Anyone know how to repair a De-Humidier?

[JWFilips]

I have had it with modern dehumidifiers: I have bought 3 in the past 6 years and they do not work as well as my old Sears Kenmore! ( Circa 1985)
However That go to Old Beast is starting to cause me problems. It has been trouble free all these years and never iced up even below 60 degs
but now the controls are starting to stick! Normal I can just walk over to it and give it some "Percussive maintenance" ( a hard slap on the top of it's metal cabinet !)
However i'm noticing it now is refusing this "Love Blow" to it's head! and insits on running constantly! Now if I unplug it for a day and pug it back in an give it a whack it will work for a day or two.
Anyone know if this is fixable?
Thanks
Jim

 

[Pistolero]

Sounds like it may be a sticky relay. If that is the case a new relay would be in order, or
in the old days, I would open it up, clean the points with some 800 grit sandpaper drawn
between them a few times.

Bill

 

[JWFilips]

Bill,
I take it that the relay would be in the small control box? I have cleaned points on relays many times over the years ( never on a dehumidifier)
The darn thing is so old I can't even find a schematic

 

[Ian]

Agree with Bill, probably the compressor relay contacts welding or maybe a weak/broken release spring. Open it up and see if you can find it.

We had a window unit that would do that but it had a solid-state relay which had to be replaced as oart of the whole control head. The older unit you have likely has a component, mechanical relay.

 

[Pistolero]

Yes, Ian is correct. Old stuff had actual relays, newer is an scr or similar solid state equivalent
of a relay. They are unlikely to respond to a whack.

Bill

 

[jsizemore]

A lot of the small appliances that have seen many years of service end up with solderless connectors that have lost a bit of their spring from long term heating and cooling. If you find one a little loose, you can either replace or "tighten" it a bit by closing the female end nearest the wire a little so it makes solid contact. Sometimes the crimp between the wire and solderless connector will get down to just a few strands making contact.

 

[JonB]

First, new dehumidifiers are much more energy efficient, it might be time to spend some money on a new one.

With that said, I had a old dehumidifier (1970s vintage). One time it froze up, due to a long running time, due to lots of moisture. The frost was also in the area of the humidity sensor, which looked like fibers or hairs strung across two post thingys. Anyway, I turned the dial while it was froze up. I think that messed up those fiber/hair thingys, and it never worked correctly after that. It'd either run constantly or not run at all.

 

[JWFilips]

From the new humidifiers I have recently bought that are "energy efficient" I now realize that is fancy words for "a piece of junk"!
The Old Sears Kenmore runs circled around the new ones even when it sticks!
The New ones Ice up below 72 degrees My basement never get above 65 degrees & I like 55 to 60 % humidity because of my stored stock wood and tools