Car cocoons

[richard-pike]

All,

Im considering buying your outdoor car shield for my Merak SS. As I can’t get a garage for the winter, I found these blow up covers online. They claim to seal the car, minimise condensation and keep air circulating. There are a few on the market including Carcoon and Inthegarage.

Does anyone have experience of them?

 

thanks

Richard

[Tony Jaskeran]

Hi Richard, I have space but no cover so looked at this a while ago. I opted to go for an outisde heavy duty car cover that was lined.

The car shields I looked at need to be anchored so this was a problem for me as it can be very windy, also if its close to the house the wind noise might be a problem if its not a snug fit.

Regards

Tony

[richard-pike]

Tony

 

thanks for the response. I dont have the wind problems and the ones Ive looked at do not mention being anchored. But I can ask them.

 

cheers

Richard

[Tony Jaskeran]

Ok Richard, if they don’t need to be anchored then you should be fine & you car will be nice and snug.

[Keith Davies]

Richard, try Cover Systems in Rushden, I have a 30 year old biturbo 222E that lives under one of their “folding garages”.  A bit heavy to open and close but it seems to keep the bodywork clear of the cover.  It should be anchored and mine is in a gravel driveway.

 

Cheers  –  Keith

[richard-pike]

Thanks Keith will do

 

richard

[David & Sue White]

I have a carcoon installed inside my bigger garage which I have been very satisfied with, it has an internal frame which I think is imperative otherwise the rigmarole of driving in and out would have been frustrating and time consuming but I believe the carcoon outdoor hasn’t an internal frame? Mine also has a twin fan ventilation system which keeps my spyder bone dry even after driving it in wet but once again I am not sure the external one offers this so I would be concerned about the condensation. I would have presumed the car would have to be absolutely dry before sealing in unless there is an internal as well as the bubble ventilation system to keep the internal air circulating and therefore dry otherwise condensation in the car would be an obvious problem. It’s Worth asking Carcoon that specific question.

Another top tip which I initially ignored is to put matts over the zip you have to drive over otherwise the zips eventually become distressed and difficult.
hope that is of some help.

Dictated on my iPhone
David White

 

[richard-pike]

Thanks David

 

I found a Swiss company called In The Garage and the guy who owns it used to have a Bora. They have good reviews and I have ordered their outdoor model!
great tip on the zip. I’ll report back to the forum on how it goes

Richard

[richard-pike]

I have had the car cocoon now for about 4 weeks and so here is an update for anyone who might be considering it.

I bought the ‘In The Garage’ 16 outdoor model as it seemed to be the one that matched my requirements best.

• Tight parking spot open to the elements (ie rain here in Ireland, and lots off it!)
• Opaque, so people can’t see what is inside
• Drive the car about once a week, so easy to get in and out.

It arrived within a week and was very easy to assemble and get going. You basically roll out the ‘floor’ where you will park the car and then setup the two fans, plug them into power and then zip the entire thing up. It blows up in about 3 minutes. Getting the car out is pretty easy , unzip takes about 2 minutes and then just pull the cover off the car.

two tips:

I found that how I took the cover off effected how easy it was to get back on. It has metals ‘eyes’ on the outside that I ran a rope through so that I can pull the cover off in a repeatable way.

Condensation is still a real problem. Its constantly circulating air within the bubble (which is good for the car) but the air here is very damp and so if the temperature drops then you get a lot of condensation on the car! So I put a dehumidifier inside the cocoon, which is a bit of a fiddle as I have to empty it out if it has been very wet (It generated about a litre of water over two days last week!!). This solves the problem and while not bone dry, its as good as it would be in a garage.

So in general Im very happy with the result. Spend of about €800 for a ‘garage’ solution that should keep my Merak from disintegrating in this Irish weather!!

If anyone has questions or concerns feel free to contact me here!

cheers

Richard

[Tony Jaskeran]

Thanks for the feedback Richard, I live near the River Thames here in London so the air is quite damp to, in the winter it’s a good 1-2 degrees colder here than central London.

I have always used a dehumidifier just to be sure of removing moisture. A friend has a couple of barns and needs a solution for two Ford Thunderbirds so I’ll be passing your write up to him.

Best wishes

Tony

[David & Sue White]

Hi Richard

Just a Quick word of advice.

Obviously in the UK in most parts we suffer from low outdoor temperatures during winter and so after research for the reasons below in low tempurature properties I buy Desiccant dehumidifiers because the normal ones are mentb rto operate in homes but stop working below 3 degrees, which can be just at the  important time when condensation can be the most problomatic.

Importantly, the two technologies perform differently in the lower temperature range. Desiccant dehumidifiers are capable of operating in cold temperature conditions, as the silica gel desiccant still adsorbs moisture regardless of temperature.

Conversely, refrigerant dehumidifiers suffer a fall in water extraction at colder temperatures, as the dew point is harder to reach and condensation of moisture out of the cold air is more difficult to achieve.

 

 

[richard-pike]

David

 

yes thanks for that detail. I should have added it. I actually have both types working in the bubble at the moment (its very wet right now). I see from testing that the Desiccant ones are better at lower temps but actually worse at about 10c and higher.

This morning I have also been in contact with the owner of the InTheGarage company ( who it turns out is a Maserati fan and has owned a Bora and a 3500 Vignalle Spider) and he is working on including a Desiccant model within the outdoor cocoon!. He also found a model that has a hose to dispell the water to stop the need to get inside and empty it out.

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