Condensation in awning

Second trip away in my dandy 6 and the first that i have been able to use the awning.

Little bit of background info, i have a 1979ish dandy 6 with original awning, tiny windows(on the awning), white roof, brown sides and front, only ventilation is from the 2 end poles(1"x1") and 2 x 1"x6" mesh vents.

What i was surprised about was the amount of condensation accumulating inside the awning and physically dripping in the mornings, i know this time of year is possible the worst for condensation to for but do others suffer such problems?

At first i thought the dandy had a leak but it hasn't, it was merely condensation

Hi this time of year you will get a lot of condensation moister given off from the grass etc not a lot you can do about it this time of year , We made a cotton roof canopy which helped as the drips get soaked up by the cotton and during the day dries out hope this helps a bit ?

found these helps [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


sorry couldn't resist and yep it's the weather don't help but we had the skirts and door open a bit to have air circulate

Have a read here, both threads are regarding condensation

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I bought two cheap double sheets from Asda, sewed them together along the shortest edge and I put them over the roofbars in the awning as a liner, it catches the drips and the sheets dry out during the day ...... also looks really nice and cosy as the double give plenty of gather, the single were not quite wide enough.  On the first use I cut the ends as I had too much overhang and seamed them at home so now they fit. I put ties on the ends of mine because I found they sagged too much and we had to keep pulling them tight so now I fasten them around the end roofbars ....... we have an original Dandy groundsheet and although it's awful for killing the grass fast we find we get less condensation than when using a breathable one.

The previous owners made a great awning liner out of sheets as well, but so far we've never had any problems with condensation and that's camping in both cold and warmer weather.

We found that being on grass or being on a hard standing make a difference too ....... we prefer to camp on grass but tend to get some condensation in the awning.

Cheers for all the replies guys, the sheets idea sounds like a plan as the roof of my awning has tyre marks on from the spare being stored on top(hours and hours of cleaning havent removed the brown fossil effect of the tyre, ive been told its impossible as its a chemical reaction between the 2 materials) by one of its previous owners and the sheet would mask that nicely too, 2 birds 1 stone and all that

I've had condensation overnight under just the sun canopy so maybe ventilation isn't enough on its own. Found a bit of heat works fine inside the dandy to stop it.

navver wrote:I've had condensation overnight under just the sun canopy so maybe ventilation isn't enough on its own. Found a bit of heat works fine inside the dandy to stop it.

The ventilation on my six's awning is what could only be described as a token effort really, it may end up going to the awning centre down the road from me for some modifications once i have some pennies saved after xmas

We also get condensation under the sun canopy navver, at night when we sit outside we can run our hands along the top (outer roof) and feel that it's wet (even when it's not raining) so it is keeping us dry but the following morning it's always got condensation (inner roof) probably from the damp rising off the grass as the sun rises but we don't use a sheet on that as the air blowing through tends to dry if off fast enough.

tribalkev wrote:Cheers for all the replies guys, the sheets idea sounds like a plan as the roof of my awning has tyre marks on from the spare being stored on top(hours and hours of cleaning havent removed the brown fossil effect of the tyre, ive been told its impossible as its a chemical reaction between the 2 materials) by one of its previous owners and the sheet would mask that nicely too, 2 birds 1 stone and all that

A real engineers solution two benefits from one action.
If you are going to get zips fitted to your awning, ventilation, ease of lifting, option for sun canopy and access have a look at the piece about the zips I had done by TVS. I wouldn't quite do it the same on reflection.

Probably a good idea for anyone but especially for yourself who has kids. If introducing new fabrics then fire retardant fabrics or treatment with sprays are an important safety measure. Though I have two 3/4 sets of curtains in slightly different colours and curse the fact you can't dye polyester it was probably chosen for the curtains as it is inherently flame retardant. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

As stated elsewhere a solid groundsheet reduces condensation markedly.