<VV> Car cover/Moisture.

[FrankCB@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/29/04 5:04:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
hmlinc@sbcglobal.net writes:

> I've always been told that a dirt floor will cause the undercarriage to 
> rust 
> quite quickly.  A chemical reaction with mother earth??
> 
> Attachments (if any) are scanned with anti-virus software.
> 
> Later, JR
> 
Later, Junior,
       Well, I doubt there's any "chemical reaction with mother earth" poetic 
as that  idea sounds.  More likely it's the movement of moisture from the 
damp earth to the underbody of the car that causes the damage.  And that depends 
on the local weather and how much rain has fallen and how high the water table 
is underneath the dirt.
       If you're concerned about this, then by all means get a HYGROMETER 
which is an instrument that measures the relative humidity of the area where it 
is placed.  I keep one or more in my basement to display relative humidity 
especially during the summer so I know when I have to run the dehumidifier and 
also how to set it so that it controls the humidity to a reasonable level without 
running all the time and making the electric company unnecessarily richer.
       Radio Shack even offers remote reading temp/relative humidity sensors 
that can send a radio signal reporting temp/RH back to the main unit.  You 
could place a couple of these in the garage/storage building and use a slow fan 
to gently circulate the air throughout so that the readings are representative 
of the entire area.  I'd recommend keeping the RH below 80% to avoid the 
possibility of condensation and subsequent rusting.  You can do this either by 
running a dehumidifier OR by raising the temperature of the area.  Any increase in 
temp reduces the RH and reduces the likelihood of condensation, just as any 
reduction in temp does the opposite.  Note that this assumes you are NOT making 
the heat by burning a fuel that produces water vapor, i.e., any fuel that 
contains hydrogen. That leaves only solar heat, electric heat or burning 
coal.(:-)
       Frank "chemically speaking" Burkhard