On Nov 11, 3:51*pm, soartech wrote:
On Nov 11, 4:18*pm, Brad wrote:









On Nov 11, 10:39*am, soartech wrote:

Anyone have thoughts on would would be a good way to store a glider
trailer outdoors in winter? Remove the battery or keep it on trickle
charge? How about covering the trailer with a large tarp? Leaving a
small electric heater on low (500 Watts) to keep it slightly warmer
and drier?

Where are you located?

Here in the Pac NW at the very least put a bunch of Dri-Z-Air pots in
the trailer, make sure you monitor them, and that is still no
guarantee that your paint won't blister. At the very best store the
trailer indoors with a small fan and a boat heater.

There is no electricity available where I keep my trailer, I've had
lot's of bubble problems with my finish, which is Prestec.

Brad

My reasoning for using an electric heater is that if I can keep the
inside temperature at least a few degrees
above the outside temperature then it will always stay dry because the
dew point can never be reached.
I think the tarp can only help keep the moisture out and the heat in.

Mike, thanks for the data point on the small enclosure and 30 Watts of
heat. Based on trailer volume I would
think that 500 Watts would be about right.
4x4x4 = 64 / 30 W. = 2.1 Watts per cu. ft
32 x 5 x 5 = 800 / 500 = 1.6 Watts per cu. ft.

If it's going to freeze, an unattended dehumidifier isn't a great
idea. Alas.
Inside, heated, dry storage is best of course.
Most hangars are not well sealed, and your solar dryer doesn't work
anymore. I picked up a lot of corrosion over a winter from a glider in
our club hangar.
Hangars also have a really cold slab of concrete under them. When
spring comes, this means everything is cold and dripping wet inside
the hangar. worse than outside, where the morning condensation will at
least eventually dry out.
Small heaters are a great idea. I got a "air dryer" from iboats.com
(run by Bruno Vassel, glider pilot). It's 100 watts, designed to be
left alone, and won't bust like a light bulb. Over several winters
this has helped condensation a lot.
The daily condensation and hopefully drying out is a big problem for
glider storage alas.

John Cochrane