Major Dehumidifier Recall

GREAT  I have one of these.

Dodged a bullet, I have a Frigidaire and a TCL.

What the heck is wrong With dehumidifiers they are always getting recalled

ahhh.......... the G.E and ancient Kenmore roll on! Good. The only smoke I want to see if from the locos....... and I don't even use that!

Train ON!

Looks I may have also dodged a bullet with last weekend's purchase of a GE unit at HD.

I have a “Costway” which I bought from an appliance dealer 10 years ago. Still going strong. It heats my basement in the fall and winter!

Thank you for the heads up though, NWL!

Tom

Thank you for this posting. We have 3 running at our club which is located in the museum’s basement. Going there 1st thing in the am to verify what we have been using now for a few years.

I have two Frigidaire units in my basement. . . one in the office/train room side and another in the storage area side. Have had both for about five years or so now, with no problems. I keep them set for 55% relative humidity most of the time. Both are fitted with garden-type drain hoses and each unit drains into separate floor drains on their respective sides of the basement area. The train room unit, because it is close by, seems to be a bit noisy at times, but it will likely be replaced with an even larger-capacity unit at some point in the near future. I will do my research before making a purchase, as I do with all appliances.

Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for posting this!  I bought a Honeywell model about 2 months ago and fortunately it wasn't on the list.

-Greg

Mines not on the list. I have a Soleus about 3 years old.  Thanks for posting.

Coincidentally, 2 hours after I read this post - Fed Ex shows up with a new Frigidaire dehumidifier !   Identical to the 3-month old one in our basement !

Haven't opened it up yet, I assume it's a recall replacement - as we did not order it ?    Good customer service !

Rich in SD

@trestleking posted:

Coincidentally, 2 hours after I read this post - Fed Ex shows up with a new Frigidaire dehumidifier !   Identical to the 3-month old one in our basement !

Haven't opened it up yet, I assume it's a recall replacement - as we did not order it ?    Good customer service !

Rich in SD

Frigidaire is not covered under this recall. 

@Nation Wide Lines posted:

Frigidaire is not covered under this recall.

Even more of a mystery then - as the wife & I were discussing getting another one - as unit #1 runs all the time in order to keep humidity around 45-50%.

I have a 35 year old, all metal construction (except grill and bucket) still works like a champ.

I've got two DeLonghi's in the basement...one out of two is under the recall.  Just bought the second one two weeks ago.  Supposedly the new one is ok..i can't imagine they would sell it otherwise...thanks for the "public service" post for the train guys and gals...!

I've got one on the list, It's been running well for a few years with no problem thank heavens!

Thanks for the tip! this is the main reason for this forum!

@superwarp1 posted:

What the heck is wrong With dehumidifiers they are always getting recalled

Like everything else. They're built over seas and cheap as possible.

@Nation Wide Lines posted:

For all those running dehumidifiers in their basements/train rooms, there was a major dehumidifier recall announced today.  See link for those affected.

https://gizmodo.com/2-million-...after-1847426854/amp

I am lucky, as I am running 2 dehumidifiers in my basement and only one of those was affected by this recall.  However, my other brand was recalled in 2018 and a previous one was caught under a recall in 2014.

So check the list.

NWL

Of the last 4 dehumidifiers we had, two got really hot and the units manufacturer each time claimed no known issues. The first was long recycled before the Feds got involved, the second had been replaced but we still had it when a recall was issued.

Wonder how many fires they have caused. And how many units we all have that are not on the recall list YET.

My neighbor has a modern (less than 10 years old) that runs incessantly. It has low medium and high settings. Even on low, it runs all the time. I think the humidistat is set too low. My 35 year old unit has a dial and it's quite concise. For all our OGR friends; find a really old one. Works as expected and won't burn your house down.

@Oman posted:

My neighbor has a modern (less than 10 years old) that runs incessantly. It has low medium and high settings. Even on low, it runs all the time. I think the humidistat is set too low. My 35 year old unit has a dial and it's quite concise. For all our OGR friends; find a really old one. Works as expected and won't burn your house down.

I control mine with a external humidistat. Really saved on the electric bill.

@feet posted:

I control mine with a external humidistat. Really saved on the electric bill.

Excellent! I was going to do the same with mine until I saw that it was fairly accurate. My control would have been a smart plug, IFTTT and UBIBOT. I have 3 UBIBOT sensors on my network. First installed to monitor temperature and humidity in my train room (loft) above a detached garage.

Thank you for posting NWL!!

One of our daughters just sent me a link yesterday, thinking ours may be on the list.  They had borrowed it for a while a year ago.  Sure enough it is.  It has never run warm, but I shut it down.  We added a second dehumidifier recently and of course it isn't on the list, so we still have one dehumidifier running.

I see they will send a refund of the sold price prorated for how old it is.  Ours was made in 2014, so I wonder if I'll even get enough to cover disposal of the recalled one. 

@Mark Boyce posted:

Thank you for posting NWL!!

One of our daughters just sent me a link yesterday, thinking ours may be on the list.  They had borrowed it for a while a year ago.  Sure enough it is.  It has never run warm, but I shut it down.  We added a second dehumidifier recently and of course it isn't on the list, so we still have one dehumidifier running.

I see they will send a refund of the sold price prorated for how old it is.  Ours was made in 2014, so I wonder if I'll even get enough to cover disposal of the recalled one. 

I purchased mine in 2014 and they are sending me $155 for it, which is not too bad in my opinion.

NWL

@Nation Wide Lines posted:

I purchased mine in 2014 and they are sending me $155 for it, which is not too bad in my opinion.

NWL

There is hope yet!  I agree, that is a good price!  I’ll file for it tomorrow

Just filed my Commercial Cool that made the list.  I get a whopping $45 for it if I ever receive it.  Worked well for five years so far.  You have to photograph the back of the unit showing the model and serial number.  Then you have to cut off the cord, write your name on the back of the unit, and take a photo of the back that shows your name - cut cord - model/serial sticker and upload that too.  Then you get an email confirmation with a note that they will call you or contact if any questions.

I have yet to ever receive any recall payment or restitution I have submitted over the years.  All it ever results in is new spam for giving out my telephone number and email address.  If they don't comply there is no mechanism any government agency uses to force them to.  The last one was a huge campaign to get after Time Warner Cable for short changing customers on internet speed.  Result?  They allowed them another merger as a reward.

John

@Craftech posted:

Just filed my Commercial Cool that made the list.  I get a whopping $45 for it if I ever receive it.  Worked well for five years so far.  You have to photograph the back of the unit showing the model and serial number.  Then you have to cut off the cord, write your name on the back of the unit, and take a photo of the back that shows your name - cut cord - model/serial sticker and upload that too.  Then you get an email confirmation with a note that they will call you or contact if any questions.

I have yet to ever receive any recall payment or restitution I have submitted over the years.  All it ever results in is new spam for giving out my telephone number and email address.  If they don't comply there is no mechanism any government agency uses to force them to.  The last one was a huge campaign to get after Time Warner Cable for short changing customers on internet speed.  Result?  They allowed them another merger as a reward.

John

When my Frigidaire dehumidifier was recalled in 2018, the sent me a brand new replacement.  When my former dehumidifier was recalled in 2014, they refunded the entire purchase price, even though it was 4 or 5 years old at that time.  So I would say that you should get a check for the promised amount. 

As for cutting the cord and submitting the info, that is common for dehumidifier recalls, as they want to ensure that the unit is not operable and they are not paying multiple times on the same item.  I seem to recall in 2014 that they sent me a mailing envelope and I had to send them the cord in the envelope, before they would send me the refund.

NWL

@Nation Wide Lines posted:

When my Frigidaire dehumidifier was recalled in 2018, the sent me a brand new replacement.  When my former dehumidifier was recalled in 2014, they refunded the entire purchase price, even though it was 4 or 5 years old at that time.  So I would say that you should get a check for the promised amount.

As for cutting the cord and submitting the info, that is common for dehumidifier recalls, as they want to ensure that the unit is not operable and they are not paying multiple times on the same item.  I seem to recall in 2014 that they sent me a mailing envelope and I had to send them the cord in the envelope, before they would send me the refund.

NWL

Cutting the cord is normal procedure.  No problem with that.  Hopefully I do get the check (as you have in the past).  If that happens it will be a first for me as I explained.  Even the big CD drive scandal years ago (I had purchased 15 of them) resulted in zero for me.

Thanks,

John

There were a few people posting about GE Dehumidifiers and their reliability (here and elsewhere).

The big GE Dehumidifier recall was in 2014:

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/dehumidifier-recalls

Scroll down

John

I was interested in this topic as I bought a Frigidaire Dehumidifier in 2019 at a garage sale so I knew I was not registered as the owner.  As we do not have basements in south Louisiana but do have high grade humidity as it was a cool 91 degrees with 91% humidity here today.  My garage with tools and all purpose room train layout or not fully air conditioned or are not AC at all.

I was pleased that Frigidaire was not listed in the early part of this topic as a recalled dehumidifier.  I have since learned that some Frigidaire DH were recalled in2014 and 2016.  I checked for the my 2015 yr. model number and it was not listed in either.

This whole dehumidifier fiasco is the fault of lack of safety regulations of the US government.  About 50 years ago fires were common in foam rubber products like mattresses and in automobile plastic interiors.  The government required these applications of foam rubber and auto interiors had to be fireproof.  One way and the least cost way the manufactures fireproofed them was to add ground aluminum tri-hydrate.  The hydrate part of this added filler would be released when the plastic or foam was set on fire and put out the fire.  This regulation created a whole small industry of grinding the hydrate in converted farm barns around Dalton, GA, USAs major carpet manufacturing area (fireproofing required for rubber backed carpet).

The major part of a dehumidifier that will burn from a small electrical fire is the plastic case.  The federal government should require the plastic cases to be fireproof and should have done this several years ago.  Since most of the dehumidifiers are made in China,  the US should insure all imported dehumidifiers have fireproof plastic cases.

Charlie

@Choo Choo Charlie posted:

I was interested in this topic as I bought a Frigidaire Dehumidifier in 2019 at a garage sale so I knew I was not registered as the owner.  As we do not have basements in south Louisiana but do have high grade humidity as it was a cool 91 degrees with 91% humidity here today.  My garage with tools and all purpose room train layout or not fully air conditioned or are not AC at all.

I was pleased that Frigidaire was not listed in the early part of this topic as a recalled dehumidifier.  I have since learned that some Frigidaire DH were recalled in2014 and 2016.  I checked for the my 2015 yr. model number and it was not listed in either.

This whole dehumidifier fiasco is the fault of lack of safety regulations of the US government.  About 50 years ago fires were common in foam rubber products like mattresses and in automobile plastic interiors.  The government required these applications of foam rubber and auto interiors had to be fireproof.  One way and the least cost way the manufactures fireproofed them was to add ground aluminum tri-hydrate.  The hydrate part of this added filler would be released when the plastic or foam was set on fire and put out the fire.  This regulation created a whole small industry of grinding the hydrate in converted farm barns around Dalton, GA.

The major part of a dehumidifier that will burn from a small electrical fire is the plastic case.  The federal government should require the plastic cases to be fireproof and should have done this several years ago.  Since most of the dehumidifiers are made in China,  the US should insure all imported dehumidifiers have fireproof plastic cases.

Charlie

Should have continued to make the cases out of steel. I've got a very old Magic Chef that the only thing made of plastic is the drain tank.

I don't use it as it's too small .