If you don’t have heated garages chaps, check your bikes. Mine were dripping as warm air has come in on to very cold bikes as it’s warmed up overnight.
A dehumidifier is your friend in this country I’m afraid. Use approx same amount of electricity as a fridge.
We use one for the laundry. I’m aiming to extend a cabin I’ve built into my garage so when I fire up the log burner it will help keep things dry.
Same here. Just been to check mine in the underground car park, not been out on it today. Really warm air, everything dripping wet.
It’s the sudden rise in temp - should be OK for a week or so now according to the Met Office. Mine are dried now - thank you Bruhl!
My Frankenstein diesel heater set up takes care of the temperature, though I am fortunate that the garage is also damp free. Unlike my previous one.
Almost. Took me six months to design and build it. Has been run for over 400 hours now without a hitch, though it will require a stripdown and service in the spring. I've used around 133 litres of fuel in that time so around £200 over 13 months which ain't bad. More info here, if you want to set up something similar for yourself: https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/turning-up-the-heat.94234/
You can slap one in for surprisingly little money. Plenty of Youtube videos on how to do that safely. Mine is an OTT bespoke system but you can spend under £100 to get one up and running that will achieve the same results and will keep you toasty in the winter months.
We live off Grid in the winter I reverse the air cooling on the generator and give the bike a nice blast of hot air
Firing up a log burner will just pull the water out of the air, most of it will land on your bike. Dehumidifier is the key.
Or better still, don't even bother. It's a bike for goodness sake............. Then again, each to their own I suppose.
Agreed. I've run a cheapish dehumidifier in my garage for years. I just keep an eye on the RH via a remote readout (Amazon £15) and when it creeps up just whack it on set to 55. It not only keeps moisture off the bikes but everything else - cycles, tools etc - and makes the garage a useful storage space for things that would otherwise suffer there.
Got a link? Thx. Burner has a flue and I’ve got vents to allow airflow so with that and a dehumidifier it’ll certainly help.
Doesn't matter how many flues and vents, winter air carries a huge amount of moisture. As soon as you start to warm that air it's water carrying ability is reduced, the moisture released will be attracted to cold surfaces. Sadly that's any windows and your bike. There are three things you can do, one is forget it, two is keep everything warm so your bike and cold items stay at ambient or three use a dehumidifier. I have a Meaco, it's been brilliant. But always pick one with a Humidistat so you can set the humidity level where the unit will switch off to prevent it running 24 hours a day even when the humidity is OK. A good efficient one isn't all that costly to run. Depends on how much you prize your bike(s). No need to heat it and have a dehumidifier.
I've just been reading an article in Practical Boat Owner about compressor dehumidifiers, leaving them on in an unattended boat over winter and the number of fires caused by them. A couple of points to note are: Clean any air intakes/filters regularly to stop debris building up to the point it falls off into a pile by a hot component. Make sure the water drain can't freeze so the level builds up internally Rodents like to build nests in the bottom of them as it's warm in there. They then chew the wires.
All good advice above. However there are two types of dehumidifiers with two very different operating principles. Dessicant and Condensing. These work in very different ways. By far the most available are the condensing type for home/domestic use. These work a bit like a fridge in reverse, with a refrigerant coil. Works best at room temperatures. The Dessicant type will still operate effectively and draw water in a very cold area. The condensing type will not! It’s happiest at around 15/20 degrees, certainly not your winter garage temperature unless it’s heated. There are other small pros and cons to both, however a bit of additional money spent at purchase is well worth it for the Dessicant type. After all, it’s only at these low temperatures we have these water problems in our garages and storage facilities. There’s a lot of tech info available on line, the Dessicant are more for industry use. But they are marketed on a smaller scale for domestic consumption as well. Hope this helps.
Nope - common misconception - winter air in the UK just feels wet! Warm air is capable of carrying far more water than cold air. Dehumidifiers and any other air-conditioning equipment cool the air, which gets the water out of it. This is why you have to empty them or they have a drain pipe. Another example; as warm, moist air rises on a summer's day and cools at the dry adiabatic lapse rate (3C per 1000ft) there will normally be a cloud when this falling-temperature equals the local dew-point. Summer clouds are water vapour that have condensed from hot, moist rising air because the air's being cooled by increasing altitude. What happens in an uninsulated garage is that when there's a quick weather change - say from very cold to a bit warmer in one day or less, the very cold bikes are loads cooler than the moisture-laden warmer air and thus the moisture from the air condenses on them (the moisture isn't 'attracted') and you get dripping bikes, lawnmowers, tools, etc... It's all to do with the dew-point of the local air (the temperature at which the water will condense out of it - hence clouds). The same thing happens when a cold garage is heated. The heater enables the garage air to hold loads more moisture, which then condenses on the cold metal bikes, tools, etc. This continues until the heater has got everything (air & bikes) to around the same temperature. In an insulated garage, the change from cold to warmer & vice-versa is a lot slower, so the effect is lessened. If the garage is heated (& insulated), the air and the bikes, etc are all kept at a temperature above the dew-point, there'll be no condensation... /lecture over
