Moisture under rear bed?

I've noticed there is moisture / mold on the backside of the rear bed. I took it out and cleaned and dried the mattress cover and mattress, but first trip out since then moisture is back. Is it from condensation with the aluminum tray the bed sits in? Or moisture getting in while driving down the road?

Has anyone else experienced this? Any solutions?

Thanks,
Josh

[Lesherp]

We have experienced a lot of condensation everywhere in the trailer when it is cool/cold out and warm inside the trailer. I keep a small squeegee for the windows and we often use towels to dry the walls and bed area a bit before folding down. Have not checked the bed itself but know that the sleeping area is susceptible to this problem too. We maybe should check that a little closer from now on. Never been a problem with nice weather. Never had any problem with moisture getting in when traveling.

[scrubjaysnest]

There is anther thread on the forums about this and it seems the fix is to get a thin sheet of insulation of the vapor barrier type.
For cool/cold camping in rain proper venting is very important just like in fabric sided pop ups. We typically find you need to keep both the front and rear windows open and the roof vents open if running the heat. This is a trail and error thing. If your boiling anything on the stove it gets worse.

Thank you. I'll look for some of the vapor barrier material

I spoke to Ed in the service department at TrailManor.

He said he's never heard of this being an issue. He wanted to make sure I didn't have a leak and I carefully inspected all around the edges of the bed and found the moisture to be more towards the center of the bed than the edges. The fabric material on the sills at each end of the bed were also dry as was the rubber gasket at the bottom of the back wall of the trailer...so I figure the moisutre must be from condesnation. I told him of the recommened fix with the vapor barrier and he thought that should fix the problem, but did say that any water trapped between the aluminum and vapor barrier could potentially cause a mildew issue. So I'll keep an eye on that.

He also mentioned venting is important. He mentioned the fan, roof vents, etc.

In cool weather going forward I'll make sure to vent more and use the fan when possible. My wife is always cold and I have a 1 year old and 3 year old so I have to keep them warm!

I did buy some plastic vapor barrier material from Home Depot and cut it to fit underneath each bed and have it come up around the edge of the mattress on all 4 sides, but not enough to be visible.

Our next trip is to the east side of the state where the weather is more arid and desert like, so I don't anticipate any problems. The next beach trip isn't until August. The last couple trips when I've noticed this it was in the high 40's to low 50's at night and very dreary, foggy and rainy.

I'm hoping this solves the issue.

Thanks

What you are experiencing is most likely moisture from your body penetrating the mattress and condensing on the cool bed platform. I bought two thin camp pads. (moisture barrier and insulation) which I place under the mattress. It works great. If it is really cold outside, you should air the mattress after each trip.

Do you sleep on the bed with them inflated?

Another option could be a waterproof mattress pad.

If what you say is true, the vapor barrier I put down won't help the problem.

Surprising the moisture would penetrate all the way through a sleeping bag and mattress.

Are you using something similar to a therma rest?

Thanks

I am using thin self inflating mattress pads with a waterproof bottom. They are about 1" thick inflated. The air provides a heat barrier an the waterproof bottom keeps the moisture from contacting the cold bed platform. The add a little more cushion to the bed, but keep the condensation off the bottom of the mattress. The warm moisture from your body easily penetrates the sleeping bag and mattress.

Turns out i must sweat a ridculous amount...haha...the moisture appears to be coming all from my boday and getting through the mattress...I put the thermarest under the mattress and inflated it and the underside of the trailmanor mattress was still damp / moist...when putting the thermarest on top of the trail manor mattress the problem went away.

I'm looking at replacing the rear mattress with something that provides more support and is a denser foam...