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Old 09-19-2019, 05:20 PM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
Its humidity. In the air. It condenses on metal, glass, etc. Your breath adds to it but mine condenses heavily with no one in the bus.

What is causing the humidity is important? If the source is other than climate (or breath), he may be able to kill the humidity at the source.


"mine condenses heavily with no one in the bus." Is this a riddle? If no one is in the bus, then it must not be breath (unless their name is "no one"). winter or summer, both? outdoor & indoor temps?

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Old 09-19-2019, 07:26 PM   #42
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If you cook with propane ..C3H8 then every 44 grams of propane makes 72 grams of water vapor in addition to 132 gram of CO2.


For us a reason to not cook on propane but use an induction stove.


According wiki a human breathes out 300 to 500 gram of water per day.


I love the idea of still suits... The hole Dune concept is genius..


But then our shower recirculates the same water so that 3/4 gallon of water gets you a 10 minute shower


Later Johan
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Old 09-19-2019, 07:35 PM   #43
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Moisture sources:

Perspiration

Respiration

Propane cooking & heating.

Shower

Environmental. Bringing moisture in from outside.

I have lived full time in a cool damp envirment. I battled with moisture. The only way I found to battle it effectively was with a dehumidifier.
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Old 09-19-2019, 07:42 PM   #44
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Build a "Dune suit" I've wanted to build one for 30 years. I'd like to see one that works, I have some ideas but I'm too lazy.
Nobody's gonna say "stillsuit"?
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Old 09-19-2019, 08:37 PM   #45
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https://gizmodo.com/the-sweat-to-wat...suit-826806326


I like the Dune book description of stillsuit better then the visual in the movie... Need to see both movie versions again. I like the rawness of the first with Sting..


Johan
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Old 09-19-2019, 09:43 PM   #46
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https://gizmodo.com/the-sweat-to-wat...suit-826806326


I like the Dune book description of stillsuit better then the visual in the movie... Need to see both movie versions again. I like the rawness of the first with Sting..


Johan
Man, Sting ruined the movie for me. I read the books as a kid before the movie came out, and everything in the movie - the people, costumes and sets - all matched how I'd imagined them pretty well, except for Sting who just stood around with his Stingy smirk on.

That and the Toto soundtrack. This is what the soundtrack should have been:
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Old 09-19-2019, 09:47 PM   #47
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kidharris View Post
What is causing the humidity is important? If the source is other than climate (or breath), he may be able to kill the humidity at the source.


"mine condenses heavily with no one in the bus." Is this a riddle? If no one is in the bus, then it must not be breath (unless their name is "no one"). winter or summer, both? outdoor & indoor temps?
Air just has humidity. Its like a science thing, man. Even out west where its dry they have SOME amount even if its minute.
In my case I'm in FL. The air has a huge volume of moisture in it that WILL condense inside a bus. It just does it.

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Old 09-19-2019, 09:56 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joeblack5 View Post
If you cook with propane ..C3H8 then every 44 grams of propane makes 72 grams of water vapor in addition to 132 gram of CO2.


For us a reason to not cook on propane but use an induction stove.


According wiki a human breathes out 300 to 500 gram of water per day.


I love the idea of still suits... The hole Dune concept is genius..


But then our shower recirculates the same water so that 3/4 gallon of water gets you a 10 minute shower


Later Johan


Would you mind sharing some of the details on you shower.



I am also building a recirculating shower using a 12v DC pump (120 degree water capable), filter, small electric on demand heater, and 2 - 2" (could be smaller) ball valve (like commercial kitchen sinks) drains with long rods to open/close the valves (1 drains to the grew water and the other to the recirculating system), stainless steel walls and floor, and a small sump in the shower floor.


I like long, hot showers for my back ache. With 2 shower heads the regular shower can still be used, mainly to prime/fill the sump for the hot shower and clean the shower compartment or whatever. I use a 12v home made power exhaust vent in the summer to get rid of the steam.
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Old 09-19-2019, 10:41 PM   #49
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Nobody's gonna say "stillsuit"?





I always thought it should be "condensate suit"
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Old 02-05-2020, 06:46 PM   #50
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I realize this is a 6 month old thread but...

I just bought a bus from the Clark Co School Dist in Las Vegas. We gutted and found the black you describe on the insulation batting. Its not mold. It is simply dirt. I was concerned as well but quickly realized it’s dirt.

FWIW
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Old 09-03-2020, 04:27 PM   #51
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Yes, Found it in my Colorado bus as well. These busses have lots of air moving inside the walls (they are not well sealed at all). So, years of accumulated dust. This is something that you want to fix if you want to make it livable.
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Old 09-03-2020, 04:37 PM   #52
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The way I see it.

Humidity control (vent fans for shower and maybe humidity control in a mini split of applicable)

Sealing all wood and metal during construction

insulation to minimize condensation. (heavy duty paint or polyeurrethane stains)

Clean frequently and Lysol bomb the bus every once in a while. (Do they make Lysol Bombs? They should.)
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Old 09-03-2020, 04:42 PM   #53
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Soon after this picture was taken I was working on the windows and took on some water during a big rainstorm. I didn't think anything of it. Then a few weeks later I saw some black staining on my unfinished plywood floor. It looked like black mold, so I pulled up a sheet and sure enough, the underside had even more black mold. I am super sensitive to mold, so it's a big problem for me.

For more details you can see my thread here.


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Old 09-03-2020, 05:11 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wrenchtech View Post


Soon after this picture was taken I was working on the windows and took on some water during a big rainstorm. I didn't think anything of it. Then a few weeks later I saw some black staining on my unfinished plywood floor. It looked like black mold, so I pulled up a sheet and sure enough, the underside had even more black mold. I am super sensitive to mold, so it's a big problem for me.

For more details you can see my thread here.


Looking at your picture, I got to thinking. Does anybody foam insulate the wheel wells? I always see people frame right over them. I'd be tempted to roll in some bed cover paint in the wheel wells also. I noticed heat escaping from the wheel wells on somebody's IR photos recently. I'd hit the front firewall or behind the dash on pusher buses with foam insulation. Every hole for wiring or plumbing should be filled after the wiring/pipes are ran. Anything not bonded with insulation will sweat with different temperatures on both sides.
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Old 09-03-2020, 09:28 PM   #55
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Looking at your picture, I got to thinking. Does anybody foam insulate the wheel wells? I always see people frame right over them. I'd be tempted to roll in some bed cover paint in the wheel wells also. I noticed heat escaping from the wheel wells on somebody's IR photos recently. I'd hit the front firewall or behind the dash on pusher buses with foam insulation. Every hole for wiring or plumbing should be filled after the wiring/pipes are ran. Anything not bonded with insulation will sweat with different temperatures on both sides.

I think you are definitely correct about condensation wherever you don’t insulate do you have a number of people of had problems with that storage space for your emergency equipment above the windshield.

In the picture at the top of my post you can see that I have not insulated over my wheel wells yet. And it’s a good thing that I didn’t, because I have to take up all that nice plywood to check for mold and possibly replace. At least one sheet, the one pictured at the bottom of the post is heading right to the trash Once I have the mold situation fixed I will definitely boxing the wheel housing and surround them with insulating board and foam.

Thanks for your input. Look forward to hearing more from you.
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Old 09-05-2020, 01:38 AM   #56
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Aw man, when I read about the mold in your build thread I thought it was unfortunate. At the time, I had not realized you have an aversion to mold. That makes the mold growth hazardous for you, to be sure. After reading up on insulation and vapor-barriers and such, I am rethinking my use of foam board for the floor insulation. We are lucky that we've only put down a little in the front part of the bus since it is being used as a moving van right now.


Are you planning on spray foam on the walls and ceiling?
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Old 09-05-2020, 08:13 AM   #57
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Quote:
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Aw man, when I read about the mold in your build thread I thought it was unfortunate. At the time, I had not realized you have an aversion to mold. That makes the mold growth hazardous for you, to be sure. After reading up on insulation and vapor-barriers and such, I am rethinking my use of foam board for the floor insulation. We are lucky that we've only put down a little in the front part of the bus since it is being used as a moving van right now.


Are you planning on spray foam on the walls and ceiling?

Yes, I am planning to do that next week.

I think I'm going to paint the new plywood with catalyzed polyester resin, the type commonly used in fiberglass and automotive fillers. I might even lay on a layer of fiberglass mat or cloth. Same for the lumber nailing strips. Like boat building techniques. I have left a one inch gap between all the plywood and the walls. I was going to push one inch insulating board into that gap and run it up to the top of the wall (that would be in addition to the sprayed foam insulation, applied to the depth of the wall studs), but now am going to shoot insulating foam into that gap, and maybe seal over that before continuing to run the rigid insulating board up the wall.
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Old 12-02-2020, 05:24 PM   #58
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Lightbulb mold issues too

Thank you for starting this thread. I have been living primarily off grid 6 months a year for 15 years... Mold is a huge issue with RVs and, as I am also extremely vulnerable to mold and still recovering from chemical burns to my lungs, one of the reasons I elected to to convert a bus. I am primarily concerned with choosing insulation because of this and still haven't figured out what type to use...anyway...excellent topic thank youl

Quote:
Originally Posted by wrenchtech View Post
I am wondering how many of you have found mold in your bus.

I recently went to look at a bus that had just come up from Las Vegas Nevada. I thought great, here is a bus that is certain to be mold free. Boy was I wrong. When I showed up I found that the bus was partially gutted. The inner panels were off the walls, but the insulation bats were still in place, and they had a nice coating of what looked to me like black mold. How could this be? This bus has had spent it’s entire life in the desert. Well I think I know the answer, it has to do with air-conditioning, which would be indispensable in that kind of climate. What I think is happening is that these buses are equipped with industrial-strength air-conditioning that is capable of cooling is buses to the point where the inner wall skins are cool enough that warm moist air from the outside is condensing on the inside of the wall, which causes the insulation bats to become damp which creates the perfect conditions for mold growth. I came to this thinking that buses would be relatively free of mold because they are largely constructed of metal, but apparently whatever they used for insulation in the bus that I was looking at was able to support mold growth.

My thoughts were confirmed when I heard one bus owner talking about how after he insulated his bus with spray foam, the one place he hadn’t insulated, the spot above the windshield where the school bus lights had once resided, Would end up wet with condensation whenever he was running air conditioning.

The reason I am concerned about this is because I am very sensitive to mold. I already have to go to great lengths in the rest of my life to try to avoid mold. If school buses tend to have problems in this area, then I am going to have to find a different hobby.
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Old 12-02-2020, 05:37 PM   #59
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A guide to preventing mold:

https://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-Mold...g-in-Your-Home

Also, air gaps can promote condensation and thereby mold growth.

Something I've found to prevent condensation on windows is to wipe them down with shaving cream. YES, shaving cream. It makes a mess and takes awhile to clean completely, but it does work. Great for keeping your windows defogged when driving.
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Old 12-02-2020, 06:51 PM   #60
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Something I've found to prevent condensation on windows is to wipe them down with shaving cream. YES, shaving cream. It makes a mess and takes awhile to clean completely, but it does work. Great for keeping your windows defogged when driving.
Now that is a cool tip, if I’ve ever heard one. I’m definitely going to try that!
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