I bought a Friedrich 40 pint dehumidifier. This has electronic controls,
and I very firmly believe is made in China by L.G. Electronics (which is the
same as Goldstar, and the even Kenwood Sears units are made by them now).

I have the humidity setting at 45%. I happen to have a separate digital
hygrometer in the basement too. This morning I noticed that my hygrometer
was reading 39%. What I find strange, is that, this morning the
dehumidifier would run with the compressor and fan on for, say, roughly 10
minutes, and then shut completely off for EXACTLY 2 minutes and turn
completely on again. Then after maybe, say, another 10 minutes if would
shut off for EXACTLY 2 minutes.

It seems to me that whomever designed this thing was trying to be a bit too
clever. Without having seen it in action much I'm assuming that, instead of
simply designing it to behave as if controlled by an ordinary humidistat,
they designed some complicated algorithm so that, if the humidity gets BELOW
the target level, will begin introducing "2 minute off" periods, and then
gradually increase the frequency of these "2 minute offs" until it
stabilizes near the target. (or alternatively maybe they'll gradually
increase the "2 minute off" to, say, a "3 minute off").

Hmmm.....call me paranoid, but....maybe they deliberately chose to always
use "2 minute off" intervals because maybe it's just long enough not to
*overtly* damage the compressor, but short enough a cycle that it will add
more wear and tear so that the unit DEFINITELY would not last any more than,
say, 6 years (the compressor portion of the unit is warranted for 5 years).
In other words, they to short cycle it so that it doesn't last, say, 10 or
15 years. Am I crazy for thinking this?

J.

Actually, I experimented with increasing the humidity setting and it appears
that, so far, the unit *always* uses "2 minute off" intervals *unless* the
room humidity is 15% or more below the target setting. If the room humidity
is, say, 6% or more below the target setting, then the unit will cycle on
and off, with the OFF intervals always being exactly 2 minutes.

Since I see that the minimum "on interval" is also 2 minutes, then it seems
that, if the room humidity were substantially below target (say, 10% or
more, but less than 15% below target), then unit will eventually reach a
point where it will cycle on for 2 minutes on and then off for 2 minutes.
I can only hope that the unit is smart enough to then gradually increase the
length of the OFF intervals without needing the room humidity to be an
entire 15% below target before it does this. (Who the hell wants a unit
that cycles 15 times per hour....time will tell if the unit is going to be
smart enough not to behave that way!)

J.

jay wrote:
I bought a Friedrich 40 pint dehumidifier. This has electronic
controls, and I very firmly believe is made in China by L.G.
Electronics (which is the same as Goldstar, and the even Kenwood
Sears units are made by them now).
I have the humidity setting at 45%. I happen to have a separate
digital hygrometer in the basement too. This morning I noticed that
my hygrometer was reading 39%. What I find strange, is that, this
morning the dehumidifier would run with the compressor and fan on
for, say, roughly 10 minutes, and then shut completely off for
EXACTLY 2 minutes and turn completely on again. Then after maybe,
say, another 10 minutes if would shut off for EXACTLY 2 minutes.

It seems to me that whomever designed this thing was trying to be a
bit too clever. Without having seen it in action much I'm assuming
that, instead of simply designing it to behave as if controlled by an
ordinary humidistat, they designed some complicated algorithm so
that, if the humidity gets BELOW the target level, will begin
introducing "2 minute off" periods, and then gradually increase the
frequency of these "2 minute offs" until it stabilizes near the
target. (or alternatively maybe they'll gradually increase the "2
minute off" to, say, a "3 minute off").
Hmmm.....call me paranoid, but....maybe they deliberately chose to
always use "2 minute off" intervals because maybe it's just long
enough not to *overtly* damage the compressor, but short enough a
cycle that it will add more wear and tear so that the unit DEFINITELY
would not last any more than, say, 6 years (the compressor portion of
the unit is warranted for 5 years). In other words, they to short
cycle it so that it doesn't last, say, 10 or 15 years. Am I crazy
for thinking this?
J.

I would guess the 2 minutes off is to allow any frost to melt. The 15%
humidity just sounds like the sensor is not too exact, which is not at all
unusual. I might also suggest that your method of measuring the humidity
may not be all that accurate. Even if it measures a static humidity well,
when it is changing it may well have a delay in recording the change. The
de-humidifier may be responding to the change faster since it has an air
flow to measure.

Generally just about any tool you are going to find, other than wet-dry
bulb is not going to be very accurate.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

The hygrometer is a digital model. I actually have two different brands and
the readings are close between the two of them...and they respond very
quickly to changes in humidity. I don't know what the level of accuracy is
supposed to be. Anyway, it seems that the dehumidifier likes to settle into
a level of room humidity (measured by the digital hygrometer) that is 6%
below the target setting.

J.

Actually, I take that back....it seems that the dehumidifier isn't doing
much in the way of measuring room humidity. The damned thing cycles on and
off too frequently even at higher settings. Even at a very high setting of
70% the thing is on for 2 minutes and then off for 2.5 to 3 minutes. There
is no way that my basement has 70% relative humidity and the thing still
turns on at a 70% setting. Room temperature is in the lower 70s so I doubt
frost is an issue. Last night I had the dehumidifier set at 65% and this
morning the digital hygrometer said 44%.

Frankly I trust the digital hygrometer more than I trust the dehumidifier.
The dehumidifier probably just has some preset algorithm that causes it to
be running slightly less at higher settings without measuring room humidity.
At lower settings it probably just shuts off if the evaporator coil temp
gets too low.

The way this thing cycles on and off so frequently it would be really
annoying if I had this thing in an area I actually used as a living area
rather than just the basement.

Maybe the mechanical models are really the better ones if they have an
actual humidistat and respond to actual room humidity?

J.

Frequent cycling is usualy a sign of to large a humidifier, but yours
just cycles so its defective or a bad design if frost is not building on
the coil which you can look see. What is your temp, Most units freeze at
apx 65f. If you are over 70 Ice should not be an issue. Your manual will
say its operating temp low. I bought a Kenmore last year as my old one
is fine but the new one , some redesigned junk had 2 defects and I took
it back. But Sears does have the only model that can run to 45f. I
dought it will last long with frequent cycles. Sears has a 3 or 6 hr
setting and you may want to consider a smaller output unit so it cycles
longer, if it removes humidity quickly. Sears is good on returns and
just gave me my cash back after 3 months as they were out of stock. Id
say get your $ back and try another brand, wait to long and they will
only repair it and take a month trying.

Obsessive compulsive disorder comes to mind.

How many adults do you know who use a stopwatch and digital hygrometer to
verify the function of their dehumidifier?



--

Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
www.mormons.com


"jay" wrote in message
news:4uXue.822$Bn6.607@trndny08...
I bought a Friedrich 40 pint dehumidifier. This has electronic controls,
and I very firmly believe is made in China by L.G. Electronics (which is the
same as Goldstar, and the even Kenwood Sears units are made by them now).

I have the humidity setting at 45%. I happen to have a separate digital
hygrometer in the basement too. This morning I noticed that my hygrometer
was reading 39%. What I find strange, is that, this morning the
dehumidifier would run with the compressor and fan on for, say, roughly 10
minutes, and then shut completely off for EXACTLY 2 minutes and turn
completely on again. Then after maybe, say, another 10 minutes if would
shut off for EXACTLY 2 minutes.

It seems to me that whomever designed this thing was trying to be a bit too
clever. Without having seen it in action much I'm assuming that, instead of
simply designing it to behave as if controlled by an ordinary humidistat,
they designed some complicated algorithm so that, if the humidity gets BELOW
the target level, will begin introducing "2 minute off" periods, and then
gradually increase the frequency of these "2 minute offs" until it
stabilizes near the target. (or alternatively maybe they'll gradually
increase the "2 minute off" to, say, a "3 minute off").

Hmmm.....call me paranoid, but....maybe they deliberately chose to always
use "2 minute off" intervals because maybe it's just long enough not to
*overtly* damage the compressor, but short enough a cycle that it will add
more wear and tear so that the unit DEFINITELY would not last any more than,
say, 6 years (the compressor portion of the unit is warranted for 5 years).
In other words, they to short cycle it so that it doesn't last, say, 10 or
15 years. Am I crazy for thinking this?

J.

It is what I would do with so much chinese crap being dumped here these
days, you never know if what you buy is crap in box. But you are a tech
right stormin, you would look at it and say " its runnin it must be ok"
heeehaw

I think the unit was intentionally designed that way...don't ask me their
reasons....but see this message from someone who tried several Kenmore units
(also made by LG electronics) with the same exact problem. Mine doesn't
cycle as much at a lower humidity setting (35 to 45) percent. It's just
strange that it cycles on and off like crazy on the high humidity settings
(even when the setting is obviously higher than the room humidity).

I may experiment with just leaving the thing at a very low setting (or even
the continuous setting) and running it with the 2 hour on/off timer engaged.

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/...bb56afbabe5daf

Maybe they designed it this way so that it will definitely wear out much
quicker? I wonder if the mechanically controlled unit would have a more
"normal behaving" humidity control?

J.

Obsessive compulsive disorder comes to mind.

How many adults do you know who use a stopwatch and digital hygrometer to
verify the function of their dehumidifier?

Ok, even if you consider MY behavior to be strange....that doesn't mean I'm
wrong about the strange behavior of the dehumidifier.

J.