Condensation, condensation, condensation

[casaflyr]

I have been setting up a K-RIMS set up in the loft above my garage. My garage is heated, but I only keep it at around 40 degrees F. I've tested the whole system, everything is ready, except I'm having one problem. The Boil. The first time I tested the boil the whole loft filled with steam and set the fire alarm off. The walls and ceiling were covered in a sheen of condensation.
Fan. The next test I put a fan blowing outside in the window where the kettles are set up and opened the window on the opposite side of the loft. Again the loft filled with steam and another fire alarm was sounded. The same sheen of condensation covered the walls and ceiling.
Range Hood. I found pro style exhaust hood at an estate sale. It's a 900cfm Broan Rangemaster. It's a really nice hood. I had this installed right above the kettles. It sits about 2.5 feet above the kettle tops. It has a short duct and vents directly outdoors on the roof. The loft filled with steam problem is solved.
Now, the problem is condensation dripping. The steam mostly goes up into the range hood. Every surface in the hood fills with condensation. About 5 minutes into the boil the condensation starts dripping back down on to everything below, including the 220 connection to the kettle.
I formed a V shaped piece of stainless steel and placed it in the hood with about 2" of clearance on either side. I mounted this at an angle so the condensed drips would flow toward the low side. This actually improved flow, but then the dripping started from higher in the hood, and the drips never made it to the end of the V. This resulted in drips all over pretty much everything again.
Any help with this will be appreciated. I think because of the big temperature difference I'm getting more condensation. I'm thinking I might have to get a hood that covers the kettle or something to improve flow...I'm at a loss right now.

 

[mongoose33]

I brew in the garage. Same issue. I've made a little "vent hood" that captures most of the steam and directs it outside; the service door needs to be cracked about an inch for this to work in order to provide makeup air.

If your fan in the window isn't drawing air across the top of the kettle, it's not going to do much to overcome the steam.

Here's what mine looks like; might give you an idea:

 

[Vintage Iron]

I don't mean to state the obvious, but what's happening is that steam is getting sucked up the vent hood and cooling enough to condense before it gets outside. Anything you can do to insulate the the hood or, more importantly, the ducting up into the attic will help immensely. I think they make a roll of fiberglass insulation with a black plastic backing that you use to wrap around ducting. I'm guessing this would help quite a bit. What would probably also help would be to warm up the ambient room temp where you are doing the boil if at all possible.