Two dehumidifiers lasted only around 2 years each (yikes!)

Better check your AC voltage level when they are operating. Sounds like you have insufficient voltage and is causing the compressor to lag and there for running hot.. Also uses more energy that way, higher cost of operation.

About a year ago I considered getting a dehumidifier for the garage. I searched the Web for consumer reviews, and the consensus was that, as with toasters, all brands and models are junk -- particularly those from China, which covers a lot of territory.

I decided not to purchase any.

How do I check the voltage level during operation? Do I connect a multimeter to the 2nd free socket in the outlet that the unit is plugged into? Or is it sufficient to check the voltage on the outlet when nothing is plugged in.

ing

Yes - Check the other outlet of the pair when it is running, that is when there is a load on the circuit. That does assume both outlets are on the same feeder, which is the normal case unless there is special wiring for a non-standard load. Voltage when not running is almost meaningless, but check that it is between 115 and 125 volts no load to ensure that the multimeter is working reasonably accurately.

h ,

most of the consumer ones are made by LG these days, you'll get to recognize them under different brand names if you do some shopping. they have a high death rate, but work fine until then. so...... buy a factory refurbished one for half price (i got mine from some place in NJ i found on the internet; the site says LG but the brandname you get might be different); then get a "home warranty" type thing from sears for $35 a year for the dehimidifier. i get my $35 worth in parts every year, and it's cheaper than replacing the whole thing every two years, as you say.

even works if you buy the original item full price, if you have to.

Yours has a refrigerant leak.

I own a 40 pint Haier that I use in my unfinished basement. I use it with a drain hose since dumping the bucket twice a day is out of the question. It runs continuously from May until November. It is now 4 years old.

Make sure your unit is getting the correct voltage/current. Don't use an extension cord unless it's a cord rated for an air conditioner. Lower voltages = higher current = compressor motor burnout.

And don't buy an LG. Although an excellent working machine, LG puts the blower motor on top of the compressor and the heat opens the thermal fuse located in the blower motor's windings. I've since replaced that fuse (LG would replace the whole motor) and now have a backup should the Haier bite it or if I have a torrential rain and need to run both.

Right. This is the classic symptom when part of the evporator is very cold or iced up and the other part is warm.>

Or go to a garage sale and pick up an old Sears dehumidifier in working condition. I've been using the same one for about 20 years (and it was probably a good number of years old when I got it), cost me around $5, only had to cobble together a replacement fan due to bad bearings a few years ago. It runs most of the Summer.

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Hi!

This sounds like the symptoms of a refrigerant leak. Sealed cooling systems that are built properly should *never* leak refrigerant, as they are very well sealed. Even the compressor is typically one piece, welded together.

I think you might be better served by a used one.

The two newest units I have are both the Magic Chef brand, and they have lasted well. When they were new, both units blew a rather disconcerting spray of oil from the fan motors in the first few hours they ran, but it must have been a case of overlubrication at the factory.

I also picked up a Kenmore unit off the curb from the neighbors some time back. They said it ran but "got hot". Turned out the coil was completely plugged. It's still running in my plumbing room, and it runs almost year round. It cycles on a few times per day and has been doing so for about three years now.

But as Sam suggested, get yourself a secondhand Coldspot if you can find one. I've got one that had a 30th birthday a long time back, and the only thing it has ever needed besides cleaning is a fan motor. It just keeps on going and going.

William

There is something wrong with my multimeter. It is giving readings too high (as high as 170). Same thing happens when I hook the multimeter up to portable power device (the kind with a 12V battery and a power inverter). Do multimeters give too high readings when they have been used too much?

Yes - Check the other outlet of the pair when it is running, that is when there is a load on the circuit. That does assume both outlets are on the same feeder, which is the normal case unless there is special wiring for a non-standard load. Voltage when not running is almost meaningless, but check that it is between 115 and 125 volts no load to ensure that the multimeter is working reasonably accurately.

Replace the battery.

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I salvaged two out of a building teardown. Both were dead for the same reason. The crimped-shut Emerson Electric fan motors had ground to a halt on dry bearings. Then the coils iced solid, and the Klixon overload on the compressor soon toasted.

I drilled holes into the motors and lubed them; one was then usable, and I found another at a hamfest.

Klixons cost ~$1.00 as I recall, but the manufacturer & various third party appliance repair parts places want $35 for same. Some day I'll measure all the needed data, and get some by specification from Klixon.

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Gi buy a new meter. The battery is used only for the ohms/continuity check. You can get a simple meter for under $10.00

Good call. I have a Sears up in the attic that needs a fan motor. Still works but I retired it shortly after seeing a couple sparks fly out the front from the blower motor :)

Hi!

I find these exceedingly "entertaining". I've fished out numerous old box fans from the trash over the years, and the thing that gets me about all of them is how nobody *ever* followed the instructions to oil them every _six months_. Only forty plus years later did the motors finally lock up, and even that was only on a few of them. Even when they're locked up, a little oil can save them and the bearings are usually still quite usable.

By comparison to today's products, I'm sure that those old motors were expensive to make. I feel it's fair to say that with the improved technology we have today, making a "permanently lubricated" motor that would run at least that long should be easily doable at a relatively low cost. And yet even the good ones just don't last that long. Maybe I'm overlooking something here--that this would be possible at low cost but not "the lowest cost" (which may be all that matters).

Good thing it did. I picked up a JC Penney's brand dehunidifier that had a Fasco motor which was solidly locked up. I had to replace that motor because nothing short of a bomb or violence would have opened it up. I tried sneaking oil into it only to find that I couldn't get enough oil in there to make a difference.

The original fan motor died with the compressor running, nobody noticed for a few days and I guess it was just too much for the compressor motor to handle. A few months after I fixed it, the compressor simply died and would not start. All it would do was hum and pop a breaker. I put the new fan motor aside for future use in the Coldspot (it is exactly the same RPM and rotation direction) and saved many of the electrical pieces (humidstat, pilot light, cord set) along with some of the sheet metal.

William

I happen to live in NJ. What is the name of the website where you got the refurbished LG?

-------------------------------------------------- most of the consumer ones are made by LG these days, you'll get to recognize them under different brand names if you do some shopping. they have a high death rate, but work fine until then. so...... buy a factory refurbished one for half price (i got mine from some place in NJ i found on the internet; the site says LG but the brandname you get might be different); then get a "home warranty" type thing from sears for $35 a year for the dehimidifier. i get my $35 worth in parts every year, and it's cheaper than replacing the whole thing every two years, as you say.

even works if you buy the original item full price, if you have to.