carcoon veloce

[chan]

I am thinking of one of these, have folks bought a large size???

[Kent Thirley]

I Keep my S1 FHC in a size 4 Carcoon over the winter months. Keeps the car very well.

[NickJ]

I use an Air chamber for my Series 1.The frame however remains up at all times, unlike the Cacoon. The only downside to this is that it sometimes becomes difficult to work on the car given the space inflexibility.
I cannot however get my head around pumping fresh air through the chamber so I place a dehumidifier inside the chamber on a time switch. Works a treat and you'll be amazed just how much water it takes out!
Nick J Series 1 FHC

[ChrisC]

I think the veloce has a frame with zip open sides and rear. Looks like a nice solution. Although a well aired dry garage also works especially with a de-humidifier

[PeterCrespin]

Although a well aired dry garage also works especially with a de-humidifier

Ahem....a well-aired garage and a dehumidifier do not a happy couple make, unless you want to dehumidify the county of Surrey on your electricity bill.

I'm sure you get some results but you'd be better off choosing one or the other, not both. Just my two gallon's worth. :-)

[Pim]

unless you want to dehumidify the county of Surrey on your electricity bill.

Why limit yourself to Surrey? The rest of the UK could do with some dehumidifying as well ...

[PeterCrespin]

Why limit yourself to Surrey? The rest of the UK could do with some dehumidifying as well ...

This is true - "Carry On Chris!"

[tim wood]

This is interesting,I have a normal garage with usual up and over doors. Not especially sealed. I run a dehumidifier for about 6 hours each night and this pulls approx a litre or so (maybe up to2 litres) a day.

Only during winter I add.

Do people think I'm wasting energy .


Tim

[Heuer]

I do the same Tim although mine is automatic and reacts to humidity levels. It was really cold here on Sunday but yesterday was much warmer but wet. I opened the garage doors and within minutes the cars were covered in 'dew' and humidity levels were registering 92% at 7C. Never really questioned whether the dehumidifier was doing its job efficiently but after 14 years there is no evidence of rust on the OTS. I would be interested to hear others views - mine is a triple garage and sensibly ventilated.

[Simon P]

As the owner of two Lancias, I feel I can justifiably claim to be more of an authority on the potential perils of the dreaded tinworm than even the most chastened of E-type owners :D

Two cars, two garages, neither heated nor dehumidified, and not a spot of rust on either car. Both garages are reasonably well ventilated (i.e. not air-tight) but most importantly neither car ever gets put away wet. Other than that, that's it. One car sits under a tailored dust sheet (mainly because it has one), the other doesn't.

My E-type sat alone in a standard unheated garage for 21 years and whilst it looked understandably tired and dilapidated and wouldn't have won any concours competitions when it came out, what rust there was on it was there when it got put away - all the damage had been done during its life out on the road, not in the garage.

[ChrisC]

My garage is dry and fairly well aired but I use a reasonably large domestic fan to circulate air. This keeps condensation at bay but like Dave, I opened the garage door the other day and condensation almost instantly appeared on the car so maybe air movement is more important than dry air?

To be fair I had thought about adding a dehumidifier (like I had in my old garage) but now I know you lot want me to dry out the southern counties, I will have a word with those nice fellows at Sandhurst and have them do a few more runs in their fleet of Chinooks to move some more air about :)

But coming back to the point of this point - I still like the idea of the Veloce Carcoon but will it dry out the leather too much?

[Simon P]

This keeps condensation at bay but like Dave, I opened the garage door the other day and condensation almost instantly appeared on the car

Lead and lag. The outside temperature drops, the pocket of air within the garage (and therefore the car) drops in temperature too. The outside temperature and humidity then suddenly goes up, you open the door, warm moist air meets cold metal car - and bingo.

It's a familiar scenario to glasses wearers everywhere, and is the reason (in my own mind) why as a teenager I could never pull when walking into a pub on a cold winter's evening.... :D

If anything, dehumidifying the inside of the garage would probably make the scenario worse, and even an industrial strength dehumidifier would struggle to cope with the sudden on-rush of warm wet air charging forward to meet your car when you open the door. Best not to open the door in the first place, or go off and make yourself a cup of tea whilst the car's temperature comes up to ambient.

Incidentally, in the days before dehumidifiers the standard trick was to leave a bit of old carpet on the floor under the car to act as 'capture and slow release' trap for excess moisture. It probably still does the job just as well, and like you I think a certaim amount of humidity is a good thing and drying things out too much will probably simply cause issues elsewhere.

[PeterCrespin]

But coming back to the point of this point - I still like the idea of the Veloce Carcoon but will it dry out the leather too much?

Yes, if you use it too much, obviously no if you don't.

I assume it has an on-off switch and/or you can rig up a timer, or nip across and plug it in when it feels a bit clammy? Don't mean to be awkward, but it's exactly the same as you asking if the accelerator will cause the car to crash (and the answer is therefore exactly the same).

In the UK I'd say you won't easily dry leather out to excess if you feed it occasionally and don't park with the same spot in the sun all the time. It is heat that dries out leather the most. I had a 1999 Daimler (where they use the very best hides) and the backs of the rear seat headrests dried out and made the contrast piping wavy, from always being in the sun. They were shrunken within ten years when I got the car so if your leather is old, feed it.

Pete

[Steve Marshall]

The dessicant type rotary dehumifiers produce heat as a useful by product, so the car and garage interior should generally be a little warmer than external ambient. That should protect against small temperature swings externally when opening the door.

I have been running a dehum in my leaky double brick-built garage for 2 years set at about 45%, and I rubbed down a sheet of mild steel with emery paper as a test when I got it. It is still bright, so I am convinced of the benefits. I put a wet motorbike into the garage fairly often.

It seems a bit extravagant, but what I have paid for rechroming and painting over the years would pay for 2.3 shed loads of electricity (in old money).

I keep thinking about crudely improving the vapour (vapor) sealing by oil painting the interior walls (if you can still buy it). Or may be a few coats of just silicone clear sealant would achieve the same result. Lining with Kingspan with taped joints would be the ideal of course.

[Steve Marshall]

The dessicant type rotary dehumifiers produce heat as a useful by product, so the car and garage interior should generally be a little warmer than external ambient. That should protect against small temperature swings externally when opening the door.

I have been running a dehum in my leaky double brick-built garage for 2 years set at about 45%, and I rubbed down a sheet of mild steel with emery paper as a test when I got it. It is still bright, so I am convinced of the benefits.

It seems a bit extravagant, but what I have paid for rechroming and painting over the years would pay for 2.3 shed loads of electricity (in old money).

I keep thinking about crudely improving the vapour sealing by oil painting the interior walls (if you can still buy it). Or may be a few coats of just silicone clear sealant would achieve the same result. Lining with Kingspan with taped joints would be ideal of course.

When it comes to drying out leather, I would think that the problem of drying is the result of heat evaporating volatile organic compounds from the leather. That is why we rub waxy stuff back into it to revive it, not water! Reducing the partial water vapour pressure inside a Carcoon should make no difference to the rate of loss of VOC's, it would be only temperature dependent. Just put loads of cat litter or disposable nappies in the Carcoon with the car.

[RobMcC]

Steve,

I bought a Cair-o-Port tent affair for my S1 fhc about 10 years ago which looks similar to the Cartoon Veloce you mention.

Due to my tiny 1930's garage, I had to buy the small size, quoted at 4.4m long for my 4.44m long car. It does just fit, though the bumpers touch the fabric at both ends.

Despite the garage being damp to the point of standing water at times, the car has maintained exactly the same level of rustiness for all these years, with the airflow drying the car if put away wet. There is a touch of surface rust on the bumpers where they touch, but it polishes off so overall I am very happy. There have been no issues with leather drying out or suchlike.

I replaced the fans after a few years with better quality ball bearing ones, as the standard sleeve bearing fans had become noisy and slow. Only cost a few pounds for the computer fans on eBay.

Regards,

Rob.