For car enthusiasts and owners of classic cars, modern classics or convertibles, there are basically only two seasons – but always plenty to do. The best time is of course spring and summer, when driving fun is at its best. When the sun is shining and temperatures are pleasantly warm, this is the time to go out for a drive and attend meetings. In the wet and cold autumn/winter season when bad weather and low temperatures prevail, this is the time for your much-loved pride and joy in the garage to receive special care and attention. This is the ideal time to carry out any necessary repairs or maintenance work on the vehicle.
To ensure that your vehicle gets off to a flying start in spring, there’s nothing better than having it well-prepared and equipped with the right accessories. This will make sure your vehicle starts reliably after the winter break and its paintwork shines in the sun.
With Trotec, your car will always be the star of the show!
- Powerful battery chargers with trickle charge function so that the car starts reliably after the winter break.
- Cordless high-pressure cleaners, eccentric polishing machines and vacuum cleaners to remove dirt from vehicles and restore the shine to dull paintwork.
- Portable battery compressors for checking tyre pressure and preventing damage to the vehicle during winter storage.
- Practical tools such as cordless impact drivers and LED work lights for carrying out repairs even when there is no power supply.
- Measuring devices such as thermal imaging cameras, infrared thermometers and videoscopes for diagnostics and troubleshooting.
Our blog series “Car accessories for a perfect start to the season” showcases Trotec’s robust, durable and versatile power tools – the affordable solution to all your automotive questions and challenges in maintenance, care and repair.
Part 3: Rust prevention in the garage
New cars don’t rust? Don’t you believe it! For a long time, rust was almost no longer an issue in newer vehicles thanks to the galvanisation of bodywork, underbody protection and cavity sealants. However, since manufacturers have cut back on rust protection and switched to partial galvanisation, rust has once again become a problem. This even applies to vehicles that are parked in a supposedly safe garage, protected from wind and weather.
In recent years, the experts at the testing centres of TÜV, Dekra and Gesellschaft für technische Überwachung (GTÜ) have observed an increase in rust problems in newer vehicles. Rust problems often remain undetected for a long time. “When unfavourable material pairings come together in hidden places that are more difficult to protect against corrosion, moisture permeates in daily use and thus acts as an electrolyte, corrosion spots develop on the inside that only become visible from the outside later on”, explains Marco Oehler, Technical Manager at GTÜ, in the magazine “Auto Motor und Sport”. In advanced stages, rust can also impair vehicle safety: “Rust has an impact on a car’s crash safety. Especially when load-bearing structures are affected”, explains Maximilian Bauer, ADAC expert for vehicle technology.
The classic car scene has long known why good rust prevention in the garage is indispensable for maintaining the value of mobile classics. The vehicles, which are several decades old, were provided with almost no corrosion protection from the factory. The ravages of time are correspondingly rapid and aggressive here, where adverse climatic conditions in the garage come into contact with unprotected sheet metal.
Why do cars rust in weather-protected garages?
An unfavourable garage climate is the cause of a lot of vehicle defects.
Air humidity is particularly high in summer. In Europe, average humidity values of 95 % are not uncommon. We humans experience this weather as cold and wet or muggy, but our vehicles are faced with something worse. Metal begins to corrode from approx. 55 % relative humidity. Every trip in the rain brings additional moisture on the vehicle into the garage. The rain and spray water collects in damp pockets in the wheel arches and engine bay that are difficult to access, does not dry off and causes the onset of corrosion.
Even in winter, high humidity is the number one enemy of vehicles in the garage: Cold air absorbs less moisture than warm air. This is why the moisture settles on surfaces – especially on cool metal surfaces. There it finds its way into the smallest openings and corners, which leads to corrosion.
If you love your car and want to preserve it for the long term, you should therefore take precautions with an optimum garage climate.
You can find the necessary technology such as mobile dehumidifiers, garage dehumidifiers and thermohygrometers in the Trotec online shop.
Thermohygrometers for monitoring garage climate
Air humidity in the garage varies depending on the type of construction, temperature, usage behaviour and season. You won’t notice this immediately, but your car will. With real-time climate monitoring, you can detect imminent danger – before expensive damage occurs.
Digital and analogue thermohygrometers from Trotec continuously measure the temperature and humidity in your garage. If humidity is too high, this can lead to a variety of problems, e.g. corrosion or the development of mould.
With the help of a thermohygrometer, humidity in the garage can be reliably monitored and checked to see if it is in the optimum range of 40-50 %. If it becomes obvious from monitoring the climate data that excessively humid air in the garage is constantly eating away at the vehicle’s bodywork, appropriate measures can be taken.
Thermohygrometers in the garage help prevent damage from moisture and prolong the life of your vehicles and other items. Practical measuring devices are available in the Trotec online shop from only € 8.95.
Mobile dehumidifiers remove harmful moisture from garage air
If humidity in the garage rises significantly after a drive in the rain or a visit to a car wash, mobile dehumidifiers help to reduce the humidity fully automatically and thus prevent moisture damage such as rust or mould. Excess moisture is extracted from the air fully automatically and collected as condensate in a condensate container. Many units also have the option of discharging the collected condensate into a drain via a hose.
With a dehumidifier from Trotec, available as a stand-alone or wall-mounted device, humidity in the garage can be reliably kept at an optimum level of 40-50 % to prevent moisture damage such as rust on vehicles. Dehumidifiers for the garage are available in the Trotec online shop from as little as € 24.95. Maximum protection against rust, dust, mould and unpleasant odours is provided by the VPR+ garage dehumidifiersavailable as wall units.
