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Hangar condensation
- Thread starter Cooley
- Start date
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
Insulate the entire hangar.
BC12D-4-85
SPONSOR
Fairbanks, AK.
Turn on the ceiling fan and install a vent window in the door?
Gary
Gary
BC12D-4-85
SPONSOR
Fairbanks, AK.
Looks like a typical relatively colder wall next to humid air = condensation? Sky's suggestion for insulation over cool surfaces might help. Without adequate ventilation water will accumulate on surfaces unless allowed to be evaporated and moved away. If the door has been closed for an extended period with stagnant air that may have caused the buildup, unless there's a roof leak. Have a look the roof? Moisture vapor can also rise through a porous concrete floor. If so, seal the floor.
Gary
Gary
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
This is a common issue in regions where there are high levels of humidity at times. Is that the case in your area of Texas? We have that type of issue here in New England, usually in July and August. The insulation arrests the issue.
Yes, the swings in temperature and humidity are huge here.
However, "common issue" doesnt matter "everyone has this issue". I simply dont want to spend 250k on a hangar to invest another 50k +100s of hours of work to insulate/fight moisture in the future. It looks like others at the same airport dont have this problem.
So my dilemma - is this a function of a hangar or a function of climate? And it looks so far it is a function of a hangar. Agree?
However, "common issue" doesnt matter "everyone has this issue". I simply dont want to spend 250k on a hangar to invest another 50k +100s of hours of work to insulate/fight moisture in the future. It looks like others at the same airport dont have this problem.
So my dilemma - is this a function of a hangar or a function of climate? And it looks so far it is a function of a hangar. Agree?
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
If others at that airport don't have that issue, then it isn't an issue. Are you sure that is the case or they just don't care? When a hangar has moisture issues, the airplane has moisture issues, ....mold....rust...corrosion...etc.
BC12D-4-85
SPONSOR
Fairbanks, AK.
Pay someone who knows about these issues (like a building inspector?) to help determine if it's unique to that unit, or a common problem for all the hangars there. Real estate dealers and loaning institutions know where to find one. Get a pre-buy inspection before committing, and an estimate for a fix. Then adjust price or look elsewhere.
Gary
Gary
Well this is what I am trying for sort out.. 
My current hangar is 20 miles away and I never had anything like this. If you have air moving across T hangar section over the walls , it carries the moisture away. The humidity inside hanger is essentially the same as outside. Once you start building something out of concrete - you either ventilate it or insulate it.
here is a scary story from last year - I painted boot cowl and left it overnight to dry in my improvised paint booth in front of my garage. I did not turn on the heater. When I came in next day to check the paint - it was perfectly matte, not shiny. Because moisture condensed on aluminum and tiny water particles made paint matte. Had to turn on a heater next time.
My current hangar is 20 miles away and I never had anything like this. If you have air moving across T hangar section over the walls , it carries the moisture away. The humidity inside hanger is essentially the same as outside. Once you start building something out of concrete - you either ventilate it or insulate it. here is a scary story from last year - I painted boot cowl and left it overnight to dry in my improvised paint booth in front of my garage. I did not turn on the heater. When I came in next day to check the paint - it was perfectly matte, not shiny. Because moisture condensed on aluminum and tiny water particles made paint matte. Had to turn on a heater next time.
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
It looks like that left wall is concrete blocks? Concrete does sweat and does not assimilate to it's surroundings quickly during temperature/humidity changes. What about just insulating that wall? will that answer your questions?
flybynite
FOUNDER
Eagan, Minnesota
The temperature of the concrete changes more slowly than the temperature of the steel walls. Your air around Houston is very humid and warm. When the warm moist air hits the cooler concrete, moisture condenses on the concrete as long as the temperature of the concrete is below the dewpoint. The floor may at times be subject to the same condensation in the winter and spring until the ground temp warms above the dewpoint.
Ventilating the hangar may allow the objects inside to change temperature more closely with the outside temperatures, but condensation will be a problem on occasions. You could insulate the concrete wall with rigid foam to prevent the warm moist air from reaching it, but use an open cell foam to allow the wall to dry when it needs to.
Here is a dewpoint map for Houston
Ventilating the hangar may allow the objects inside to change temperature more closely with the outside temperatures, but condensation will be a problem on occasions. You could insulate the concrete wall with rigid foam to prevent the warm moist air from reaching it, but use an open cell foam to allow the wall to dry when it needs to.
Here is a dewpoint map for Houston
Scott 2020
Registered User
Thunder Bay Ontario
If the floor was poured without a vapour barrier moisture will wi k up from the ground continously. If there is even a small roof leak this will add to the humidity problem.
Fortunately there's an easy fix. Get a dehumidifier and stand it on a 45gal drum to collect the condensate. This will give you a good quality freshwater suppy for washing aircraft, hands, parts etc, and .aking coffee!
I've been doing this in my hangar since 2012.
Fortunately there's an easy fix. Get a dehumidifier and stand it on a 45gal drum to collect the condensate. This will give you a good quality freshwater suppy for washing aircraft, hands, parts etc, and .aking coffee!
I've been doing this in my hangar since 2012.
Steve Pierce
BENEFACTOR
Graham, TX
I was going to say seal the concrete wall and use a dehumidifier. I looked at an airplane in that area where the owner had completely sealed the hangar and ran a dehumidifier 24/7. Your best option is to move northwest a bit where things are drier and cheaper.
aktango58
FRIEND
18AA
The dehumidifier is the inexpensive solution. I would make sure the concrete is sealed, and I would also place the dehumidifier in such a way as to keep the air inside the hangar moving at all times. Just a fan inside the hangar helps keep moisture from building up and causing corrosion.
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
I have a 12' BAF in my 50x50 hangar and if it was in one this size it would loosen the screws if set at 100%. Run it all the time...Look at the big a$$ fan in the hangar. Those have a good reputation for moving air.
Scott 2020
Registered User
Thunder Bay Ontario
I think you'll find a fan alone will not make much of a difference if the hangar is reasonably weather sealed. May even make it worse.
flynlow
FRIEND
Fowler, Ks
I have three metal buildings that are insulated one has the blanket type and it sweats frome the rafters.
the other two have spray foam and they stay dry. I live in western. Ks
Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org mobile app
Flyingde
MEMBER
NC
I bought a 12' Essence on sale last summer for my 50x60. Look forward to hanging it in a few weeks.
Thats what I have. I run it year-round, very low in the winter (just so you feel it in the hair on your arm) and summer to suit.
peterdillon
SPONSOR
Not really a fan of fans. Insulation is good for sure if its heated. If you have an uninsulated hangar an you have the main door facing the prevailing winds put a roll up door garage type door in the back or rear corner or vice versa if your main door is on the calm side. In the spring open both doors on a few warm windy days and you will equalize the temps very quickly and have no moisture problems. On a hangar with one door open the interior is shaded so it is cooler than the outside air temp and there is very little air movement even on a windy day to heat and remove the moisture.
We had a new very well insulted hanger unheated in mid Canada and at the end of June the plane was still dripping water on the cold floor and the windows were fogged.
Our experience is an insulated unheated hanger is worse for moisture unless you have some way to get the temp equalized in the spring. May be different in other climates.
We had a new very well insulted hanger unheated in mid Canada and at the end of June the plane was still dripping water on the cold floor and the windows were fogged.
Our experience is an insulated unheated hanger is worse for moisture unless you have some way to get the temp equalized in the spring. May be different in other climates.
Just come to Oklahoma in mid-late summer when the wind doesn't blow much, and its 100+ degrees and you'll learn to like fans...
steamflyer
MEMBER
When warm follows cold in TX find the hangars, particularly the floors, sweat profusely. Hangar is 20 miles from the Gulf, so maybe not a surprise. Older ones seem worse, so perhaps insulating helps, but we have to live with it.
TR Dunn
MEMBER
Insulate all you desire and the problem will not rectify itself until the interior temperature and that of the contents are held above the dewpoint. Insulation may actually exacerbate the problem if not climate controlled due to the stagnation of its ambient air. Fans are indeed the most cost-effective solution, as the circulation of air provided by the fan/s disperses the boundary layer that surrounds all objects of dissimilar temperature thereby expediting the process of convection. It’s the thermal mass of the interior objects as well as the building construction materials that cause condensation when the boundary layer surrounding them is cooled to the dewpoint. For this reason, you may still require those wing and tail covers even when in a fully enclosed but unheated hangar when the temps swing rapidly from 30 below to 20 above.
skywagon8a
MEMBER
SE Mass MA6
Insulation in a metal covered hangar works in this region with nothing else being done.
Understand the physics and Keep it warm.
Make your airplane like your coffee cup, not like your ice cold class of lemonade.
When the product is colder than the air around it like your lemonade, condensation is a risk, and a sure thing if the warm air is moist.
When the product is warmer, then condensation is impossible, like your coffee cup.
So if you can insulate or heat, then the air inside will stay warmer at night so your craft stays warmer. But if the craft gets real cold at night because its cold outside (thus cold inside the uninsulated hangar) then your craft's temp lags the (sunshine induced) air warmup outside and the cold objects become like that ice cold glass of lemonade.
The condensation peaks in the morning about the time you get to your hangar and open the doors....ten oclock?
A small heater inside your craft will do the same thing. Fire prevention discussion then is wise.
Make your airplane like your coffee cup, not like your ice cold class of lemonade.
When the product is colder than the air around it like your lemonade, condensation is a risk, and a sure thing if the warm air is moist.
When the product is warmer, then condensation is impossible, like your coffee cup.
So if you can insulate or heat, then the air inside will stay warmer at night so your craft stays warmer. But if the craft gets real cold at night because its cold outside (thus cold inside the uninsulated hangar) then your craft's temp lags the (sunshine induced) air warmup outside and the cold objects become like that ice cold glass of lemonade.
The condensation peaks in the morning about the time you get to your hangar and open the doors....ten oclock?
A small heater inside your craft will do the same thing. Fire prevention discussion then is wise.
