Is my dehumidifier shot?

[Ak Jim]

I noticed the dehumidifier was not removing the moisture as well as it use to. Did some looking and the coils are icing up. The room temp is in the 70s and humidity is around 55%

 

[dogdog]

Is the fan working ? If fan is working then check if the fins are clogging from dust...
If that is not an issue then check for the temp "sensors" ? There is another thread some one fixed their newly picked off the curb dehumidifier with $10 sensor(s). Last year thread I think...

 

[Ak Jim]

Took the dehumidifier apart and thoroughly cleaned everything. Put it back together. Ice still forming on the bottom of the coils. Used my temperature gun. Temp at the bottom is well below freezing while at the top it is over 70. So for some reason the evaporator has a large difference in temp. Anyone know why this is?

 

[fitter30]

Low on refrigerant. They hold very little surprised it has come up with fault code yet. Still have the manual call their tech line.

 

[American Locomotive]

Hisense dehumidifiers are trash. Ours is only ~5 years old and started doing the same thing last year. They come from the factory with a very marginal charge of refrigerant. They have crappy thin tubing that chafes, rubs and corrodes through. They then get tiny little micro pinhole leaks that slowly leak the refrigerant out.

Without getting into specifics, systems that are low on refrigerant will typically ice up part of the coil, while the rest of the coil is warm.

The unfortunate reality is that pretty much all residential dehumidifiers are made by three companies: Midea, Hisense and New Widetech. They're all trash that get leaks and fail after a few years. If you want a good dehumidifier, you're going to have to find a commercial one, which are significantly more expensive.

FWIW: I was able to limp our Hisense along by blocking the top 1/3rd of the coil, forcing more air flow on the lower part of the coil. It's just delaying the inevitable, however.

 

[Ak Jim]

Thx for the info. I was thinking it was low on refrigerant. Probably not worth finding a service place to add more.

 

[Jeepster04]

If you let it keep running, that ice will eventually makes it way higher until the entire coil is frozen. Its probably pushing vapor through the evap, which is why it freezes up on the lower part. Pressure is lower in the evap.

I've had a Midea dehumidifier for a bit over 3 years, no issues. Paid $100 shipped from amazon, so I cant complain.

 

[Steve_P]

Yeah, low on refrig as everyone said. Mine has been running like this for probably 10 years. I have it on a timer, two hours on, two off to let it melt. It's not ideal, but it works and still helps to lower the humidity in the basement. I couldn't find a new unit to fit in the same narrow spot, but eventually I'll try again and see what's available.

 

[kyrbz]

Yeah, low on refrig as everyone said. Mine has been running like this for probably 10 years. I have it on a timer, two hours on, two off to let it melt. It's not ideal, but it works and still helps to lower the humidity in the basement. I couldn't find a new unit to fit in the same narrow spot, but eventually I'll try again and see what's available.

I’m doing the exact same thing. I’ve been running the drip hose into a gallon container sitting in a sink just to see how much humidity it’s removing. It’s removing about 2 gallons a day, so I’ll keep using it for awhile.

 

[Hobby_Man22]

Same with mine. I question if it was removing moisture because after about 8hrs in the 3000 sq ft shop it still showed like 86 percent humidity. Checked it in the morning and it was down to 58 percent, but I think the air outside in general just so happened to dry out.

 

[timdoesthings]

I don't know how much you paid for it, seems to be currently (old stock) 140 bucks. A newer model with the same capacity is like 250 bucks. The refrigerant alone I believe in the smallest size you can buy is 100 dollars. Then gauges, a pump and a way to sweat fittings on and at that point you are above the cost of replacement. To add, having some HVAC repair company do it for you the cost would be even greater. Assuming you can even service it in the first place.