Play Misty For Me!

[bluenose1940]

Had lots of rain in the night......hasn't everybody! Got up at 6.30am, had me brekky, sun came up to create a beautiful sunny morning, went out to the car which is always parked on the driveway, jumped in and went orf for my usual saturday morning playing snooker.

The car was parked up for just over 3 hours in brilliant sunshine and, when I went out to it to drive home, all of the windows were misted up on the inside.

Anyone got any ideas what might be the cause of this please?

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Condensation. If you use the A/C a lot then there will be moisture inside your car. Warm sun on the car creates the condensation as the moisture is trying to escape (evaporation) but can't get into the atmosphere as your car is water tight so settles on the inside of the glass. This always happens to my car in the autumn/winter. This is what I was told when I asked the same question so I'm not saying this is 100% fact but it made sense to me lol :)

You can get a de humidifier from caravan dealerships, Halfords or on eBay to remove the moisture from your car, it worked wonders for me.

[noby76]

Open all four windows for 2 mins the moment you get in and fresh air from outside will sort it out. :)

oh and switch it from 'air recirluation' to the the option which draws air from outside and after 2 mins everything will be clear.

[bluenose1940]

Condensation. If you use the A/C a lot then there will be moisture inside your car. Warm sun on the car creates the condensation as the moisture is trying to escape (evaporation) but can't get into the atmosphere as your car is water tight so settles on the inside of the glass. This always happens to my car in the autumn/winter. This is what I was told when I asked the same question so I'm not saying this is 100% fact but it made sense to me lol :)

You can get a de humidifier from caravan dealerships, halfords or on eBay to remove the moisture from your car, it worked wonders for me.

That sounds a useful idea Chris. It does seem a logical explanation. Do you have to leave the dehumidifier on all of the time. Presumably it runs off the cigar lighter, or the socket in the centre armrest. Having said that, I don't tend to use the aircon very much, more so in the summer to keep cool...........sometimes. It could of course be from just using the heating system as a basic heater, like the old run-of-the-mill cars!

[bluenose1940]

Open all four windows for 2 mins the moment you get in and fresh air from outside will sort it out. :)

oh and switch it from 'air recirluation' to the the option which draws air from outside and after 2 mins everything will be clear.

Hi noby76, thanks for your suggestion, sounds a sensible move but, I always drive with the air coming in from the outside, only rarely do I use the recirculation system.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

If you give your cabin a blast of icy air in the summer then that will create a lot of moisture I would have thought.

As for the de humidifier, it doesn't need to plug into your car at all. You charge it up in your house then put it in your car overnight. Then empty it in the morning. I was amazed how much water was in there :) the 1 I have is 1500ml but they do smaller.

[bluenose1940]

If you give your cabin a blast of icy air in the summer then that will create a lot of moisture I would have thought.

As for the de humidifier, it doesn't need to plug into your car at all. You charge it up in your house then put it in your car overnight. Then empty it in the morning. I was amazed how much water was in there :) the 1 I have is 1500ml but they do smaller.

Magic Chris, thank you for that, I will go and have a look on eBay right away. My wife's car suffers quite badly from this problem so I think that she will be well pleased if this works for her. will let you know how I get on. Thanks again.

[normski2]

Have you checked all the carpets for signs of dampness? Is there a window open just a smidgen?

Can't help feeling something like this is more likely to cause the misting inside. Can honestly say I have never had misted up windows from using the air con either as recirculate or from outside.

The very act of using air con removes moisture from the atmosphere inside the cabin.

[F.A.]

Have you checked all the carpets for signs of dampness? Is there a window open just a smidgen?

Can't help feeling something like this is more likely to cause the misting inside. Can honestly say I have never had misted up windows from using the air con either as recirculate or from outside.

The very act of using air con removes moisture from the atmosphere inside the cabin.

+1

Never had this problem with neither of my cars, but I always have the AC on throughout the year

[darkoracle]

The 'fun' really starts when the frosty mornings come and you are scraping ice from the inside as well as the outside. :eerrrmm:

I've also found that those bead filled dehumidifiers can help - you can get them from amazon and Coopers.

You plug them into a house power socket and heat them up until the beads go blue, disconnect and place it into your car, remove it when the beads go pale pink... Plug them in again etc.

Not always 100% effective but they do help.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Have you checked all the carpets for signs of dampness? Is there a window open just a smidgen?

Can't help feeling something like this is more likely to cause the misting inside. Can honestly say I have never had misted up windows from using the air con either as recirculate or from outside.

The very act of using air con removes moisture from the atmosphere inside the cabin.

Well all I know is I had the exact same problem, I use the A/C all the time. I have absolutely no leaks, everywhere in the car is bone dry. I use the dehumidifier once or twice a month and the problem no longer exists :)

[bluenose1940]

Just been out to check all my carpets etc, absolutely no sign of any damp whatsoever. Checked all the windows too, nothing, absolutely nothing. Similar weather today but no sign of mist/condensation. Could it have been a quirkey one off I wonder?

[dazed]

Have you checked all the carpets for signs of dampness? Is there a window open just a smidgen?

Can't help feeling something like this is more likely to cause the misting inside. Can honestly say I have never had misted up windows from using the air con either as recirculate or from outside.

The very act of using air con removes moisture from the atmosphere inside the cabin.

Agreed. Aircon reduces humidity (cold air can't hold moisture). You may have introduced moisture into the car with a wet coat or umbrella, or a door seal may be failing (common as a car ages).

Alternatively, your aircon may need regassing.

[ChrisIS200SportTTE]

Have you checked all the carpets for signs of dampness? Is there a window open just a smidgen?

Can't help feeling something like this is more likely to cause the misting inside. Can honestly say I have never had misted up windows from using the air con either as recirculate or from outside.

The very act of using air con removes moisture from the atmosphere inside the cabin.

Agreed. Aircon reduces humidity (cold air can't hold moisture). You may have introduced moisture into the car with a wet coat or umbrella, or a door seal may be failing (common as a car ages).

Alternatively, your aircon may need regassing.

See I knew I'd be wrong! Lol..

Gotta stop listening to blokes down the pub. Anyway the dehumidifier still works to get rid of the moisture and mine never mists up anymore :)

[bluenose1940]

Have you checked all the carpets for signs of dampness? Is there a window open just a smidgen?

Can't help feeling something like this is more likely to cause the misting inside. Can honestly say I have never had misted up windows from using the air con either as recirculate or from outside.

The very act of using air con removes moisture from the atmosphere inside the cabin.

Agreed. Aircon reduces humidity (cold air can't hold moisture). You may have introduced moisture into the car with a wet coat or umbrella, or a door seal may be failing (common as a car ages).

Alternatively, your aircon may need regassing.

See I knew I'd be wrong! Lol..

Gotta stop listening to blokes down the pub. Anyway the dehumidifier still works to get rid of the moisture and mine never mists up anymore :)

Found out that my wife has one of these small dehumidifiers so am giving it a go in her car as it suffers quite badly from internal misting up. If it works I will give it a go in mine. A question for those of you that use these dehumidifiers, do you have leather upholstery and if you do, have you noticed any significant 'drying out' of the leather? I know that you can purchase cleaning treatments for leather upholstery and also treatments that will protect it and keep it supple so I expect that it would be prudent to use these in conjunctionwith the dehumidifier. Any thoughts anyone?