Dehumidifier not collecting water

[EHT]

Hello, I have hopefully fairly easy question about a Prem-I-air PDB-16 Dehumidifier. It recently suddenly stopped collecting water. To start with I thought this maybe a faulty sensor, but then realised it has a continuous mode, in which it still doesnt collect water. The compressor and fan are running, however, the evaporator and condenser coils are not changing temperature. The compressor is actually getting pretty hot (seems too hot...).

I'm guessing that it has lost its refrigerant gas, in which case I'm not sure if its possible to refil (can't see any valve), and anyway it must have a leak. As such its probably junk now. Pity because its in quite good condition and was doing a good job. WDYT?

[Tomorokoshi]

Can you post a picture of the evaporator coil?

[CaptDon]

It has more than likely lost its charge. It won't due to simply recharge it until the leak can be found. Without the cool refrigerant returning from the evaporator the compressor will indeed overheat and damage itself. There is about a 99% chance the unit will cost more than new to repair. If the leak can be found then the unit can be fixed. Once the leak is repaired a saddle valve can be used to evacuate and then recharge the unit. All at an insane cost. It is now very common for refrigeration devices of all types to only last 3 to 5 years mainly due to leaks in areas you can't get to. Chinese junk has invaded every market and I have seen something as simple a normal vibration from the compressor wear holes in the copper tubing and I don't know how they do it but worse yet is aluminum tubing that fatigue cracks after just a couple of years. Look at the hate General Electric appliances (mostly imported from china) are getting on Lowes and Home Depot reviews!!!! Not even lasting for a year!!!

[BradC]

\Without the cool refrigerant returning from the evaporator the compressor will indeed overheat and damage itself.

Worse, with hygroscopic oils the compressor will be drawing in and compressing ambient air/humidity. Unless the thing is 30 years old and using CFC and mineral oils it'll need an oil change and new dryer fitted. I did this to an expensive bar fridge years ago. The aluminium superheat condenser used to warm the door seals failed due to the blown in foam insulation turning acidic and eating the pipe. It worked for another few years, but eventually the damage from the original acidic oil did the compressor in.

It required modification to take the door seal heater out of the loop, plus an oil change and a new dryer. Had I not been able to do the work myself then it'd have been uneconomical to repair the first time. Fast forward 4 years and a seized compressor it was well and truly uneconomical to repair.

Buy a new one.

[EE-digger]

Humidifiers seldom last more than a year and a half.  Occasionally two years.  It's the only product for which I buy an extended warranty because they WILL die.  Generally the coils start freezing part way up because of partial loss of charge.

I worked with a software contractor from Pakistan whose friends worked at a cooling system manufacturer used by many.  They told him that the all the soldered joints get hit with a grinder or sander to knock down high spots, then slobbered with the gloss black paint you see.

If true, it's no wonder that micro cracks at the joints would cause them to bleed out shortly.

One of the big names had a warehouse in Philly full of broken units, then decided no more repairs and handed out coupons instead.  Kind of says where they are at.

[EHT]

It has more than likely lost its charge. It won't due to simply recharge it until the leak can be found. Without the cool refrigerant returning from the evaporator the compressor will indeed overheat and damage itself. There is about a 99% chance the unit will cost more than new to repair.

Thanks everyone, yes, it all sounds like what I thought then. FWIW it looks in good condition, no corrosion or physical damage. It is of course Chinese, and many years old. I'll chuck it.

I think also means that any 2nd hand faulty dehumidifiers (or any heat exchanger appliance?) are likely to be junk unless the fault is clearly an electrical one.

[BradC]

I think also means that any 2nd hand faulty dehumidifiers (or any heat exchanger appliance?) are likely to be junk unless the fault is clearly an electrical one.

Precisely.

[CaptDon]

We had a Kelvinator dehumidifier that was in service for around 12 years when the fan motor bushings were finally worn so bad the armature started rubbing the stator. Replaced the fan motor and the unit is still running although very power hungry by today's standards which is o.k. in the winter as it adds some heat to the room. I have serviced probably a dozen dehumidifiers set out on trash day. Every one of them had a seized up fan and most were restored to operation with a simple lubrication and cleaning. None of those old dogs had lost their charge!! This refrigeration junk coming from china in the last ten years is such a sad waste of money and natural resources!!! So many of them die of infant mortality in the first three months and those that survive beyond 15 months (just out of warranty) usually die within the next 6 years or the control board dies and cost about 80% of the price of a whole new refrigerator plus the service call!! Look at the appliance reviews online to see how bad today's appliances are actually rated!! Beware of the dozens of positive 'fake' reviews with non-sense english like "Work much very good for me happy buy also" and stuff you know is simple bullshit statements. I have owned refrigerators made in the 70's that are still running out in the garage keeping beer and soda pop cold. I did buy a Frigidaire dehumidifier at Lowes that I am well pleased with. It got bad reviews for having a small tank which filled so quick it needed emptied twice a day!!! That's a good thing, it works great and even has a front panel washable filter. No complaints from me!!!

[EHT]

Oh well my replacement was a perhaps poorly-advised faulty 2nd hand one, but as per CaptDon's comment, it was the fan motor that had jammed up - working ok after disassembly and cleaning. It was an eBac, they say here that its proudly made in Britain (https://www.ebac.com/our-factory ), but at least that motor was a Chinese part!

This one has terrible corrosion at it has steel side plates on the condenser, seemingly not galvanised or coated. I'm going to stick a zinc anode on it to see if it helps.

[SeanB]

Clean those plates, then grab a can of grey primer, and whack a coat of paint on them. I used to do that to every wall rattler I installed, and to the indoor and outdoor units of split units, as they otherwise turn to rust in 2 years. At least kept the rust down, and works well. Light coat on the fins also works, as it does not really reduce efficiency much, but keeps the coils from rotting to nothing. Uncoated coils you had them turn to powder after a year, and drop all fins inside after 2, but the outside still looks great, just will not pass air because of the rotted fins. with that you could at least get to the point the compressor died, which was then time to replace the unit, unless it was still under warranty, and had rotted through the case. Those all got a coat of primer, a few coats, on the underside and suction side, as that is the rust point.

[johansen]

I probably have 1000 hours of propane in a 30 pint per day r410 dehumidifier and i did a lot of screwing with it so yeah its got a lot of water in it. At one point it was a water cooled air conditioner and actually worked better, with 120F water draining down the sink  than a 1 ton portable ac unit did in the same conditions.

I usually cut the capillary tube in half when converting to propane.

The rotary piston compressors are far more forgiving than scrolls.

You can buy the shrader stubs for like 1$ each and you can braze 3/8 copper with a regular propane torch.

[CaptDon]

Propane works great as a refrigerant and if it wasn't for the fire hazard would probably be standard in home appliances. It's dirt cheap. B.T.W., At the G.E. locomotive factory in Erie Pa we have an old G.E. 'Monitor Top' refrigerator that was originally in the factory museum. I am told it still actually works. It does use some strange blend of refrigerant. While running service calls for my father's T.V. repair shop I was out on a call to a dairy farm. They had a family room in the basement of the farm house and there sitting in the corner was an old G.E. monitor top unit still in running condition keeping soda pop and beer cold!!! Amazing, it was the first one I had ever seen in real life.

[johansen]

Propane works great as a refrigerant and if it wasn't for the fire hazard would probably be standard in home appliances. It's dirt cheap. B.T.W., At the G.E. locomotive factory in Erie Pa we have an old G.E. 'Monitor Top' refrigerator that was originally in the factory museum. I am told it still actually works. It does use some strange blend of refrigerant. While running service calls for my father's T.V. repair shop I was out on a call to a dairy farm. They had a family room in the basement of the farm house and there sitting in the corner was an old G.E. monitor top unit still in running condition keeping soda pop and beer cold!!! Amazing, it was the first one I had ever seen in real life.

Friend of mine has an 80 yr old fridge with possibly, sulphur dioxide as a refridgerant. It broke after the most recent flood.
 Beachfront cabin that flooded once every 5 to 10 years, camano island in wa state.

That fridge seemed to have magical properties. Nothing went bad in it. Probably because it was a uniform 34F

The compressor was in the bottom and it survived probably a dozen baths of 6inches to 2 feet of salt water.

[EHT]

eBac Dehumidifier "proudly made in England": label Sichuan Danfu Compressor company