Tools getting wet

[bfullmer]

Went out to barn today and found all trusses wet and dripping
on everything , here in centrali mi it went from-15 to 40 , there
are ridge vents is there anything you can do about this other
than heating and insulating?

 

[RayP(MI)]

Yeah, I have a wood constructed polebarn, vinyl sided, shingle roof - basically, an oversized garage. As you said, from - zero temperatures to almost 40 and an inch of rain. All the machinery in my polebarn were sweating from condensation this morning too. Not much you can do unless you want to heat the entire building. Trusses and wood structure not condensing, but about all the metal items were wet. Tractors, plow, gravity boxes, lawn & garden machines, hand tools.

 

[Dave Sherburne NY]

minus 15 air is cold and dry no moisture to condense on anything. Plus 40 is warm and moist the moisture condenses on anything "like machinery" that isn't warmed up yet. Not a lot you can do except shut the doors and keep that warm moist air out.

 

[alvan]

Mine to here in southern Ohio. We had about an inch of rain last night and only a low of 50. Last week -12. I have a big barn fan when it gets like this I turn it on and try to move air around helps a little.

 

[C W Hinton]

Spray everything that sweats with WD-40. It won't completly stop the sweating but it will cut it down.

 

[504]

Open the doors and let the air move. I had a three month old door opener go bad, it turned out condensation shorted out the board in it.(I built a roof over the next one)

 

[ss55]

The tools, trusses, and everything else were still colder than the dewpoint of the warmer air blowing in, so moisture from the warmer air condensed on the tools and everything else. Storing the tools in a tool box, drawers or cabinet will reduce condensation on the tools.

 

[Russ from MN]

That's why some people have a small heated tool room/office in the corner of their shed, keep their air compressor and tools warm. If you insulate it well it doesn't cost much to heat it, and the waste heat will be in your shed! you can also have a floor on top for small parts storage.

 

[NEKS]

Never seen so much frost on on the sidewalls of fluid filled tractor tires as this winter.

 

[NoNewParts]

like said, get the air moving
open the windows and doors, the faster you can get
the temperature of the materials in the barn
to match the outdoor temps, the faster the condensation will stop.
I have one dirt floor shed, that had that problem so bad,
that mold was growing on everything, even the floor.
leaving all windows opened some all the time helped a lot.
(I just cracked the wind side window a little to try to keep
the snow out, but it still allowed cross ventilation)

 

[JRSutton]

yeah -tough year for that here in MA too!

Roller coaster temps.

Everything's just flowing with condensation. Not much you can do for bigger tools, cast iron etc. There's so much mass there that by the time you get it to warm up, the temps are dropping back down anyways.

 

[tiresntracks]

If its condensation on the inside of the tin, thin syrofoam insulation helps a lot. Mine is just a pole barn, its wide open on the sides. It gets frost on the inside of the roof and when it warms up, it melts. There's not much you can do about that.

 

[Geo-TH,In]

Bfullmer,
I grew up in Northern Indiana on a dairy farm. We had an all metal pole barn, 3 sided, for the cows to get out of the wind. Every morning when the sun melted the condensation, the pole barn was like a rain forest. Just like you are describing.

You definately have a condesation problem, which is the nature of having metal roofs. People who build with metal put all kinds of insulation under metal, which over time birds or insulation will fail and they your problem shows up.

I may be one of the few that think shingles are better than metal.

I built a pole barn with 2 ft trusses, osb decking, 1 ft vented eves, ridge vent, power vent, and 35 year shingles. Insurance company will replace my shingles. Every 15-20 years where I live a hail storm will damage shingles.

My floor is wet from snow falling off truck, but I have absolutely no runs, no drips, no sign of condensation ever.

People with metal roofs can't always say that, especially where I live. I've seen many metal roofs removed and replaced with shinges.

I'm sure metal lovers will will tell you they don't have a problem. They may not live where you do.

George

 

[Dieselrider]

We put house wrap on the purlins under the sheet steel on some roofs. Those ones do not drip on the equipment.