on inside of windshield. We also have this fan clearing our windshield while we are parked with outside freezing temps.
We always drive with inverter on to power computer, fan, etc.
In fact we were suprised that our u280 had - blower fans, which we felt downgraded from the 88 ORED which had nice 4" fans 12v mounted on the wings of the windshield.
So i have been informed that I am installing new ones like the old ones, yes Mam!
Our experience agrees with suggestions to:
leave a ceiling vent partially open
leave the small vent window near the passenger seat slightly open
turn on the dash air conditioner compressor
use one or two auxiliary fans to blow across the windshield
After all the unforseen issues were taken care of and we were finally able to get on the road, we knew we would not have the option of a generator for electricity to use the overhead a/c with the heat strip to blow on the windshield. Honestly I wouldnt have thought to run the inverter.....probably because I've always doubted our charging system. However, here's what we did as an experiment. We turned the front dash defrost on high, turned the factory overhead fans so the ones over the windshield was blowing down across the top and the round swivel blowers were on the side vent windows. Now this is something we've always done AND been frustrated as is did not work worth a hoot. But the thing that made that combination work flawlessly was cracking a rear bedroom window about an inch or less. Mind you, we did have both furnaces cranked up but having cracked that rear window kept any cool breeze away from the cockpit seats and I have to say....we drove 8 hours without stopping. The temps from Ohio to the Traverse City Michigan area were anywhere from zero to -18 that night.....the whole time the entire front windshield was perfectly clear and we were cozy. It worked great.
Now that I look back at that whole ordeal and all that we made happen with help from the all of you and my mechanic friend, the only other thing that got us home through the "polar vortex".......was sheer ignorance, lol!!
No one told us we couldnt do it......so we did.
It would have been miserable had the window been iced from the inside.
@Carl At least you have a great story to tell. "Did I every tell you about the time we almost died in a polar vortex?" :))
see ya
ken
That is the whole problem with our schools today. The students are always are always being told, "Don't do this", and "You can't do that", and never "Try it, so you can see the results, and how you can do it better".