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Dehumidifier for boat - good or bad idea?


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Boat is trailered and spends 100% of the time in the garage when not in use. But even in the garage it doesn't seem to dry out all that well.

Took it on vacation last week to Lake Norman. Last day we boated there (8 days ago) my buddy was driving and took a big roller over the bow - odd because that rarely happens. Covered the boat for the drive home and spent the last week in the garage.

Week later and the carpet still is a bit damp. I find that if the carpet ever gets wet it takes too long to dry out. Garage is just an attached garage on our house (drywalled and just a regular garage). I was considering buying a small dehumidifier for the boat. My worry is that I might do some type of damage by drying it out too much, perhaps causing vinyl issues.

Am I being paranoid? I would buy a small one, simply because it will be cheaper and easier to get in/out of the boat.

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i use two fans when its in the garage and keep the engine hatchs and surf couchs propped open one fan on the back seat above vdrive cushion and one in walk thru blowing into bow if damp usually just the rwar one to circulate.

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I use a dehumidifier in my 2002 RLX and have not seen any issues. However, I never let it run for longer than 12 to 18 hours. Works great! Especially for older carpet where the pile is laid over.

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I agree with the above if you used it for a couple days only great..any longer I would be worried. Have you tried just moving the air with the cover off in the garage ?

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I was gonna say... How do you dry out your boat too much !?! I'm going to pick one up for my VLX when I'm off at work for 2 weeks and it sits outside with the cover on. I plan on running that mother 24/7!!!

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Can you mount 2 fans on the ceiling . Buddy has 2 fans in his boat house leaves them on for about half a day works great plan on doing the same when I build my shop. I plan on setting mine on a timer but thats just me. I would worry that the dehumidifier would suck the moisture out of the vinyl over time.

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That airdryer confuses me. All it does it raise the temperature which raises the temperature/dewpoint spread, but doesn't actually dry out the air at all... Confused by how that's any different than a heater in the boat...

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That airdryer confuses me. All it does it raise the temperature which raises the temperature/dewpoint spread, but doesn't actually dry out the air at all... Confused by how that's any different than a heater in the boat...

That's all it is, a heater. For it to work right, you have to have good ventilation to let the hot wet air out as well.

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Does anyone know of a legit marine dehumidifier that's portable ? I haven't tried those air dryers but they seem ridiculous to me. Might as well just leave a 100W lightbulb on with a fan... I want to dry the thing out completely... Not warm the air up and exhaust it.

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Ours sits with a cover under a covered dock and since I have an extension cord run to the onboard charger I just put a blower fan under the center window in the walkway, pointing up and towards the stern of the boat. My cover has a small gap at the back that I use a clear gallon jug to make a gap so moist air is blown out. Carpet is dry a day or two later most of the time and it's always fresh and clean smelling when we uncover.

http://www.amazon.com/Lasko-Pro-Performance-Blower-4900/dp/B001DNGSCM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375115975&sr=8-1&keywords=lasko+fan+blower

Edited by TyRobbins
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Doesnt a dehumidifier rely on a relatively sealed space? Not sure, just always wondered.

I use 3 or 4 fans, and create an opening at the back of the cover and point one of the fans so it blows out the opening.

I had a bad dream once about using a heater to dry the boat. It tipped over and melted a hole through the floor and through the hull.

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Does anyone know of a legit marine dehumidifier that's portable ? I haven't tried those air dryers but they seem ridiculous to me. Might as well just leave a 100W lightbulb on with a fan... I want to dry the thing out completely... Not warm the air up and exhaust it.

http://www.bakesonline.com/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=532

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That last link just goes to the air dryers we were just taking about. Essentially a lightbulb that heats the air up , raising the temp/dew point spread but not actually drying the air out like a dehumidifier...

As for using a dehumidifier in a confined closed space, I think having the cover on will do the trick... Think of it this way, having the cover on is enough to keep the moisture in, so running a dehumidifier in there with a drain to the bilge should be enough to dry it out. Ill let cha all know as I'm going to buy one today and throw it in with the cover on.

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I do it with the cover on my boat in the driveway and storage unit. It is BONE-DRY after 12-18 hours. I prop the engine cover open and put a box fan under the dash area to suck air from the open bow. Word to the wise though... Put the drain plug back in the boat when you do this. If you leave it out the tank fills up in 4 to 5 hrs and leaves a damp boat. One of these days Ill rig a hose from the tank through the center drain plug.

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When I lived in Seattle (where it rains perpetually), I used these things like they were goin out of style. http://www.drizair.com/products.html

classic_design.jpg

It's amazing how much water they will suck out of the boat.

Plus one of these fans from West Marine.

7867518.jpg

I had a buddy who used a pretty good sized electric dehumidifier. He spent quite a bit more money & I'm not sure it really did that much better a job.

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FYI, the ONLY time the cover is on this boat is when we travel with it on vacation. Otherwise, the cover is stored in the basement. No point in covering it in the garage.

I'm not in love with those heater devices. I'll go the fan route and see how well that works.

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That airdryer confuses me. All it does it raise the temperature which raises the temperature/dewpoint spread, but doesn't actually dry out the air at all... Confused by how that's any different than a heater in the boat...

The airdryr works. It is made by Davis Instruments, which is a company that make some really cool weather stations. It doesn't get hot. It really is not a heater. It doesn't make noise. It is probably too simple in design to believe that it is a solution. I can put mine in a soaking wet boat, throw the cover on, and the boat is dry in 24 hours or less.

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I just bought a household dehumidifier and will start it today... Ill let cha all know how I make out!

is your boat currently wet? :whistle:

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