De-humidifier Problems.....

Poulos Cues

Poulos Cues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Gentlemen,
I am in the process of relocating and using a new room for storing my materials. I just bought a brand new (less than six months old) de-humidifier and it is freezing up- ice all over the coils and even on the compressor.

To tell you a little bit about the room, it is about 16 feet wide by 30 feet long and is in my basement. The only "air" into the room is through the door if I choose to leave it open and a little cellar window which I leave closed in the winter time. The heat pipes run along the ceiling so it keeps the room somewhat warm in the winter. In the summer months I open everything up and get the air flowing and it seems to do a great job keeping the hunidity down. In the winter, for the most part the humidity gets down to about 30% in the cold months but around now it is climbing to aroung 60% and this is when the de-humidifier starts to freeze up.

Doesn't take long to start rusting things. Some have said that my de-humidifier is freezing up due to the lack of fresh air and no circulation.

My Pep suggested that we replace the glass window with plexi and run a 4" vent hole with insulated duct pipe into the room which would be just enough fresh air to keep the DH from freezing. The return could/ should go out the same window or out the door into the rest of the basement? Should I have a return??? Would this even work????

What are some thoughts on this and what can I do??

Thanks in advance.
Chris
 
my experience tells me only three things,,,one you've identified: lack of air flow,,,next is a clogged filter (air flow again),,,the other is low freon: dehumidifiers will actually freeze up if the freon is low.... j
 
Jack Flanagan said:
my experience tells me only three things,,,one you've identified: lack of air flow,,,next is a clogged filter (air flow again),,,the other is low freon: dehumidifiers will actually freeze up if the freon is low.... j
Click to expand...

Filter is okay....Did not even think of the freon...who could service that?

Thanks!

Chris
 
most any qualified HVAC serviceperson could do the job....if unit is small, carry it to the service person (save some bucks probably)

even though the filter is clean, make sure the evaporator and condenser part is not clogged...this can happen even with a filter.
 
Jack Flanagan said:
most any qualified HVAC serviceperson could do the job....if unit is small, carry it to the service person (save some bucks probably)

even though the filter is clean, make sure the evaporator and condenser part is not clogged...this can happen even with a filter.
Click to expand...

Their tech people say that they doubt it is the freon...they said that if it was out it would not freeze. Their sollution is to issue me a new one.
If this one does the same thing..then we'll try process of elimination.

What you say makes sense to me though. They say that ventilation should not matter and that the unit should operate down to 45 degrees???:confused:

What I have been told from another source is that without air movement, the condensation can sit on the coils causing the freeze. I put a fan in front of it and this does not seem to work. The back of the unit (where the compressor/ evaporator/ condenser are?) freeze up 1st before the coils in the front do????

What do you think? The book does not label the parts as far as I know..I will do a search on-line to see if a diagram is available.

Thanks.
Chris
 
> Whatever you do,DO NOT try to recharge the unit yourself. A guy at Auto-Zone told me that he was told when he was hired to call the police immediately if anyone that doesn't have an AC or HVAC license in their hand asks for R-12 refrigerant. He said a 10k fine and/or jail and immediate termination were the consequences for even selling it without checking the permit. The fines are astronomical for getting caught trying to buy it or having faulty equipment,and the stuff is dangerous.

About 10 years ago,a local HVAC guy was working on the systems at McDonald's when a EPA field rep came thru the drive-thru,and decided to pull an inspection. The guys' equipment was leaking,as was the units he was servicing. He was fined 100k,the McD's franchisee was also fined 100k. The franchisee was unhappy,but he paid off. The serviceman lost his license,the EPA seized his equipment,and sent him to jail for well over a year because he was 30k or so short paying the fine. It was in the paper here. Tommy D.
 
Dadgum what state

Tommy-D said:
> Whatever you do,DO NOT try to recharge the unit yourself. A guy at Auto-Zone told me that he was told when he was hired to call the police immediately if anyone that doesn't have an AC or HVAC license in their hand asks for R-12 refrigerant. He said a 10k fine and/or jail and immediate termination were the consequences for even selling it without checking the permit. The fines are astronomical for getting caught trying to buy it or having faulty equipment,and the stuff is dangerous.

About 10 years ago,a local HVAC guy was working on the systems at McDonald's when a EPA field rep came thru the drive-thru,and decided to pull an inspection. The guys' equipment was leaking,as was the units he was servicing. He was fined 100k,the McD's franchisee was also fined 100k. The franchisee was unhappy,but he paid off. The serviceman lost his license,the EPA seized his equipment,and sent him to jail for well over a year because he was 30k or so short paying the fine. It was in the paper here. Tommy D.
Click to expand...
I was one of the first class to get freon licenses in North Carolina about 20 years ago and they don't care or question me or anyone else about r 12 or r 22 purchases, and the real truth about R 12 and global warming is that the US government used 80% of all freon made and blowed all of into the atmosphere. Do they care or get fined heck no.---Leonard
 
I GOOGLED THIS: thats bout the best i can do



The coils frost up


The coils you see on the back of your dehumidifier are the evaporator. When the unit runs, the coils get very cold. As the fan draws the room air over the coils, the humidity in the air condenses out of the air onto the cold coils. But, if the temperature of the air the fan draws over the coils is too cool, the humidity that condenses out of the air freezes on the coils.

To remedy this problem, you can try any of these:


Warm up the room the dehumidifier is in.


Put the dehumidifier on a sturdy table (the room air is coolest near the ground).


Turn the unit off until the room warms up.
 
LOU'S CUE'S said:
I GOOGLED THIS: thats bout the best i can do



The coils frost up


The coils you see on the back of your dehumidifier are the evaporator. When the unit runs, the coils get very cold. As the fan draws the room air over the coils, the humidity in the air condenses out of the air onto the cold coils. But, if the temperature of the air the fan draws over the coils is too cool, the humidity that condenses out of the air freezes on the coils.

To remedy this problem, you can try any of these:


Warm up the room the dehumidifier is in.


Put the dehumidifier on a sturdy table (the room air is coolest near the ground).


Turn the unit off until the room warms up.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

The room is about 65 degrees (the machine is rated for as low as 42 degrees) and it actually starts to frost/ ice over in the back.....on the outside of the line that comes out of the top of the (compressor/evaporator?) first.

All of the pipes are covered with an insulation. If I let it alone too long the ice makes its way down the copper line and up to the coils in the front of the machine making a wall of ice. It is not pulling any moisture out of the room. The guage actually increases :(

Thanks anyways.
Chris
 
is there anykind of a "timer" or some kind of thermostat inside ??

maybe some device is supposed to cycle the cold on and off ???

and it's running constantly, therefore freezing up ??
 
LOU'S CUE'S said:
is there anykind of a "timer" or some kind of thermostat inside ??

maybe some device is supposed to cycle the cold on and off ???

and it's running constantly, therefore freezing up ??
Click to expand...
There must be a thermostat. It is electronically controlled from the front- you can set it to the % of humidity you wish to get the room down to, or you can choose 2 hour on-off, 4 hr on-off, fan high or low.

LG Products- #LHD45EL (look it up on their site if you would- no diagrams of the guts to speak of)

It runs until the room gets down to where you want it then it rests until the humidity creeps back up. Right now the room is at 60% so it should run until it gets down to 50% (never used to be a problem) - 'cept it freezes recently:confused:

In the summer months it runs quite regularly if I don't get down there to open windows and doors- this lowers the humidity with nice a nice air flow and gives the dehumidifier a chance to rest for a few hours.....

They are processing my claim as we speak..hopefully I get the new one before they want the old one back.....RIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!

Thanks.

Chris
 
For those of you who aren't sick of this post yet.....LOL!

Well, the temperature doesn't matter. I had the room up to 72 degrees and the thing was still frozen!!

Thanks for listening!
Chris
 
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