The Absorber

Having lived in an arid desert environment for the past 12 years, the last few weeks that we've spent in Mississippi and Louisiana have presented a few new challenges for us. Lately it has been the high humidity causing a lot of external condensation on our Dometic refrigerator. We've found it necessary to wipe all of that condensation off before transferring the Dometic to the side table, to lessen the chance that it could slip out of our hands during the transfer. That meant either going through a lot of paper towels, or burning through our limited supply of cloth towels sooner than we would like.

We've used The Absorber (a synthetic chamois cloth which is sold at Wally World and most auto stores) on our vehicles for many years, so we cut one into four equal pieces. We now keep one piece in the galley, stored in a plastic bag. It takes up very little room, and it's great for wiping condensation off of the galley surfaces, refrigerator and side tables. Just wring it out after each use and it is ready the next time you need it!

 

Hi Jenn!

How does using the drying mat affect the finish of the stainless steel in the stove/cooler alcove? I'm guessing that road vibration would cause the Dometic to rub against those surfaces, which why it is suggested to use a towel.

While our towel does get damp, it still functions OK. And we air it out while the refrigerator is on the side table (which even works in high humidity if the sun is out long enough).

Alea has been thinking we should attempt to find a linen towel that will work in place of our terry towel, so that it will dry faster.

 

Yeah, having the galley look perfect isn't a goal of ours, but additional wear marks are part of the pros and cons to look at in deciding how best to solve a particular problem. I'll need to learn more about the dish draining cloth. I've noticed them in stores, but never looked closely at them.

We haven't had much rain since last weekend (yesterday there was one shower that lasted around 15 minutes). But the humidity is so high that we ride in fog for hours every morning.

We've got clotheslines rigged in the back of our van drying things out as we drive, so we've got that issue covered.

BTW, when I was cleaning up the Fantastic Fan I noticed that the manual said that it is OK to leave the fan open while towing the trailer (they recommend that it be fully opened). I think that is contrary to what I've heard in other places.

 

Hi Again!

We'll likely give the dish draining towels a try. With our CI 'Hockey Stick' in place our Dometic shouldn't rub against the stainless steel walls.

I was never completely happy with the cotton towel wrapped below and over the cooler, as it blocks the Dometic's cooling vents in the back (which is why we cut a hole in back on ours). Your solution provides better airflow for the Dometic. If the dish draining towels do a better job of handling moisture, then it will be a great improvement.

 

Hi! We use a terry cloth towel under our Dometic, but not wrapped around it. We keep about an inch showing in front which we can grab to easily pull out the Dometic to clean. This has worked fine for us. No condensation issues yet with the 'fridge, but we'll be in Florida tomorrow and our story may change! We travel with the fan cover and windows open slightly. Keeps air flowing as we drive. Think of you both often!

 

We purchased a dish draining pad, and I suspect it will work well for us. The main advantages appear to be that it dries faster than a cotton towel, and when wet there is a bit less friction when pulling the Dometic forward (we were periodically spray waxing the stainless steel counter to overcome this issue with cotton).

Once we have some downtime in a month or so I'll likely sew two nylon straps across the top of ours, adding finger loops on the deep storage side. That will make it easy to pull out a fully loaded Dometic without continually stretching the pad. It also will allow us to better center the pad under the Dometic.

 

Condensation on the 'fridge is definitely an issue in hot and humid Florida! !

 

The weather should be a little better this week. We are going to Boca Raton to tailgate with our son and his friends at the FAU football stadium.

 

We were out shopping yesterday and decided to buy a spare dish drainer pad. This one is much more substantial and wider than the original one that we bought, but a bit narrower. With it, we don't need to do the straps, which were because the first one we got was a bit flimsy and got stretched out too easily.

The new one was purchased at Walmart. Other than being made by Kitchen Basics, there is no part number or other identification (at least on the mat, and we've already tossed the packaging).

We went out and bought a second one of the new type, and the original is going to Goodwill.