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For 2014 dehumidifying season, I bought a GE portable dehumidifier and it worked great for most of the summer but died near the fall. So, for 2015 season, I bought a new Haier portable. Same exact result. Died about 2 months ago. I blew it out regularly and kept the filter clean. Anyone have similar problems and can recommend a decent dehumidifier?

Some of these companies have a one year of longer warranty on these. I had a new Whirlpool dehumidifier several years ago that just was not removing anywhere near the volume advertised. Whirlpool had a repairman pick it up and fix it. Many of the companies have longer warranty specifically on the compressor. Anyway, contact the companies and complain. See if they will fix the machines.

This goes for small appliances, too. I have had any number of hot water pots, electric fans, and fluorescent shop lights replaced with a phone call. Some of these were over three years old, and the companies knew it.

I dove in & bought a Santa Fe Compact 2.

Costs about 5X higher. It pulls a lot of moisture out of the air very quickly. Unfortunately after about a year, it stopped working as well. I called them & we decided that the system had a leak. They sent me a replacement unit & it's been fine since. Hopefully it will continue to hold up.

The Santa Fe units are made in USA & fully servicable - no plastic, all metal construction FWIW.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I run one of these. https://www.drieaz.com/_dec/DEC_Product ... decID=1059 It's been running for the last 5 years straight. I just serviced it for the first time 2 weeks ago, and it holds my basement shop at 40% RH no problem.

Michael .I have a good $200 dehumidifier , but you never know when they will fail.What kind of servicing did you have to do for your machine, cleaning /maintenance or replacing parts after 5 years. thanks

Ernie,

I had to remove the shroud and disassemble the drain/pump housing. It was clogged up with a gelatinous goo. I'll probably contract legionnaire's disease. I wore gloves... I washed the parts, rinsed and reassembled it. Now that I know what to expect i'll clean it every year. It took about 20 minutes.

It's a very well made portible commercial unit. They are the go-to model for water damage contractors etc. I bought mine online from a pet grooming supply. I think I gave $1100 for it including shipping. I feel you get what you pay for...most of the time.

Michael

I've had a Frigidaire FAD704DWD Energy Star 70-pint for just over 2 years now. I did a fair amount of research trying to find one that might be reasonably reliable before I bought it and it is doing better than my previous selections. I clean them out about once a year and have it hooked up to drain to the outside. I look at the dehumidifiers as an annual expense of about $100 and don't really expect them to last.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Over the past 20 years, I've gone through just about every major brand of dehumidifier available in the big box stores. Every single one failed within 2 years--the freon leaked out of every one of them. The one that gave me the most service was the LG, not because it lasted any longer but because it had a 5 Year warranty and they kept replacing it. Finally, I bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Oasis-D-165-HG-GS ... humidifier

I've had it for two years. Last month, the compressor stopped running. It was easy to fix. I isolated (with the help of excellent customer service) the problem to the compressor relay. $35 including shipping had it running again. The humidistat on it exhibits quite a bit of hysteresis, so I control it with an external, plug-in humidistat. It's not energy-star, but blowinng an external fan on it (also switched by that humidistat) brought the watts per pint of water removed within the range of a dehumidifier that is energy star rated. This one is old design, no electronics, and easy to fix. So far, it has outlasted every one of the home use dehumidifiers that I used before. If this one fails unrepairably, I will probably step up to the Santa Fe. I don't know why this has to be so hard.

Thanks Michael for the explanation about the unit. PT is cloudy , overcast and humid throughout the year. Here in KC the summers are hot and humid compared to PNW and dry falls and winters. I usually start dehumidifying just before spring . Like the others I have gone through abt 6 dehumidifiers in the past 21 yrs in the MW. In my next shop . I will use a small dehumidier in the dry/spray area and a seperate commercial one in the larger
work area. No pt in taking damp wood from work area to finish , as it can cause problems

PT is cloudy , overcast and humid throughout the year.

Ernie,

Yup! That's what we tell people who are thinking about moving here...

PT actually gets about the same rainfall as San Jose, CA. Being in the rain shadow of the Olympic mountains mean we get half the rain Seattle does.

yes thanks michael I am from vancouver BC . 25 yrs PTis a great small town. Have been all over BC the gulf islands usa/canada/ wash state oregon and ca. I miss the west.But unfortunately our family could not live on scenery, as our pocketbooks were always very thin . That whole area around olympic nat/l park is a gem . I will definitely check into that unit for my new upcoming shop. and will take your suggestion of a yearly cleanup/maint. program

I got tired of buying a $200 dehumidifier every year.......I needed 2 of them running and with routine maintenance they would last 2 years at best. So the other year I bit the bullet and bought a commercial type unit. It is fully serviceable and rechargeable and came with a 5 year warranty. Cost me $1200 but if I would have bought this unit first it would have paid for itself by now.

This is it https://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-p ... odel-1710a

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/