Teams
Forum List
Toggle sidebar

Constantly failing dehumidifiers??

S

salennon07

Well-Known Member
Aug 4, 2016
441
669
93
37
Okay I'm going a little insane.. I've gotta be doing something wrong. I've went through like 4 dehumidifiers in the last 6 years. Had one or two make two seasons but for the most part they keep failing after one year.

I've bought the ones with the built in pumps and originally used to use that but once I started seeing failures I've switched to the outlet hose option.. Apparently that didn't help me as here I am with a new season and now have another what appears to be failed dehumidifier.

Seems like I'm probably better off buying an in home with how much money I've thrown into these things. I've at least gotten to the point where I always buy the extended warranty....its literally the only product I buy with an extended warranty because these things are such cheap crap.

Someone tell me I'm stupid and just doing something wrong... These things can't really be that ****** can they?
 
salennon07 said:
Okay I'm going a little insane.. I've gotta be doing something wrong. I've went through like 4 dehumidifiers in the last 6 years. Had one or two make two seasons but for the most part they keep failing after one year.

I've bought the ones with the built in pumps and originally used to use that but once I started seeing failures I've switched to the outlet hose option.. Apparently that didn't help me as here I am with a new season and now have another what appears to be failed dehumidifier.

Seems like I'm probably better off buying an in home with how much money I've thrown into these things. I've at least gotten to the point where I always buy the extended warranty....its literally the only product I buy with an extended warranty because these things are such cheap crap.

Someone tell me I'm stupid and just doing something wrong... These things can't really be that ****** can they?
Click to expand...
Yes, they absolutely are crap. I've had pretty much the same experience as you. Bought an LG several years ago that came with a five-year warranty, and it failed twice under warranty. They lost their asses on that sale.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: salennon07
Nope, this is normal. I've replaced at least 3 over the years from compressor failure. 2 fridigdares and whatever the menards brand is. They're all absolute trash. I'd pay good money if I knew one would actually last.
 
  • Like
Reactions: salennon07
I wish I had known about all of the issues each of you have had. I might have offered any of you the deal of your dreams as I took an "extra" dehumidifier we had to the Overflow store in Ames last fall. It had been working flawlessly for over thirty years. The only issue it ever had was a small crack in the collection canister that I was careful with when emptying it, JB Weld probably would have taken care of that (if I wasn't so Spartan... cheap seems such an unkind word to call someone like me.)

I don't know if it made a difference or not but I never opened the knockout to drain directly. I always dumped the collection tank when it was full. Also, every second or third year I would clean the coils well.
 
GoClone said:
I wish I had known about all of the issues each of you have had. I might have offered any of you the deal of your dreams as I took an "extra" dehumidifier we had to the Overflow store in Ames last fall. It had been working flawlessly for over thirty years. The only issue it ever had was a small crack in the collection canister that I was careful with when emptying it, JB Weld probably would have taken care of that (if I wasn't so Spartan... cheap seems such an unkind word to call someone like me.)

I don't know if it made a difference or not but I never opened the knockout to drain directly. I always dumped the collection tank when it was full. Also, every second or third year I would clean the coils well.
Click to expand...
We’ve had one in our basement since we built in 2003. Still works, but we don’t run it all the time. Honestly, no need to.
 
I've been pretty fortunate with the couple of dehumidifiers I have. I say couple because I bought a second unit for a very damp stone basement from 1905. Single unit couldn't keep up and would freeze up at times. Current house is much easier to manage. I have always taken mine straight to a drain. One is a Black+Decker, but new enough it's trash with a "brand" name. The other one I'm not even sure, but definitely came from Menards. My parents are still using the fake wood grain unit they got when I was in high school with no issues. I'm not often the exception to a problem.

Is anyone paying attention to the sizing of the units? Buying one comfortably sized for the space and conditions? I definitely bought bigger than I needed assuming the swamp climate in August would invalidate most of the square footage estimates.
 
I went through multiple dehumidifiers before having a pretty good run with the one I have now. Not even sure what brand it is or how long ago I bought it but it has lasted me a lot longer than the previous ones did. It's not a high end model by any means either. The last one I had fail would just build up ice on the coils and eventually freeze up and stop working. Some of the other ones just flat out quit operating all together. Seems like a common thing, no one seems to make a very long lasting one it seems so if you get 5 years out of it feel lucky I guess?
 
If they’re freezing up, I think you need to turn the fans to a higher speed or get better ventilation in the area it’s sitting.
 
I think we've only gone through maybe 3 over the last 20 years. The current one has over 5 years on it at least.
 
ackatch said:
I've had this bad boy in the basement for 4 years now with a drain hose and never had an issue. He's a beast and loud, but he works.

Click to expand...
I looked at that one! But ended up buying a different one off Amazon. I figured at least if I order from Amazon it will be much easier to track my order when I inevitably have to make a claim against the extended warranty. This is my first time ordering one off Amazon.

Everything I've read is like 90 percent of these are made from the same company, midea... And they all use the same junk parts.
 
I'm on my third pelonis dehumidifier from menards in 6 years. This one is starting its 3rd season. The first one they replaced under warranty and the second (the warranty replacement) they refused to replace under warranty when it failed also. Said that warranty replacements do not carry an additional warranty, which tells me they know it's a high volume failure device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: salennon07
Agclone91 said:
I'm on my third pelonis dehumidifier from menards in 6 years. This one is starting its 3rd season. The first one they replaced under warranty and the second (the warranty replacement) they refused to replace under warranty when it failed also. Said that warranty replacements do not carry an additional warranty, which tells me they know it's a high volume failure device.
Click to expand...

Yep they did this to me with a hot water heater. The warranty on the replacement item is retro dated to the original date of purchase. It was also kind of a rigmarole to take back. I essentially had to buy the replacement and then they credited me back when I brought the old one back. They didn't want to do that either, they only wanted to swap it but the timing just didn't work for that. I efing hate Menard's, they carry nothing but cheap sh!t now.
 
Mine is at least 30 years old. I have a couple newer ones I don't even try to use because the old reliable is just that: reliable. It does freeze up the coil every once in a while. So I have to unplug it and let it thaw/drain for about 12 hours.

Not even sure if the other ones work. Brought one back from FL this season and tried to sell it at the yard sale. It's the Midea. So probably a POS by now. Used it one full off season in FL. My utility bill literally doubled from the extra heat it put off. So now I just have the A/C set on 76 and go with that.

I guess I should see if either of the other 2 work or not. They're probably more like 8 years old.
 
ackatch said:
Add a whole home humidifier. Best $1200 we spent.
Click to expand...
We did the same thing when we put in a new furnace years ago. They installed an Aprilaire 700m, just have to adjust the humidity setting depending on temp outside during the winter. We have a temp with humidity meter on every floor of the house so we have an idea how much humidity is in the house so we can adjust accordingly.

Funny thing about that humidifier, on my annual inspection last fall they tested it and the motor had a bearing going out as you could hear it. They wanted $700 to replace the motor, I found the exact motor on Amazon for like $120 and could buy the whole unit itself for around $400 so just bought the motor and just a few screws and a couple wires to connect and had it fixed with little effort. Need them to come out and do my AC check soon and hope they ask about the humidifier so I can tell them what a rip off that quote was for an easy job.
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: Joe4Cy
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Help Support Us

Become a patron
Top Bottom