Chuckwagon
Junior Ranger
Any tips on storing the Teardrop during the winter? We live in the humid south and I'm concerned about mildew.
Camper Winter Storage
- Thread starter Chuckwagon
- Start date
STEVEandJAN
Newbie
We also would be interested. We are getting ready to move on to a boat full-time but want to keep and use our camper. It's been in our garage where it's been kept clean, protected and charged up ready to go. But we are going to sell our house and then our camper won't have it's happy home. What do folks do for storing their camper when they don't have a garage or a house ? Commercial outdoor storage ? Covered storage? Interior controlled climate storage ? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Les Izmore
Junior Ranger
I have no direct experience for either Chuckwagon or Steve and Jan, but I'll share my uninformed thoughts.
Chuckwagon - Hardware stores carry various dessicant products that should help to prevent mildew while stored, by taking moisture out of the air. I seem to recall that there is a brand call Dri-Z-Air or something similar, and there are lots of options on Amazon.com. They are stocked with the household cleaners and probably other locations in the big box stores. If you can store it indoors, I would recommend keeping it opened up (doors open, screens up, if you have them). If you store it outdoors hopefully you don't have to store it in the open under a cover, as I suspect that could trap a lot of moisture.
Steve and Jan - Interior climate controlled storage is probably overkill, except in areas of the country where it is humid a lot (being near a coast might put you in that category). If your boat will be moored in salt water, indoor storage would seem to make more sense, since salt air has a corrosive effect on the aluminum skin of the camper. We stored our camper in an unheated garage in Boise, where the outside temps could range from 5 degrees to 110 degrees. We had no issues, but that is a very arid environment. One downside of outdoor storage is that the camper could be visible from the street, giving someone plenty of time to figure out how to break into the storage area and steal the camper.
Hopefully there are members with direct experience with your issues who can give you more food for thought.
Chuckwagon - Hardware stores carry various dessicant products that should help to prevent mildew while stored, by taking moisture out of the air. I seem to recall that there is a brand call Dri-Z-Air or something similar, and there are lots of options on Amazon.com. They are stocked with the household cleaners and probably other locations in the big box stores. If you can store it indoors, I would recommend keeping it opened up (doors open, screens up, if you have them). If you store it outdoors hopefully you don't have to store it in the open under a cover, as I suspect that could trap a lot of moisture.
Steve and Jan - Interior climate controlled storage is probably overkill, except in areas of the country where it is humid a lot (being near a coast might put you in that category). If your boat will be moored in salt water, indoor storage would seem to make more sense, since salt air has a corrosive effect on the aluminum skin of the camper. We stored our camper in an unheated garage in Boise, where the outside temps could range from 5 degrees to 110 degrees. We had no issues, but that is a very arid environment. One downside of outdoor storage is that the camper could be visible from the street, giving someone plenty of time to figure out how to break into the storage area and steal the camper.
Hopefully there are members with direct experience with your issues who can give you more food for thought.
we've stored our 550 for the past two winters (and summers) in an unheated, very drafty airplane hangar in central North Carolina. I'd say conditions in that space pretty much mirror what's outside, just no precipitation. Real humid and hot in the summer, alternately humid and dry in the winter.
I also thought I'd need to use some sort of dessicant, even bought some, but never used it.
I started out leaving the windows open but thought better of that when I realized how dusty this space is. So now I just shut the trailer up tight and have not had any problems with mildew, dampness, anything.
In fact, I sometimes just open the door and sit in it just to smell that CampInn smell - y'all surely know what i mean. Makes me want to hit the road.
So inside is good but I bet it would do fine outside as well.
r dickson
I also thought I'd need to use some sort of dessicant, even bought some, but never used it.
I started out leaving the windows open but thought better of that when I realized how dusty this space is. So now I just shut the trailer up tight and have not had any problems with mildew, dampness, anything.
In fact, I sometimes just open the door and sit in it just to smell that CampInn smell - y'all surely know what i mean. Makes me want to hit the road.
So inside is good but I bet it would do fine outside as well.
r dickson