GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I get quite a bit of condensation build up around the HVAC vents when I run the air conditioning, which is most of the time. It is almost to the point where it is dripping from the dash. It doesn't always happen, noticed mainly in the morning hours.Not sure if this is normal or not, nor not sure how long the dash will last with the exposure to moisture?How do I prevent this or correct this from happening?My A/C works very well, blows nice and cold.

i dunno if it's normal, but mine does it too. never really bothered me though. it's prob because of how cold the air coming out is compared to the air in the car. like a cold soda.

It's dripping from the dash? Wow - get a photo of that and post it here.Well, it's condensation caused by the A/C cooling the vents and plastic - and the moisture in the air condensing on the cold parts.Do you cycle the A/C on and off while driving it? What level do you have the fan? Are you using Recirc or Fresh Air (the button below the A/C)?I've seen it where I turn the A/C off - then the outside humid air hits the ice cold vents and sort of "fogs" up the plastic. Never had it drip though - must be pretty humid there! (edit) I just noticed you live in FL... scratch that last comment

I have never seen this or expericed it before...dew points in your area must be really high!!Pics would be great....

Here's the picture.

Attached files

While I was at it, decided to take a couple more pics

Attached files

Oh, here's the car.....

Attached files

Quote, originally posted by stevo2000 »Here's the picture.HOLY CRAP!! I could imagine that since you are in Florida, your humidity and dewpoint are so high (like said before) that you are just getting normal condensation. I have never seen this is my car, I always use recirculate (after everything starts to cool) face and floor setting on the speed that is one below the highest.

BTW, Accessorize it. It's well worth it!

Attached files

Mine is on re-circ and on lowest. Any higher and it gets to cold.

The lowest setting thing may be the problem, if that air just seeps out, it will cool the dash more than if the air was really crankin'Try adjusting the temp if it gets too cold, just a thought. By the way, Nice Vibe, leather seats, M&T.

The Colbalts are having a similar problem, except they actually blow water droplets out the vents. The cure for that (so far) is to back the AC off cold until it stop being wet around the vents, or to overcharge the ac system .3 lbs of freon to make it not work as well.

I wish my AC could get that cold...

I wouldn't use the re-circ option with THAT much humidity. All that moist air will freeze up the coils. Then you'll have NO A/C until it all melts off.

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »I wish my AC could get that cold...Yeah really.

Try not using recirc. It makes it harder for the compressor to dehumidfy the air (contrary to wht you would think).It's the same reason you don't use recirc when defogging/defrosting.

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »HOLY CRAP!! I could imagine that since you are in Florida, your humidity and dewpoint are so high (like said before) that you are just getting normal condensation. I live in South Florida and frequently travel to north florida. I've put 10k miles on my car with the a/c mostly on high and never gotten any condensation on the vents.p.s. I always use Recirc, i sure wish my a/c would get that cold.

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »Try not using recirc. It makes it harder for the compressor to dehumidfy the air (contrary to wht you would think).It's the same reason you don't use recirc when defogging/defrosting.Okay, this is contrary to my current understanding - here's my thought: Recirc just takes the air already in the car and sucks it back into the HVAC system. So if the air in the car is being dehumidified by the AC, then it would stand that you'd want to continue using the cooler, dryer air to get the maximum effect. As opposed to pulling in hot, humid air from outside.From what I understand about the recirc shutting off when you use defrost is that it's pulling in cold, dryer outside air to dry off the air it's blowing on the windshield to defog the glass.Am I off the mark?If you're too cold - you may be tempted to adjust the temp control warmer - this will only pull in humid air from outside to mix in after the A/C... this could easily cause this problem. Make sure you're 100% cold.

Quote, originally posted by binary »Am I off the mark?I'm with you on this one. In the winter, the outside air is drier, so it's better to not use recirc if you want to defog th windows. In the summer with AC, recycling the same air through the AC coil will condensate humidity, resulting in the cabin air being drier than the outside air.However, I do not think that the temp setting has any effect on the amount of fresh air pulled in. You can run the heat with recirc, it uses cabin air, that's why using recirc is bad for defogging in the winter.I wonder if there were any unadvertised changes in the AC system between our barely tolerable 03/04 cars and this freezer of a 2005 Vibe or if this is just a fluke AC system. stevo's car should be white instead of silver. I don't think mine could ever get cold enough to get condensation on the vents, even if I drove to Florida.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »However, I do not think that the temp setting has any effect on the amount of fresh air pulled in. You can run the heat with recirc, it uses cabin air, that's why using recirc is bad for defogging in the winter.I wonder if there were any unadvertised changes in the AC system between our barely tolerable 03/04 cars and this freezer of a 2005 Vibe or if this is just a fluke AC system. stevo's car should be white instead of silver. I don't think mine could ever get cold enough to get condensation on the vents, even if I drove to Florida. Is the A/C in the '03-04 really that bad?I'm an A/C kinda guy... and even in the most humid of weather, I haven't gotten condensation that bad using A/C with or without recirc. Something's wierd about that much water in the vents - maybe a slow drain that lets the water pool up in the a/c box?Oh, and I did read in the manual that the outside two vents: left of the driver and right of the passenger - are always pulling in fresh outside air.

mine isn't all that bad, I usually don't use it, I'd rather have the windows open, even on really hot days. It could be a slow or blocked drain line, trapping condensate in the system, hadn't thought of that. How hard is it to check or purge the AC drain hose?

>After reading the threads about blocked drain lines I tend to believe that you may be correct. The only vent producing moisture is the one in the picture. I understand that the drain hose is in the same vicinity.What's wierd is that the moisture is only in the morning when it's in the low 80's and average humidity, but never during the day when it's in the mid 90's with very high humidity.If I use outside air the air inside the cab is uncomfortably muggy & cold. Using recirc it's dry and cold. I have it set to the coldest temp and have the fan on the lowest setting. If I turn up the fan I freeze.When I sit in traffic which is most of the time, I'll usually have the window open while I have a smoke....

Here's the thread dealing with the A/C drain.http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=10977Maybe removing the drain line after you're experiencing the condensation - draining into a mason jar or something to catch whatever may be backed up.I'm just grasping at straws though.

Quote, originally posted by binary »Oh, and I did read in the manual that the outside two vents: left of the driver and right of the passenger - are always pulling in fresh outside air.if you have the "recirc on" the outside vents stop pulling in outside air... even if the rest of the HVAC is off. Otherwise yes the are always pulling in outside air.

I just ran out and checked the hose. All seems intact and there is a plastic tie holding it in place. I'm not going to mess with it since it is still under warranty and I have a service appointment for Monday. I'll have them check it out while rotating the tires....

Quote, originally posted by stevo2000 »I just ran out and checked the hose. All seems intact and there is a plastic tie holding it in place. I'm not going to mess with it since it is still under warranty and I have a service appointment for Monday. I'll have them check it out while rotating the tires....Yeah, good plan. Keep us posted! And don't take - "that's typical" for an answer.

Just returned from service. The Service Manager tried to talk me out of there being any problems, that the Quacks on genvibe had no idea. Anyways, This Quack insisted, stating "what's it going to hurt to check the drain?". I have the service receipt stating that it was clogged and that it was blown out at no charge.

Quote, originally posted by binary »I'm an A/C kinda guy... and even in the most humid of weather, I haven't gotten condensation that bad using A/C with or without recirc. Something's wierd about that much water in the vents - maybe a slow drain that lets the water pool up in the a/c box?Quote, originally posted by stevo2000 »Just returned from service. The Service Manager tried to talk me out of there being any problems, that the Quacks on genvibe had no idea. Anyways, This Quack insisted, stating "what's it going to hurt to check the drain?". I have the service receipt stating that it was clogged and that it was blown out at no charge. That's great, that the service manager was own3d, and that the drain is cleared.---Way to go binary, you pegged that one

Oh well, since it only happens in the morning hours on the way to work, I found that the unclogged drain did not fix the problem.....Now all four of the dash vents are building condensation, the two right ones dripping, the two left vents hidden behind cladding. Now wondering if they did anything to make it worse???

do you have any other moisture problems in the car? Is the cabin air filter soggy?