Condensation In My Aygo With Heater On Circulate

[jimaxallright]

If I have my aygo on circulate the air, my aygo gets that steamed up I cannot see out of the windows. I have to put the car onto vent all the time I put the car in curry motors and they said this was normal on this model I cant believe this does anyone else have this problem. On the other hand, can anyone tell me they have no problems with condensation with the heater set circulating? It is an AYGO blue with the air con, but i never use the air con its terrible water running down all the windows and you cannot see out the screen unless i open the windows and put the car onto vent. After several minutes I can close, the windows leave it on vent and it seems to be better but will immediately returns if i put it on circulate.

HELP

[gordonh]

I would check your mats in the back to see if they are wet, or are you taking wet clothing into the car with you. There is no reason you car should be misting up, especially with the aircon running.

[Jan van de Wouw]

Try the A/C on recirculation with the heater on. This effectively should

"dry" the air in the car and take care of the condensation on the windows.

But it isn't recommenden to drive with recirculation on all the

time, as this causes the inside air to get "thick" with CO2...

[jimaxallright]

No i dont have the air con on i have it either just blow or heat and blow it just steams up nothing in the car is wet i get in with dry cloths

[jimaxallright]

I do i have the heater on and circulate everything every window drips with water and you cant see out the screen you can only clear it with the vent setting or air con on cold not ideal in the winter

[Unklian]

What you describe is perfectly normal.

You need to use the air-con properly.

Don't want to patronise anybody but I'll start off simple.

The air inside the car is full of humidity from your damp winter clothes,

wet shoes & your breath. If this humidity is not removed, it will always end up condensing on

the coldest part of the interior which is the windows.

With the heating on recirculate and air-con off, you will NEVER sort this out.

You are blowing steam round & round inside your car.

Your breath, armpits & steamy winter socks etc.

You need to get the damp air out of the car and dry air in.

Easy way is windows open, heater on full and recirc off.

But you want to be warm.

The way the air-con works is to blow air across something called an evaporator,

in effect, a small VERY cold finned tube. This chills the air.

Frost and ice form on this. This will be where all the damp in your car turns to water.

What you need to do......

Part one......When you start up......

1 Turn heater onto recirc.

2 Fan on position 2 or 3

3 Set to "hot"

4 Air-con "On"

Your car will warm up just as fast. Air-con is designed to de-humidify the air.

That is why it is called air CONDITIONing rather than air cooling.

Your car will de-mist much faster when you use air-con as well as heating.

So, now, as you drive along, the damp in your car is being warmed up,

it then sticks to the cold air-con parts......And......Importantly......DRIPS OUTSIDE UNDERNEATH YOUR CAR......good.

It's costing very little extra in petrol to run it and you're much more comfortable.

Part two......as you get to work......

The air-con parts are still covered in ice, when you switch off your car,

this will turn back into damp which is inside you car......bad.

So......as you get about a mile from work......And you are toasty warm (and a bit drier).

1 Turn recirc "Off"

2 Turn air-con "Off".

3 Open windows a couple of inches.

This will now allow any warm, damp air to be blown out of the car and will

dry the air-con parts for the start of your next journey.

Sounds a bit of a pain but a few trips like this, it will become second nature.

You will gradually remove all the damp air.

Your carpets etc. will be completely dry. It all helps fight the running windows.

Your Aygo will also smell much better.

Hope this helps.

Ian.

(Just a quick note, Using the air-con also prevents leaks by coating the insides of the

rubber air-con pipes with oil. If you stop using the air-con, you will eventually lose

the refrigerant and your air-con will stop working completely. Well know air-con lingo......

"Use it or lose it".)

[Jan&tone]

Don't know about others, but this morning my wifes Aygo was iced up inside!

I don't tend to use the 'circulate' bit, I find it doesn't clear the windows inside quickly enough - what I did find though that 20 minutes after I started, the ice had melted and was running down the inside of the screen from behind the roof trim! presumably the inside of the metal on the roof had ice on it as well and had started to melt.

The car is parked in the sun at the office so hopefully it will dry off before it freezes again tonight.... Gawd I hate this time of year, roll on summer!!

[daveyjp]

To the OP - you have aircon - press the button and USE IT!

No need to use recirc in winter, this is for summer when the outside air is very warm and you want to recirculate already cool air inside the car, rather than cooling hot air all the time. If I set the cliamte on my car to as cold as it will go recirc comes on automatically.

Once the aircon is on you will enjoy condensation free windows!

[welshviking]

To the OP - you have aircon - press the button and USE IT!

No need to use recirc in winter, this is for summer when the outside air is very warm and you want to recirculate already cool air inside the car, rather than cooling hot air all the time. If I set the cliamte on my car to as cold as it will go recirc comes on automatically.

Once the aircon is on you will enjoy condensation free windows!

Just a reply to totally agree with Dave's reply.......Bang on the nail !!!!

[redsquare]

What's aircon? For that matter, what's recirculate? The joys of owning a poverty spec Aygo.

I have to agree with everything said above, use the aircon to dry the air inside the cabin and the condensation will go away.

If it's really bad, you should check for signs of leaks.. They're not unknown.

[Jan van de Wouw]

No i dont have the air con on i have it either just blow or heat and blow

it just steams up nothing in the car is wet i get in with dry cloths

That's my point: USE THE A/C!

[Cyker]

But the car gets even colder if I use the AC in winter :( :P

Incidentally, if any of you were wondering how my silica gel experiment went from last year:

They did sod all :(

I had big packets of the stuff that I'd looted from various computer packagings and they did almost nothing to dry out the air

[MartyB]

If the car is icing up inside then I would check for a water leak. It will mist after some time on recirculation but it should take at least 5 mins before you notice anything. I recently had a courtesy car and the carpet was damp and it had the same problems you describe.

[Jan van de Wouw]

But the car gets even colder if I use the AC in winter

Re-read post #6 up here:

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=117985&view=findpost&p=1062502

[Jan&tone]

If the car is icing up inside then I would check for a water leak. It will mist after some time on recirculation but it should take at least 5 mins before you notice anything. I recently had a courtesy car and the carpet was damp and it had the same problems you describe.

Every car my wife has had has finished up with ice inside the windscreen when it's very frosty! Her cars live outside and suffer the ravages of the winter.... The ice on the outside gets sprayed with de-icer inside gets done with the blower... It's a real pain but none of her cars have leaked, they are just small so the tiniest breath inside counts and if the atmosphere has the slightest moisture in it both sides of a window will ice over (obviously more on the outside). I have never used the recirculation position on any of the cars we have owned except when stuck behind something spewing out diesel fumes, fresh air, even air-conditioned, is better than stale recirculated stuff.

I think the only way to cure it is to move somewhere that doesn't get frost, or to have a garage big enuf to put both cars in

[AYGOgummy]

Air re-circulation mode is doing exactly what it says on the tin - re-circulating the air INSIDE the car. If you breath on a window in the cold, you get condensation. Same happens when you're breathing in a car and you're re-circulating that air. I normally only use re-circulate if I'm stuck in very heavy traffic for prolonged periods and don't want to breath in the fumes. Use the Air Conditioning - if you pop the temperature control up to WARM then it's not going to be cold! You can use air conditioning to de-mist as well!! Or just use the normal setting and avoid re-ciculate.

With regards to the ice - totally normal, there's nothing to worry about there, plenty of cars get a very thin sheet of ice inside, it's just because the Aygo isn't as well insulated as some cars.

Hope that helps :)

[daveyjp]

But the car gets even colder if I use the AC in winter :( :P

Move the large dial from the blue section to the red section and you will get WARM air conditioned air.

[Raistlin]

Facetious

–adjective 1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark. 2. amusing; humorous. 3. lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous: a facetious person.

[S_J_P]

I totally agree, recirc = condensation FACT.

To add one point though, in winter I've often found the windows running with water after a chilly night on many cars I've owned. I find that turning the heater to cold for the last couple of minutes of my journey and leaving it on cold (so the heater-matrix is out of the airflow) overnight seems to improve condensation problems. I can only think that setting it to cold before stopping a) Reduces the amount of moisture in the air within the car (hot air can carry more moisture which condenses as the air cools) and b ) Bypassing the heater matrix which remains warm for sometime, prevents warm air convecting up through the matrix and thus reduces condensation on the cold windows.

[motoxxx3]

If I have my aygo on circulate the air, my aygo gets that steamed up I cannot see out of the windows. I have to put the car onto vent all the time I put the car in curry motors and they said this was normal on this model I cant believe this does anyone else have this problem. On the other hand, can anyone tell me they have no problems with condensation with the heater set circulating? It is an AYGO blue with the air con, but i never use the air con its terrible water running down all the windows and you cannot see out the screen unless i open the windows and put the car onto vent. After several minutes I can close, the windows leave it on vent and it seems to be better but will immediately returns if i put it on circulate.

HELP

All cars will steam up the windows with the heater left on recirculate for longer than about 10 minutes. Recirculate should only be used for the first few minutes to defrost or demist the windows...then switch to vent.

However, Aygos are prone to water leaks, so if your car has leaked in at some time, and there is moisture or damp inside the car the windows will steam up.

You should check in your boot where the spare wheel sits, as well as the front & rear passenger footwells to see if the carpets are damp or smell fusty

[motoxxx3]

Don't know about others, but this morning my wifes Aygo was iced up inside!

I don't tend to use the 'circulate' bit, I find it doesn't clear the windows inside quickly enough - what I did find though that 20 minutes after I started, the ice had melted and was running down the inside of the screen from behind the roof trim! presumably the inside of the metal on the roof had ice on it as well and had started to melt.

The car is parked in the sun at the office so hopefully it will dry off before it freezes again tonight.... Gawd I hate this time of year, roll on summer!!

Sounds like your Aygo has leaked in at some point and either your carpets or boot are still wet or damp.

Check all your carpets in the passenger and front footwell areas, and the boot - lift up the cover that sits on top of the spare wheel and see if there is water or damp in the wheel well. One of the symptoms of Aygos which have leaked are frozen or misty windows.

[Jan&tone]

Don't know about others, but this morning my wifes Aygo was iced up inside!

I don't tend to use the 'circulate' bit, I find it doesn't clear the windows inside quickly enough - what I did find though that 20 minutes after I started, the ice had melted and was running down the inside of the screen from behind the roof trim! presumably the inside of the metal on the roof had ice on it as well and had started to melt.

The car is parked in the sun at the office so hopefully it will dry off before it freezes again tonight.... Gawd I hate this time of year, roll on summer!!

Sounds like your Aygo has leaked in at some point and either your carpets or boot are still wet or damp.

Check all your carpets in the passenger and front footwell areas, and the boot - lift up the cover that sits on top of the spare wheel and see if there is water or damp in the wheel well. One of the symptoms of Aygos which have leaked are frozen or misty windows.

All bone dry! All her cars have had the same problem, where's the double glazing geezer?....

[Raistlin]

Don't know about others, but this morning my wifes Aygo was iced up inside!

I don't tend to use the 'circulate' bit, I find it doesn't clear the windows inside quickly enough - what I did find though that 20 minutes after I started, the ice had melted and was running down the inside of the screen from behind the roof trim! presumably the inside of the metal on the roof had ice on it as well and had started to melt.

The car is parked in the sun at the office so hopefully it will dry off before it freezes again tonight.... Gawd I hate this time of year, roll on summer!!

Sounds like your Aygo has leaked in at some point and either your carpets or boot are still wet or damp.

Check all your carpets in the passenger and front footwell areas, and the boot - lift up the cover that sits on top of the spare wheel and see if there is water or damp in the wheel well. One of the symptoms of Aygos which have leaked are frozen or misty windows.

All bone dry! All her cars have had the same problem, where's the double glazing geezer?....

She's just too moist...

[fbobil]

I too have problems with condensation in my Aygo ! I am going to try follow the recommendations in this forum to see if they work .I will let you know how I get on!

However ....this is my 2nd Aygo and I had the same problem in my first one too which never got any better in the 3 years I had it, no matter what settings I put any of the aircon and heater onto, Hot , Cold, Circulate , Not Circulate , Windows open , windows closed .

I thought it was just that I got a naff car, but have just got my 2nd Aygo and in this one the problem is worse !

Its brand new so no wet mats , snow or non use of aircon , just steams up ALL the time !!

I have never had condensation problems like those I have in the Aygo's in any other cars I have owned , and I have had a few as my husband and I run a car hire business!

Don't get me wrong I love my Aygo. Its cheap to run , pretty reliable and I can fit loads in the back ,its just as good as a small van, but I may consider something else next time as I can't keep wiping the windows all the time especially when I am in the car on my own , I am not an octopus !

[Guest]

I know what you mean as I still have the same problem and my car has been back to Toyota Bristol South 4 times recently and still not fixed!