Condensation

[ajw1100]

Windrcreen Condensation.
I do not remember ever having such a damp car, I have a large moisture absorber bag on the dash but the screen is still dripping, I use a micro pore cloth to wipe it then I have to leave the cloth on the hall radiator to dry out. My wife's Kona sits a few feet away and does not have this problem. A few days ago we met up with some friends and there were 4 cars parked side by side. When we left 3 cars could drive straight off, my HS PHEV was the one left while I tried to dry it out enough to see through the screen, having the engine running and the blower on full blast with air-con.

 

[Jto]

I do not get dripping in side only misting up, do you have the air con on all the time?

 

[hallurs]

My car is excatily the same. I have never seen condensation like this in any car.
I have been trying to look for wetness in the footwell or booth, but I can't find anything.
Not sure if there is a leak somewhere or just poor design...

 

[Hage52]

I had the same but i put the airco on A, also before you arive i put on the heater and heat up the car inside. because of the cold and driving a lot in ev the moisture is a lot, and open a window sometimes.

 

[Jto]

This will happen if you turn off air conditioning and drive around with no heating on. I drive with the air conditioning on and heat and have no problem with water dripping inside.

 

[djenson]

Never had this issue. Fun fact, i actually had windshield wiper fluid leaking in the boot for about 2 weeks due to tipping over without me noticing, Still didn't have any moisture issues.

My guesses as to what is wrong:

You are trying to use EV mode in the Winter, which is just a bad idea

You have the Air-Con switched off

You use the Climate control in manual mode, And have the fan speed set low (1-3) all the time, leading to high moisture build up due to our bodys respiring and producing water vapour, and the fan not being high enough to clear this. On startup of the car, this then presents a problem as the car is cold and unable to provide heat to evaporate the water, leading to it condensing on the windscreen

You have recirculation switched on

Solutions:

Minimize use of EV mode in winter months - The car doesn't have a PTC heater or a heat pump and the heat is not great when it switch's off the engine

Turn on the AC - Its a variable speed compressor and will barely use anything in winter anyway

Use Auto mode set to a sensible temperature (21-23) and leave it - The automatic climate control has humidity sensors and is able to calculate the dew point of the Air. If you think its needlessly ramping up, it's probably for a reason - Note that in system settings, You can set Auto intensity to low, to reduce the amount of noise it makes while still being effective

Switch recirculation off or to auto

 

[ajw1100]

Hi djenson & jto.
Thank you for your very helpful advice, I do have the A/C on but the windscreen blower makes such a din we try to drop it down a notch or two as soon as we can. I use IC until I guess it's warm enough then drop back to EV. No temp indication so can only guess.
The screen and side windows are all very wet before we start the car up.
I reckon the HVAC controls in the info setup is a very bad idea, I prefer to keep looking out the screen not at the info screen/trying to hit the right icon or lower switch lever.
My co-pilot, also wife, is normally in charge of the these control settings so it's a bit of a gamble what they end up as.
I will, when it stops raining, set my car up as you suggest.
Thanks again.

 

[TheArcher]

"My co-pilot, also wife, is normally in charge of the these control settings so it's a bit of a gamble what they end up as."
Ouch!

 

[ajw1100]

Don't worry, TheArcher. She does not know how to access this forum...........
Anyway the rain did let off so took a photo, looks good to me. The blower did come on at a reduced speed as there was no condensation this afternoon.

 

[Jto]

Hi
when you start up on a cold day the fan will not start until the engine has warmed up then will run until cabin warms up then will slow down in the mode.
you can press the auto button to turn it to white and press the bottom button to go green and set the fan to 3 or 4.

 

[ajw1100]

Hi J.
Sorry mate, a bit confused here.
Which fan do you mean, the engines or the screen blower? I assume the engine fan as I am sure my screen blower starts up with the car. Well, I can feel the draught from the vents, although there is no indication on the screen as shown above, there are no segments lit but the vents are pushing out air with the car still on the driveway....

 

[Jto]

When you take it off auto the segment should light up green and you can set at 4 and the button in the column set the bottom one on which will turn green. Next week we could have very cold weather and in auto the heater fan will not start working until the engine warms up and then it will start to blow air in to the car.

Hi J.
Sorry mate, a bit confused here.
Which fan do you mean, the engines or the screen blower? I assume the engine fan as I am sure my screen blower starts up with the car. Well, I can feel the draught from the vents, although there is no indication on the screen as shown above, there are no segments lit but the vents are pushing out air with the car still on the driveway....

Will this help

 

[ajw1100]

Thanks J.
I will copy across to my setup and see how it goes.

 

[Jto]

Hi A
Just up here at Bushey and speaking with John the owner and he was say the same of any car parked on the forecourt that has not move for some day you will have water tuning down the window in at this time of year. How are the settings working.

 

[ColinB]

Hi djenson & jto.
Thank you for your very helpful advice, I do have the A/C on but the windscreen blower makes such a din we try to drop it down a notch or two as soon as we can. I use IC until I guess it's warm enough then drop back to EV. No temp indication so can only guess.
The screen and side windows are all very wet before we start the car up.
I reckon the HVAC controls in the info setup is a very bad idea, I prefer to keep looking out the screen not at the info screen/trying to hit the right icon or lower switch lever.
My co-pilot, also wife, is normally in charge of the these control settings so it's a bit of a gamble what they end up as.
I will, when it stops raining, set my car up as you suggest.
Thanks again.

Hi ajw1100:

I’ve had my HS PHEV Exclusive for about 14 months and 11,500 miles now.
Like you, on cold mornings my windscreen and two front door windows have been ringing wet despite my leaving a dehumidifier bag on the dashboard overnight. I have not experienced the problem before with the Mercedes and LR Freelander that preceded this car parked on the same drive. But they were diesel, not PHEV.
Using your post I have just set mine up as per your screen shot and will see if that works tomorrow morning.

I’ve been pleased with the car, it’s very comfortable, has given me 63mpg to date. I’m with Octopus Go and plug in most nights. I had the windows tinted soon after I bought it as I found the cabin unbearably hot in the sun.

The downside with the car is the lag in speed at around 50 which has been on this forum several times. It’s really dangerous when you are overtaking or joining a motorway etc.
I‘m very surprised that they haven’t been obliged to recall the cars and fix whatever it is that’s causing the gearbox lag.

 

[ajw1100]

Hi J & CB
Not tried the settings you detailed as yet, I've not used the car this week but will do next week. Like Colin I did not have this problem with previous cars, misted up screen but quickly cleared, not running water. If the dealer has the same problem maybe it is something in the car that is causing it, just a guess. Be interesting to see if it improves the 'dryness' in ColinB's car.
I am mostly pleased with the car, though not with the lag in the gearbox or the removal of physical controls for the HVAC.

Maybe SAIC do not do recalls for problems well reported, it's probably easier to ignore them?

 

[Jto]

Hi A
Its not just MG it’s any make of car in stock perhaps your other cars had the A/C running.

 

[Hage52]

Minimize use of EV mode in winter months

I use it in wintermode but i do it like this, first i drive 4-7 km with the heater on at 24 degrees so the car gets hot inside, then i put it on 16 degrees and so low as possible, on one. and then i drive ev mode but i keep in mind when i am almost on my destination just i few km i put on the heater again and warm the car up so it will get rid off the moisture inside...try to play with it and you see if you turn on the heater a few km or miles at the end it will help a lot. also i have a few great products also for the night it is a PINGI car dehumidifier and this works as well, got a few of them in my car.

 

[ColinB]

Further to my post above about condensation.
I have used the settings as suggested by ajw1100 in the photo on his post and am pleased to report an improvement. I continue to use a PINGI overnight on the dashboard which I place on a house radiator during the day to refresh it’s use.
Its not an issue that I have ever experienced before with other cars and must assume it’s something to do with this car being a PHEV.
Anyway, thanks all above for your suggestions and things are better