Dehumidifier Question (HVAC guys especially)

[makattak]

I have a dehumidifier that isn't anymore.

It still blows air, but it gets no condensation. The rear heats up a lot, but it doesn't pull the humidity from the air anymore.

Looking at the stamps, it's about 6 years old. Is my diagnosis of loss of Freon a good guess?

[Jim147]

If the fan is blowing you are right. They are disposable. I started out working on those and Fairfield Inn PTAC units. There are no parts for them anymore.

Shipping you a new one on the boat is cheaper then having me go look at it under warranty.

Your central air is the best dehumidifier. If you have water in the basement look at the foundation.

[makattak]

If the fan is blowing you are right. They are disposable. I started out working on those and Fairfield Inn PTAC units. There are no parts for them anymore.

Shipping you a new one on the boat is cheaper then having me go look at it under warranty.

Your central air is the best dehumidifier. If you have water in the basement look at the foundation.

Thanks. The central air does a great job upstairs. In the basement we have a sump pump. There's no way the basement can be made "dry" in this soil.

It looks like about $50 or less of parts and freon to try to refill. I'll give it a shot and then buy a new one if I fail.

And yes it annoys me everything is just made to throw it out and not repair anymore.

[K Frame]

It's so humid in Northern Virginia most of the time, and my house is so well insulated, that the central air isn't enough to remove the moisture from the air, especially in the basement. I have to keep dehumidifiers running.

[Ron]

Refrigerant doesn't just disappear.  

Being low on refrigerant isn't the problem, it's a symptom of the real problem, a leak.

If you spend money to gas it up you haven't fixed the problem.

You can put off fixing the problem on bigger systems that hold pounds of refrigerant by doing a "gas and go", putting off dealing with the leak until it runs low again. Not best practices but it is common, we've all done at one time or another in the industry.

If your systems refrigerant charge is 10oz, gas and go has diminishing returns. Lose 1oz of refrigerant and that is 10% of the entire charge.

Just because the compressor is running and the unit is not cooling (making condensate) doesn't mean it's a lock that it's low on refrigerant.

It could be an inefficient compressor, bad valves.

It could be a plugged metering device/capillary tube, common on small sealed systems, esp R134a systems.

Just some points to ponder.