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So I got given a mobiwasher and ended up sticking it in the van...(bad idea) and it then leaked water ..
The van floor is 18mm ply (came like that) and pulling it up will be a lot of work... its also got unwin rails and all sorts from previous mobility use through the floor that will need to come out and I'll have to pull out the panels and some insulation to lift it and redo the floor with something after.
Lots of water came out through the side door but it must still be sopping inside...
Right now I'm looking for reasons not to have to pull out the ply flooring...
Um or a good slap with a frozen sausage and good reasons to pull it up now...???
Park on a very steep hill and open the back doors?
When we have some sunshine park in it, use a dehumidifier in the mean time.
It'll have had worse 😉
Seriously open the doors airflow.
Then when the sun comes out Vans get hot it'll be dry plenty quick
Park on a very steep hill and open the back doors?
That'd be my plan.
Stick a fan heater on an extension lead and close the doors until it looks like a sauna. Then open the windows and blow the steam away.
Embrace the moist, you could have the makings of a water bed. I say add more water, more i say.
Pop it in a bowl of uncooked rice.
Done exactly the same, except I paid for the mobi so that's worse. But that's only one of many soakings my van floor has had. It'll dry out. Eventually though the electric loom under the floor bought it and needed replacing.
I can stick the diesel heater on and get it up to silly temperatures inside but I'm still a bit worried about puddling in the ribs in the floor ... as far as I know the ply is screwed and bolted directly into the subfloor... so it touches at the high points and has 5mm (or so) ribs/channels inbetween that don't run parallel.
I guess I can probably see those from underneath though...
I did park on a hill deliberately yesterday (well front wheels up a bank)
Up a steep incline and as you are moving the van to that, have someone in the back listening out for a slosh sound. If none, then most of the water is gone and the stuff that is left isn't as much as you feared. The incline will force water out as it will spill over any lips and more will drain off.
Sit van in the sun and open a front window a crack, van will heat up and it will help the water evaporate...
The heater on and airflow should also help and if you can get some of that airflow underneath the flooring even better.
Drill holes in it from the bottom. Put wee rubber bungs in after.
Drill holes in it from the bottom. Put wee rubber bungs in after.
I was thinking that ... I've loads of primer and rustproof sat about but first...
Up a steep incline and as you are moving the van to that, have someone in the back listening out for a slosh sound. If none, then most of the water is gone and the stuff that is left isn’t as much as you feared. The incline will force water out as it will spill over any lips and more will drain off.
Sit van in the sun and open a front window a crack, van will heat up and it will help the water evaporate…
The heater on and airflow should also help and if you can get some of that airflow underneath the flooring even better.
Its an unpleasant 35C in the van at the moment with the windows down so I'll dry the insides and then try the slosh ...
I'll need to pull the heater diesel tank and water tank out to have a chance and probably some extra stuff (which will need to go in the back harden whilst I test) though so I'll leave it for today and try when its sunny.
Pop it in a bowl of uncooked rice.
uncooked? That’s where I’ve been going wrong.
This is my worst nightmare as I have foam insulation (closed cell thankfully) under my ply flooring... Excellent sound deadening but if it ever gets wet...
Don't drill holes in the floor though, you'd have to do every corrugation to be worth it, and it's a recipe for letting rust get hold big time.
I'd wedge the floor up where possible to create an air gap, loads of ventilation, or seal it up and run a decent sized dehumidifier that can do several litres per 24 hours. To be honest the water probably hasn't spread under the entire floor. If you don't use the unwin rails you could remove them (loads of bolts underneath)
I accidentally ( we, drive off having not put the top on or secured canister) dumped 15litres of water into my newly converted transporter.
No resultant issues. That was eight years ago. Just park it in the sun with a window ajar. It’ll be fine. Didn’t even bother putting heater on.
I was once told by a client of the time he hired a panel van to transport his large pond's worth of fish 100 miles to his new home. This was done using a waterproof sheet in the back. He'd not really considered braking and accelerating. What water that wasn't on the northbound A1 or keeping his Koi damp was somewhere in the bowels of his rental. He parked on a steep road for a while before returning it and never heard anymore. Pity the poor soul who subsequently bought it from the hire company.
Well the slosh test seems good ...
This is my worst nightmare as I have foam insulation (closed cell thankfully) under my ply flooring… Excellent sound deadening but if it ever gets wet…
Don’t drill holes in the floor though, you’d have to do every corrugation to be worth it, and it’s a recipe for letting rust get hold big time.
I’d wedge the floor up where possible to create an air gap, loads of ventilation, or seal it up and run a decent sized dehumidifier that can do several litres per 24 hours. To be honest the water probably hasn’t spread under the entire floor. If you don’t use the unwin rails you could remove them (loads of bolts underneath)
Yeah I think it got in through the Unwin rails ... I'm loathe to remove just yet as I'm actually experimenting... and currently they take 3x bike racks..
Under the 18mm ply I don't have any insulation or sound deadening and I've thought of using a spray to avoid removing the floor and side panels.. (when I say thought of actually bought the expanding foam) but also have some dodo sound deadening and thermal sound 12mm ...
The van floor has been drilled through and the 18mm ply fixed by self tapping screws .. then carpet stuck on top so you can't see where they are !! I cut the bottoms off near the spare wheel as it was just asking for a puncture... then sprayed a load of lanolin/bitumem stuff over the top...
Part of the reason I'm reluctant to pull out the floor is I'm thinking of moving the deisel heater as sticking on the water heater was a bit of an afterthought... so I'll have to clean up and weld in a plate after... and my access to decent welding kit is 250 miles away... I'm thinking i might just do that pull the lot and put in a nice rubber floor instead of the carpet it came with.
Uphill, back doors etc