train room humidity

One word - CHARCOAL.  (absorbs moisture, no moving parts)

Recently there was a large recall on dehumidifiers.  Look here to see if your unit is safe to be operating.

It's not just you.

I've had probably 4-5 of these things (2 at the moment functional) over the years since I bought my house in early 2008.

I've never had catastrophic dangerous failures like melting. (though one of the past units may have been on the recall list, since I no longer have it I can't check the serial #)

Mine always keep chugging along with the fan, they just stop taking water out of the air.  One probably did leak it's refrigerant as there is a bit of a stain on my concrete basement floor.

I also bucked my normal trend on service contracts when I bought one of the more recent ones about 3 1/2 years ago.  That one died similarly last summer, and I got it fixed (not replaced, seems Sears actually fixes these things) under the contract for no charge.

One of my early ones I was lucky that it failed right before the 1 year mark, so it was replaced under warranty.  On a second, I think I got Frigidaire to replace it since they claim a 5 year (or did) on the "sealed system" part of the unit.

My most recent I bought as a stand by while the Sears unit was in the shop this summer.

-Dave

Charcoal is not for absorbing moisture. 

It wouldnt be used in water filters if it did. 

What you meant to say is DESICCANT. 

Desiccant absorbs moisture and can be "recharged" by heating or baking the absorbed moisture out of it. 

I keep my basement vents open in the winter for heated air.  Only use dehumidifiers in the summer months.  You can keep them running by using a hose that empties into a floor drain so that the pan does not fill up and automatically stop the unit during the night.

Thanx for the info MichRR714,  I just called and checked - my dehumidifier is not affected by the recall - thanx for letting us know

Paul

Seems to me that an electrical failure would melt some plastic and blow a circuit breaker, not burn a house down.

.....

Dennis

The is a simple test for moisture coming through the basement walls and floor.  Tape a square of plastic wrap to the wall and floor.  Let is sit for a few days.  If water is entering through the concrete there will be condensed moisture on the plastic. 

There are paints available that will seal the concrete floor and walls.  Different paints are used for concrete block walls than for poured walls.

There are several threads that have discussed this. 

Jan

quote:

Seems to me that an electrical failure would melt some plastic and blow a circuit breaker, not burn a house down.

I spoke with the folks running the recall. They said their dehumidifiers were a fire hazard.

As far as they go: I find that no matter what I purchase, they last no more than five years. But they are necessary to have trains in the basement, so I use Consumer Reports to pick one when the time comes. As others have posted, some units claim to work at lower temperatures, such as would be found in a basement. The units that aren't designed for lower temperatures will have trouble with the coils icing up. When ice builds up, it blocks the air flow, rendering the unit ineffective.

Mine is left on year round. It does not run in the winter, when the furnace dries out the air.

Correct......a proper basement rated dehumodifier will not run in the winter due to the furnace drying out the air.   The cheaper dehumidifiers run and run without drawing water from the air and eventually burning out.   Granted I am not aware of any dehumidifier sold to residential customers from the Home improvement stores that will last but if you want to keep a rust free layout and protect your high priced trains it is a neceesary tradeoff.

As a side note, I purchased a small pump to pump the collected water out of the bucket and ran it to my sump pump, otherwise, during the summer months, I am dumping the bucket at least once a day. 

-Pete

Some models come with a built-in pump.  Mine has one, and it works great.  

Had one of those. Got real hot, we called them they said no issues. Then we saw that recall notice by accident on the internet, suddenly it was a different tune! Wonder if there were any house fires?

I have a Friedrich and it's still running after five years. 

Central air-conditioning keeps my basement dry in summer and furnace keeps it dry in winter. 

For sure you need to pay what it costs for a better "basement" dehumidifier that does not freeze the coils in lower temperatures as found in a basement.  I have that kind in my basement.

.....

Dennis