Thread: Condensation on all my tools !!!

Originally Posted by Jim Ferrous

I go into my shed this morning and every metal tool looks like its sweating, every paint tin, aerosol can just about blinking everything has beads of water all over it. My 3 jaw chuck in my metal lathe is wet and rusty, all my machinery is wet.

It's been raining but the shed roof is 100% water tight and is insulated. It is around 5 degrees in the mornings.

I have lived here for 30 years and never had this before. What the hell has happened and how do I bloody stop it?

The only thing I can think of is that it must have been colder in the shed than outside and caused a lower dew point or something?

I can't heat it, so what to do?

Dig up a psychrometric chart, calculate your dewpoint and run a heater in the shed to keep everything above this. Or do what I'm about to do with my 7x10m shed and insulate and gyprock it.

Cos the vapa check hasn't been that flash!

Jim, since your address isn't all that clear, you obviously live in a climate which doesn't have too much humidity and you've never experienced your tool temperature dropping below dewpoint before. This can happen when the air temperature increases at a greater rate than your tool temperature (or is it vice versa???)

I have a fully insulated, sarked and lined shed, and cover all my machinery with old sheets, mostly which fixes the problem. All my hand tools are in cupboards, and if I leave anything out, or forget to put the ply cover on the tablesaw top for a week, it'll be rusty. No ifs, no buts.

Raising the temperature by just a few degrees will fix the problem too.

If it hasn't happened before, it's unlikely to happen again after the wet goes away.

cheers,

P

Originally Posted by Timmo

Dig up a psychrometric chart, calculate your dewpoint and run a heater in the shed to keep everything above this. Or do what I'm about to do with my 7x10m shed and insulate and gyprock it.

Hi Timmo, I did a google on "psychrometric chart". Not sure if I would be able to get one for my area (south coast nsw).

I can't understand why I would be getting moisture on all my tools and anything else metallic or even plastic. The only change to my shed has been a new roof and insulation. I would have thought the bloody insulation would have not let this happen.

I can't heat it as it would cost me a fortune. I ran to fans in there all day and it dried it out, but I don't know if it will stop the condensation until I see what happens overnight.

I've cleaned up a number of posts, please continue on topic.

Groggy
Moderator

Originally Posted by bitingmidge

Hey Oz!
are you sure???

Cos the vapa check hasn't been that flash!

Jim, since your address isn't all that clear, you obviously live in a climate which doesn't have too much humidity and you've never experienced your tool temperature dropping below dewpoint before. This can happen when the air temperature increases at a greater rate than your tool temperature (or is it vice versa???)

I have a fully insulated, sarked and lined shed, and cover all my machinery with old sheets, mostly which fixes the problem. All my hand tools are in cupboards, and if I leave anything out, or forget to put the ply cover on the tablesaw top for a week, it'll be rusty. No ifs, no buts.

Raising the temperature by just a few degrees will fix the problem too.

If it hasn't happened before, it's unlikely to happen again after the wet goes away.

cheers,

P

Biting Midge, my wife spent nearly all day in the shed with me helping to wipe down and oil all my metal tools. I was just blown away when I walked in there this morning and saw literally everything dripping.
My sons took my old rusty roof off last year and put a new tin roof down with insulation for the heat. The ends aren't 100% closed and I was worried about the glass fibres raining down on me, but now I'm glad they are because I used to get a fair bit of condensation on the old roof and it would drip down, so I'd say that there would now be a fair bit of moisture getting trapped in the matting. I hope now that the edges being exposed that it will be able to dry out?

My wife suggested that I put old sheets on my machinery, but I said no as I thought it would have attracted water and actually made it worse. It's working for you, so I will give that a go.

My shed isn't huge and I have everything hanging on walls and the ceilings etc I just dont have the cupboard space to put lots of stuff away.

Hopefully tommorrow when I go out there the fans circulating the air have done something.

With the recent rain it is possible that the slab has wicked the moisture into the shed. Was there a moisture barrier under the slab?

I am assuming this is a garden shed style shed, not a garage.

Originally Posted by Jim Ferrous

My wife suggested that I put old sheets on my machinery, but I said no as I thought it would have attracted water and actually made it worse. It's working for you, so I will give that a go.

It's another big job, but I've also given everything (hand tools) a rub with a wax (UBeaut Traditional) cloth, and from time to time give stuff a squirt with Lanotec, wiping it off and leaving the lanotec or any other oily rag over stuff doesn't hurt either, but watch out for getting oil on surfaces that are going to contact timber of course.

As I said on another post, the combination of temperature and humidity isn't likely to happen too regularly.

I know what you mean about cupboard space, but I scrounged a few after an office fitout. If you think about it, a wall hung cupboard will only take up the same amount of wall as your current hanging tools, and if you just hang stuff on the back wall of the cupboard, and inside the doors, you will have doubled your wall space.

I know it's a pain.... sorry! I'm glad you have a wife to help, they are usually pretty good at wiping up!

cheers,

P

Just a thought!

Is the Insulation laid correctly? You mention that you were worried that the fibreglass may drop down onto you.
You should have the fibreglass topside and the foil on the bottom.

Thanks for all the replies guys, I ventured into my shed with great trepidation this morning. The fans went all night and there was no moisture on anything in the shed BUT there was also no moisture dripping from the corrugated roof of our large awning that faces the south and does drip a lot of mornings. So I don't know yet until that drips and my shed is free of moisture whether or not it was the fans or not.

Hope that makes some sort of sense.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

As you can see my shed isn't exactly large and I have nearly everything hanging from either the ceiling or walls (these shots where before the insulation) and the roof has only a gentle slope.

The insulation is only open on the very edges. The front I folded over and the sides and the back are open. I hope that is allowing any moisture thats getting trapped to evaporate.

you win!

Clearly the problem is that you are being sent a message that you have too many tools!



P

Good to see another fisherman on board.

You know I was so looking forward to Jim being banned for driveling, then Oz being banned for banning Jim, then everyone saying how much they miss em both......then everyone holding hands and making up because it was all a bit of a mis-understanding.

BTW Jim, how much you selling the vapor-chek for?

I think Jim is Sturdee's brother .

Originally Posted by Groggy

I think Jim is Sturdee's brother .

Sorry to disillusion you Greg, he can't be because I don't use glass bottles for storage only plastic ones.


Nicely organised and clean.


Peter.