This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?


--
Tegger

On Tue, 4 Jun 2013 00:03:56 +0000 (UTC), Tegger
wrote:

This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?

This isn't a direct answer to your question but can you just plug it
into a timer and have the timer shut it down?

On Jun 3, 7:03*pm, Tegger wrote:
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?

--
Tegger

What normally shuts it off, a humidity sensor or a timer or what?
The external timer Tegger suggests sounds like a good quick and dirty
solution to the problem.

On Jun 3, 8:13*pm, "
wrote:
On Jun 3, 7:03*pm, Tegger wrote:

This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?

--
Tegger

What normally shuts it off, a humidity sensor or a timer or what?
The external timer Tegger suggests sounds like a good quick and dirty
solution to the problem.

Oops, I meant the solution suggested by Doug.

" wrote in
:



What normally shuts it off, a humidity sensor or a timer or what?



A built-in dial that goes from one raindrop to three raindrops. I guess
that's internationalese for "dry to wet". I keep it set in the middle,
which is what the Owner's Manual recommends.


--
Tegger

On Jun 3, 8:28*pm, Tegger wrote:
" wrote :



What normally shuts it off, a humidity sensor or a timer or what?

A built-in dial that goes from one raindrop to three raindrops. I guess
that's internationalese for "dry to wet". I keep it set in the middle,
which is what the Owner's Manual recommends.

--
Tegger

Does turning that control do anything???? It might be clogged with
dust after all these years, it can't hurt to take it apart and see
(after unplugging the device, of course).

Tegger wrote in news:XnsA1D4DA7C08172tegger@
208.90.168.18:

" wrote in
:



What normally shuts it off, a humidity sensor or a timer or what?



A built-in dial that goes from one raindrop to three raindrops. I guess
that's internationalese for "dry to wet". I keep it set in the middle,
which is what the Owner's Manual recommends.





I realize I haven't been very clear about this issue.

To clarify: This machine runs on the duty-cycle principle. It turns on when
the humidity sensor (controlled by the aforementioned dial) says the air is
too wet, and turns off when the air is sufficiently dry.

According the Owner's Manual, one raindrop means "take out only a little
water", and three raindrops means "take out a lot of water".

So how come it won't turn off anymore? I understand that a dehumidifier is
basically an air-conditioner. Any A/C experts out there?


--
Tegger

Tegger wrote:
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?



I have one that the contacts stick on. Have to use external control to be
certain it shuts off. If it ices needs more airflow. If it ices in one
spot, needs refrigerant.

Greg

If you have the skills, put a thermostat on the coils that get icy. When the coils get cold, the thermostat is satisfied, and opens the circuit to the compressor.

More air flow is good.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
"gregz" wrote in message ....
Tegger wrote:
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?



I have one that the contacts stick on. Have to use external control to be
certain it shuts off. If it ices needs more airflow. If it ices in one
spot, needs refrigerant.

Greg

Tegger wrote in
:



So how come it won't turn off anymore? I understand that a
dehumidifier is basically an air-conditioner. Any A/C experts out
there?





It looks like this model comes with an icing sensor. When ice forms on the
coils, the sensor is supposed to switch off the compressor while keeping
the fan running, allowing the ice to run off as water.

There is a foam filter in front of the coils, and it's pretty dirty.
Working from gregz's premise, I removed the filter to see what difference
better airflow made. It turns out that the coils ice over 100%, right over
the icing sensor. The icing sensor is about the size and shape of a soda-
bottle cap, is potted, and has two thick electrical wires. Maybe it's stuck
and is not switching, like gregz's example.

When I get time, I will remove this sensor and test it. Since I don't know
if it's normally closed or normally open, I'm guessing I should see a
state-change as the temperature crosses the freezing mark.


--
Tegger

On Jun 4, 7:26*am, Tegger wrote:
Tegger wrote :



So how come it won't turn off anymore? I understand that a
dehumidifier is basically an air-conditioner. Any A/C experts out
there?

It looks like this model comes with an icing sensor. When ice forms on the
coils, the sensor is supposed to switch off the compressor while keeping
the fan running, allowing the ice to run off as water.

There is a foam filter in front of the coils, and it's pretty dirty.
Working from gregz's premise, I removed the filter to see what difference
better airflow made. It turns out that the coils ice over 100%, right over
the icing sensor. The icing sensor is about the size and shape of a soda-
bottle cap, is potted, and has two thick electrical wires. Maybe it's stuck
and is not switching, like gregz's example.

When I get time, I will remove this sensor and test it. Since I don't know
if it's normally closed or normally open, I'm guessing I should see a
state-change as the temperature crosses the freezing mark.

--
Tegger

It sure sounds like a stuck contact problem, either in the deicer
sensor or in the 3-position switch,

"Tegger" wrote in message
...
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?


More than likely dirty contacts that are sticking.

" wrote in
:

On Jun 4, 7:26*am, Tegger wrote:

The icing sensor is about the size and shape of a
soda- bottle cap, is potted, and has two thick electrical wires.
Maybe it's stuck and is not switching, like gregz's example.


It sure sounds like a stuck contact problem, either in the deicer
sensor or in the 3-position switch,



Just for fun, I just pulled the icing sensor and took it apart, which
required care, and judicious use of a Dremel.

The soda-bottle cap's (see above) closed-end sits against a turn of the
cooling coil, held there by a clip. Just inside the cap, where a washer
would be in a real bottle cap, is a disc-shaped bimetallic spring. This
spring says "LI-LI-LI; TOD-TOD-TOD" repeatedly on one side, and is blank on
the other. The blank side faces the closed-end of the bottle cap. Against
the printed side sits a tiny piston that bears against a set of contacts.

At room temperature, the spring is slightly domed towards the blank side,
and the piston does not touch the contacts. Below freezing, the dome
suddenly pops so that it is domed towards the printed side. This action
pushes the tiny piston so as to open the contacts. This breaks the current,
and the compressor would stop running.

This means the contacts are normally closed. A VOM shows me that the
contacts are in fact closed (zero ohms) above freezing and open (infinite)
below that, which is what I found before I dissected it.

I think I'm going to have to wait for some really hot, humid weather before
I can gather more information.


--
Tegger

On 6/3/2013 7:03 PM, Tegger wrote:
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?



I would suggest getting someone to check the refrigerant charge. If you
take it to a shop with a feller who knows what he/she/it is doing when
it involves refrigeration and air conditioning, H/S/I could probably
tell by feel and thermometer measuring the differential temperature of
the evaporator and condenser without having to instal service valves
for gauges. Most small units have no service connections on the sealed
system. If the unit is old, there could be a tiny leak caused by
vibration over the years. ^_^

TDD

The Daring Dufas wrote in
:



I would suggest getting someone to check the refrigerant charge. If
you take it to a shop with a feller who knows what he/she/it is doing
when it involves refrigeration and air conditioning, H/S/I could
probably tell by feel and thermometer measuring the differential
temperature of the evaporator and condenser without having to instal
service valves for gauges. Most small units have no service
connections on the sealed system. If the unit is old, there could be a
tiny leak caused by vibration over the years. ^_^



Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think this dehumidifier lacks
refrigerant, I thought it was having trouble shutting off when it should.

A careful reading of the instructions tells me that the unit is only meant
to operate under conditions of certain intersecting temperature/humidity
vectors. Apparently if the unit is operated outside of those vectors, it
can ice up. It seemed that the unit was icing up randomly, but now I think
the icing may actually be tied to the temp/humidity level.

I didn't touch any of the parts that have refrigerant in them. I did
disassemble the clip-on de-icer unit, which was fun; I now know exactly how
it works. I'm a techy, engineery type, and such discoveries bring a happy
glow to my troubled mind.

Everything's back together again and working fine, but it's neither warm
enough nor humid enough to make the thing start running unless I crank the
dial way up there, so I need to wait for the jungle weather to commence.


--
Tegger

On Jun 5, 5:24*pm, Tegger wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote :



I would suggest getting someone to check the refrigerant charge. If
you take it to a shop with a feller who knows what he/she/it is doing
when it involves refrigeration and air conditioning, H/S/I could
probably tell by feel and thermometer measuring the differential
temperature of the evaporator and *condenser without having to instal
service valves for gauges. Most small units have no service
connections on the sealed system. If the unit is old, there could be a
tiny leak caused by vibration over the years. ^_^

Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think this dehumidifier lacks
refrigerant, I thought it was having trouble shutting off when it should.

A careful reading of the instructions tells me that the unit is only meant
to operate under conditions of certain intersecting temperature/humidity
vectors. Apparently if the unit is operated outside of those vectors, it
can ice up. It seemed that the unit was icing up randomly, but now I think
the icing may actually be tied to the temp/humidity level.

I didn't touch any of the parts that have refrigerant in them. I did
disassemble the clip-on de-icer unit, which was fun; I now know exactly how
it works. I'm a techy, engineery type, and such discoveries bring a happy
glow to my troubled mind.

Everything's back together again and working fine, but it's neither warm
enough nor humid enough to make the thing start running unless I crank the
dial way up there, so I need to wait for the jungle weather to commence.

--
Tegger

If the temperature sensor does open the contacts when the temp gets
down to freezing, then why were you having the original problem of the
unit not shutting off/ cycling on and off before it iced up? I'm
confused (happens more frequently the older I get)g.

I've worked on more than a couple residential dehum which do not have a freeze stat.

And, one time I worked on one (hanging from the ceiling of a commercial property's cellar) where the freeze stat was unclipped from the line, and hanging free. They had been turning the unit off every couple days to thaw. I clipped the freeze stat back on, and put on some tape and tie straps to help keep it in place. I'm guessing some ignorant person unclipped the freeze stat.

A creative person could use a thermostat of the proper temp range, to act as a freeze stat. Set for about 40F, it would allow the coils to be cold, but not frozen.
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..
..
wrote in message ...

If the temperature sensor does open the contacts when the temp gets
down to freezing, then why were you having the original problem of the
unit not shutting off/ cycling on and off before it iced up? I'm
confused (happens more frequently the older I get)g.

On 6/5/2013 4:24 PM, Tegger wrote:
The Daring wrote in
:



I would suggest getting someone to check the refrigerant charge. If
you take it to a shop with a feller who knows what he/she/it is doing
when it involves refrigeration and air conditioning, H/S/I could
probably tell by feel and thermometer measuring the differential
temperature of the evaporator and condenser without having to instal
service valves for gauges. Most small units have no service
connections on the sealed system. If the unit is old, there could be a
tiny leak caused by vibration over the years. ^_^



Thanks for the suggestion. I don't think this dehumidifier lacks
refrigerant, I thought it was having trouble shutting off when it should.

A careful reading of the instructions tells me that the unit is only meant
to operate under conditions of certain intersecting temperature/humidity
vectors. Apparently if the unit is operated outside of those vectors, it
can ice up. It seemed that the unit was icing up randomly, but now I think
the icing may actually be tied to the temp/humidity level.

The dehumidifier pumps heat away from the coil. The air blowing over the
coil adds heat to the coil in 2 ways. One is by the temperature of the
air. The other, likely more important, is by the humidity of the air.
When water condenses out it releases heat that it took away when the
water evaporated. If you are not adding enough heat to the coil the coil
temperature will fall. When it falls to the freezing point the coil ices
up and becomes a large ice cube.


I didn't touch any of the parts that have refrigerant in them. I did
disassemble the clip-on de-icer unit, which was fun; I now know exactly how
it works. I'm a techy, engineery type, and such discoveries bring a happy
glow to my troubled mind.

Yes, a true techie.

I have a dehumidifier that works great for a while, then always ices up
for a while. The freeze stat apparently doesn't always work. If there is
a freeze stat and it works a dehumidifier shouldn't ice up.


Everything's back together again and working fine, but it's neither warm
enough nor humid enough to make the thing start running unless I crank the
dial way up there, so I need to wait for the jungle weather to commence.

bud-- wrote in
eb.com:



I have a dehumidifier that works great for a while, then always ices
up for a while. The freeze stat apparently doesn't always work. If
there is a freeze stat and it works a dehumidifier shouldn't ice up.



In theory, yes. I didn't take the time to determine the exact temperature
at which the little disc "pops", so it's entirely possible that the "pop"
temperature is lower than that encountered during an icing episode. Would
that be a defect? a malfunction? a design flaw? I don't know.

In any case, with the control knob turned a little more towards the
"wetter" side, icing seems to have stopped.



--
Tegger

" wrote in
:



If the temperature sensor does open the contacts when the temp gets
down to freezing, then why were you having the original problem of the
unit not shutting off/ cycling on and off before it iced up? I'm
confused



Me too. The instructions are generic to many models, not all of which have
icing sensors; it's not clear that the icing warning is meant for the
models with sensors.

Anyway, I solved the problem by turing the knob a tiny bit towards the
"wet" side. See my other reply.

--
Tegger

On Monday, June 3, 2013 at 8:03:56 PM UTC-4, Tegger wrote:
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?


--
Tegger

Check ground wires. Green and green/yellow - they connect at the front to the coil assembly. Unscrew ground leads, clean leads, screws, and mounting area, apply dielectric grease to all, reassemble.

In alt.home.repair, on Sun, 16 Aug 2020 10:58:31 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Monday, June 3, 2013 at 8:03:56 PM UTC-4, Tegger wrote:
This thing keeps my basement from being dank and dungeon-like.

Occasionally this dehumidifier would refuse to shut off and would turn the
coils into a solid block of ice. I would unplug it, let it thaw, plug it
back in, and it would work fine again for weeks or months more.

But now it refuses to turn off at all. Plug it in and it runs forever and
goes all Ice-Agey on me every time.

What's wrong?


--
Tegger

Check ground wires. Green and green/yellow - they connect at the front to the coil assembly. Unscrew ground leads, clean leads, screws, and mounting area, apply dielectric grease to all, reassemble.

I don't see what the ground has to do with it, plus the question is from
2013. The whole thing is probably in the ground by n ow.

You always have to make sure the device wires have no loose connections whether hot, neutral or ground. Anywho, make sure any coils and filters are as clean as new.