Chamber installation for the surface treatment of metals or other materials

In not completely closed chamber installations for the surface treatment of objects in a liquid containing organic solvents (degreasing, pickling, phosphating, painting), atmospheric humidity is also precipitated as condensate water together with a solvent vapour on the coolers in the vapour space, which humidity mixes with the solvent condensate and, when the condensate is recycled into the treatment liquid, inadmissibly changes the water content thereof. In the chamber installation according to the invention, which contains a laterally faced cooler underneath the condensate channel, the major part of the total condensate arises in a form which virtually contains no condensate water formed from the atmospheric humidity. The remainder of the condensate contains the entire condensate water and a small part of the solvent condensate. The processing of this smaller quantity of condensate is comparatively simple. The treatment liquid can thus be adjusted more readily to a steady composition and kept constant at the latter. The losses of solvents are considerably reduced.