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humidity breeds mold and mildew


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i have use the little damp rid containers for a few seasons, but at 5-6 a season the price gradually adds up. electric dehumidifiers cost you probably could have purchased a cheep-o one in one seasons worth of damp rid's or a really nice one is 3 seasons. Is anyone out there in bu land actually using an electric dehumidifier instead? If so which one? My boat is generally covered right after our boat session to prevent morning dew. That added to my area being windy the dew attracts dirt and dust. So to prevent that I just cover my bu while it is still wet. The damp rid's work somewhat but I usually remove everything seats, gear, everything. It would be nice to just leave everything and plug in an electric dehumidifier and call it an night. Any thoughts?

http://www.acehardware.com/largeImage/inde...CE-954521dt.jpg

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/detail.gsp?...372036854775808

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MalibuNation

Damp rid works as well as expected and dehumidify should work too.

What about uncovering the boat the next day and let the sun, wind and CA dry air dry the rest of the boat ... if it's a work day could a neighbor come over and uncover the boat after the dew dries on the cover ... that's what I do. I have them take the cover off the rear of the boat and open the 2 ski lockers. Hopefully you've used 303 on the interior of the boat to protect it from the sun.

I see you already taken the seats out ... another good idea.

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I have 4 driz the air in my boat at all times and two West Marine dehumidifers that Big Mac shows.

If you're putting your boat away wet Ronnie, what you need is a box fan in there.

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I have 4 driz the air in my boat at all times and two West Marine dehumidifers that Big Mac shows.

If you're putting your boat away wet Ronnie, what you need is a box fan in there.

I think the fan comment is right on. When I used to trailer my boat, that was I did. You could try a few small fans in different spots. I always had one in the compartment behind the observers seat. If you get some air flow you don't need to worry about trying to use dehumidifiers.

Plus, I think a few fans will work better because you can target problematic areas. Whereas the dehumidifer might not work as well because the boat isn't really that airtight when covered so I am not sure at how successful you would be at lowering the humidity in the whole boat.

One other thing, the fans are cheaper, and easier to take in and out of the boat and less susceptible to damgage from loading and unloading.

Good luck!

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I used to use all of this stuff....when I had the crappy factory cover.

Once I got a Rankin Sunbrella cover...no more smelly boat.

Dave

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seems like i am on the right track. What brought out this dilemma was the CFO took a tsunami over the bow. Of course it was an accident Whistling.gif but man, i swear i could not see the boat when the wave hit. I guess I'll not break whats not broke. since taking everything out and the use fans with damp rid when needed the smell has subsided. I was just thinking of something better. I think what i need now is to build a wall mount rack for the seats. Similar to the PVC one that i have yet to build for my boards. The board rack is one i found here on the crew. thanks for that crew.

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I think if you get some fans you could get away with not taking the seats out, but just sort of moving them out of position. I have and Xti and I try to put the wet stuff in the back center on the floor since that dries pretty easy. So if you have a spot that dries readily maybe you can use that area.

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My buddy has one of the those carpet dryers that he rigged up with a couple of 4 inch dryer vent hoses. A sheet metal guy made a fitting to slip over the spout and it accepts two 4 inch dryer hoses. With the cover on the boat, he has one hose in the cockpit and the other in the bilge under the seat. He runs it for a few hours after he gets home and parks the boat.

royal_airmover_large.jpg

He also has two or three vents on his cover.

boatVentBig.jpgventPoleBig.jpg

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My buddy has one of the those carpet dryers that he rigged up with a couple of 4 inch dryer vent hoses. A sheet metal guy made a fitting to slip over the spout and it accepts two 4 inch dryer hoses. With the cover on the boat, he has one hose in the cockpit and the other in the bilge under the seat. He runs it for a few hours after he gets home and parks the boat.

royal_airmover_large.jpg

He also has two or three vents on his cover.

boatVentBig.jpgventPoleBig.jpg

If that type of fan is outside the boat I bet you could create enought positive pressure that you might not even need support poles. That sounds like a nice set up.

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Yeh, sits outside the boat. He still uses the support poles because he doesn't run it all the time, and the vents have a pole support built in. It does create enough positive pressure that it lifts the poles off the deck a little though. Turns if off and they settle right back onto the deck. Those floor units have a wide variety of airflow capacities (and expense). He drilled a couple of holes in the output nozzle for pins to secure the sheet metal to the blower so that it would be easily detachably. He figured he didn't need a real high capacity unit...just enough to get the air moving. The more powerful units go up to $400. This one blows plenty of air, but the more expensive ones supposedly have a longer duty cycle and can run all the time.

It was pretty simple, he tells me. $125 for the fan unit and $25 to a Heating/AC guy to make the adapter, about $10 worth of 4 inch dryer hose from the hardware store.

Edited by Big Mac
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In order for mold/mildew to grow they need moisture, a food source and a static enviroment...

Air movement i.e fans are ideal for keeping mold/mildew from growing.

The fans will not only help dry the wet areas they also keep the air moving which prevents the mold/mildew from growing...

Scott

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