Dehumidifier not working – that’s ok, it’s normal

Why do dehumidifiers turn off and stop collecting water?  This is something that callers ask us over and over again.  I think that once someone has invested in a dehumidifier they want it to collect water on a daily basis and they are disappointed when it stops collecting water.  Before I explain why the dehumidifier not collecting water is perfectly normal lets switch to another piece of equipment that we use in the house that we have a greater understanding of – our central heating.

An explanation – with the aid of the central heating example.

When we set the thermostat to say 22°C our radiators become hot, if we were to put our hands on the radiator later and found it to be lukewarm or cool then we would not think that the radiator is faulty, we would just accept that the room temperature is up to 22°C and the radiator has been turned off by the stat.  We know that when the room temperature drops the radiators will turn on again and they will once more be hot to the touch.

Back to the dehumidifier and the same thing is happening, albeit in reverse.  You select your set point and the dehumidifier dries the air down to this point, when the relative humidity falls below this level the dehumidifier stops working.  When the relative humidity rises again the dehumidifier will turn itself on and start to collect water again.

Hopefully that makes sense and you now know why your dehumidifier sometimes stops working.

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311 responses

  1. thanks for the fast reply. what i dont understand. as its not getting below 50% moisture is present in the air so why is it only collecting approx 1.3 ltr per day.
    surly the moisture is there so i would expect it to collect it faster to reach the set level

    1. It very much depends on what the room temperature is, this has a massive effect on the extraction rate as you can see in the table on the link I shared. Keeping the filter clean also helps for extraction rates.

  2. ihave a abc 10l. 3 weeks old, small 2 bed house positioned on landing. its collecting 1 full tank approx every 2 days, humidity will not drop below 50% even when set at 30%. beleive unit can collect 6-10ltr per day,
    why is it not collecting this amount when the humidity has not been reached?
    why is it not dropping below 50%
    when i place it in a small bedroom with door closed then yes it does go lower but when moved to a larger area it sticks again to 50% suggesting that the area is to large but the humidifier should be capable of this.
    please advise.

    1. Kev,

      A relative humidity of between 50 and 55%rh is exactly where you want to be. The reason why in the larger space the humidity does not come down is because you are adding moisture to the air every day and this needs to be removed from the air.

      Extraction rates are on the product page here – https://www.meaco.com/products/meaco-meacodry-dehumidifier-abc-range-10l

      In thos sorts of conditions the most you will get will be about 4 litres per day.

      Hope this helps.

      Chris

  3. Hi, we just bought a new dd8l junior a few days ago and it’s been great at extracting water from our our flat which has bad humidity issues. The first time the tank filled it beeped and the unit shut off completely however the last couple times it is full the unit beeped but the fan is still running even when I take the tank out. I woke up this morning and the tank light is flashing but the fan was still running, no idea how long for. Is this normal as im concerned about about leaving the flat and it possibly overheating. Thanks

  4. Hi,

    We have had the zambesi dehumidifier for a few years now, it’s had to go back a couple of times for repair but it’s alway been sorted and sent back ASAP.
    Right now it will only work in laundry mode, it collects water fine on this setting. But when you try to use normal dehumidifying it doesn’t collect water and has sad zambesi on the display. I’ve tried the trouble shooting guide with using a hairdryer on the sensors etc but still nothing.
    Is there anything else I could try?
    TIA
    Nick

    1. Nick,

      That is probably because the humidity is so low in Britain at the moment, in the office it is 24%rh and at home with four people in the house it is only 37%rh. If you are seeing low readings on your display then that is the reason why it only works in Laundry mode. Basically the house is dry.

      On Zambezi if it is tunning in Laundry mode and no error message is coming up on the screen then the machine is fine.

      Chris

      1. Hi , I have had 12l energy saver for a month now. I run it for about 8 hours a day . I notice lately that the defrost red light is flashing on occasionally. The settings I have it on is 50 or 55, the reading is about 58 .

  5. Good evening,

    I have a 12l low energy dehumidifier set at the recommended 55. The display is showing 49 but the unit is not turning itself off.

    1. Lynn,

      Press the up or down arrow under the display, the number that flashes up should be 55, if it is not then it is not set as you thought. If you can confirm that it is set to 55 and if you see the problem continue into next week then please call us on 01483 234900 so that we can sort it out for you.

      Chris

  6. Hello, I recently purchased a Meaco ABC Dry 12l. its positioned in a small hallway area facing our ensuite which regular gathers condensation on the windows and some mould. I had hoped the Dehumidifier would stop the condensation. I’ve had it running now for 24 hours (over night) at 50rh and is working but has not captured a single drop of water (and windows have condensation this morning as normal). I must admit, the area feels and smells more dry but would have expected some water (as I had a dehumidifier a year or so ago that did collect it). Do you think the ABC Dry unit is faulty or have I missed something?

    1. Shaun,

      It depends on what reading you are seeing on the display, if it is below 50 then the dehumidifier is not working because the air is already dry enough. If it is above 50 then we need to discuss it further. Whilst it is very cold outside you might have to reduce the target humidity to 45 or 40%rh to avoid get condensation on the windows. This is also something that you could try.

      Chris

  7. Good morning, I received the 10l ABC Dehumidifier and have been using now for rhe last 36hours. I notice the power on light has been flashing. I haven’t seen any information to say why this may happen. The water tank isn’t full and I have the the machine on CO.
    Any information as to why this may be happening would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance

    1. Tracy,

      Thank you for your purchase. The flashing light is normal and just tells you that the machine is defrosting to maintain optimal performance.

      Nothing to worry about.

      Chris

  8. Hi Chris,

    Bought a 12L Low Energy model 6 weeks ago and it’s epic, easily filling the tank twice over 24 hours. It’s set at 55% as per guidance but hasn’t got near there yet (3 bed house), despite running almost continuously for the full 6 weeks.

    It does have a strange characteristic though. When the tank is emptied (I turn it off prior to removal) and then switched back on it occasionally defaults to a reading of 60 and runs the fan only, despite being set to a RH of 55. I have to switch it back off, turn the power off to clear the logic board, power back on and only then it shows a true RH reading and fires the compressor back up. Is this a fault?

    Thanks in advance,

    Gary

    1. Gary,

      Thank you for your purchase and your message. Because you are turning the machine off when you remove the tank you are resetting the compressor cycle and it will not turn back on for three minutes. Please let it do it’s thing and don’t turn it off again. It is functioning correctly. You don’t have to turn it off when you remove the tank, you can just take it out.

      Hope this helps.

      Chris

  9. Dear Chris, I have a DD8L Zambezi bought new this November. It is used on a boat on continuous drain, I check on it daily and it has been running for the last week perfectly fine. Yesterday I went to check on vessel and accidentally tripped the breaker for the UK 240v 3 pin outlets when turning off other systems, lights, water pumps etc. I turned it back on and went to check on my fridge and dehumidifier. (fridge fine) The dehumidifier was off and when turning it on, the screen came up normal but no fan kicked in. The elephant had his trunk tied and the humidity showed it was 39% in the room (or inside the unit?) It was definitely around 50%rh in the room, it kept dropping over the next 10 mins to 34%rh. The temperature setting went from 15 C (the actual temp in the room) slowly up to 26 C over the duration of my trying to diagnose it. I thought it would need to run internal cooling fan for 5-15 mins before it switched itself off normally. I took the continuous drain tube off and tried to seat the catch bucket correctly, I also inspected the filter at the back (completely clear). Power supply for the boat is normal and no surges or anything in the boats log. I thought the fan must be jammed and causing unit to overheat as there was no noise and no air being sucked or blown from the unit? I couldn’t get through on the phone so I tried plugging it in after resting the unit for over 24hrs and it has ran fine for the last 15 minutes but I am scared to leave it on without supervision in case the internal temperature keeps rising.
    Why would the fan not ran when turned back on even if it wasn’t making water?
    Why would the rh drop and the temp rise when nothing was working but the display?
    Unit came perfectly undamaged and was always transported upright and with care.

    Please help.

    kind regards

    Andy

    1. Andy,

      Thank you for your purchase and your message. The fan did not come on because the relative humidity was below the set point. It sounds like the machine is up and running again now after the accidental power cut. It has numerous safety features internally so the machine will be fine on it’s own.

      Hope this helps.

      Chris

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