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
I r just bought the 20l dehumidifier and air purifier and set the humidity to 55, it’s starts and then stops 20 mins later, I knw I have moisture in the house as there are damp spots in small places, but there’s no water collected? Is there something I’m not doing right?
Thank you for your purchase Ali. The machine is telling you that the relative humidity in the air is below 55%rh already so it does not have to do anything. If you have damp spots then this means that you have excess moisture WITHIN the fabric of that spot. To draw it out run the dehumidifier on CO.
Chris
Hi I have a Meaco ABC 10L similar issues to some of the ones already in this Blog. it beeps when plug socket turned on and off or when water deposit removed but it wont switch on. I have checked the filter and other required actions but still not working. Its in a cellar room so humidity is always quite high. Non of the red lights on top are coming on at all.
Jael,
Sounds like you are holding the power button down for too long. Please just press it quickly and it should turn on.
Chris
I have Meaco ABC dryer 10lt , but I noticed its not collecting water. Is there any problem with the setting? How can I fix it?
Upsana,
thank you for your purchase. Please make a note of the reading on the display when the fan is running and then press the button below the display and a number will flash up for 5 seconds. Please let me know what those two numbers are. Also make sure that the filter is clean.
Over the weekend you can also do the following. Next time you have a bath or a shower do not turn the extractor fan on and don’t open the window, this will make the room nice and warm and humid. When you have finished put the dehumidifier in there on CO mode and let it run with the door closed for several hours. Let us know what happens.
Chris
Hello.
I have a Meaco ABC 12L dehumidifier and i am really happy with this product.
My issue is that for some reason i cannot engage the laundry mode , even though it was working fine all the time i have it.
Every other function is operational , but it seems that when i press the button for the laundry mode i hear a beep but no light comes on and there is no sound difference observed.
Best regards.
Panos,
Thank you for your purchase and your message. If the light above the laundry button is not coming on then the changes are that you are holding the button down for too long. If the light is coming on but you are not hearing any change in noise then this is either because it is only a couple of decibels different and it is difficult to hear or because it is already in high fan speed anyway.
Chris
Bought the 12l platinum low energy last week. It’s collecting water fine but the humistat doesn’t seem to be accurate. I have another dehumifier that’s is always about 10% lower reading which is the same as my 2 standalone thermostats. An example is right now all 3 are reading 49% but the Meaco is reading 62%. This leads me to believe the Meaco is not reading the room humidity correctly. Also it never reaches a reading that will turn off the unit. It’s not a case that the house is humid as we have another humidifier running for a good while.
Paul,
The honest answer is maybe. The thing is that relative humidity is very hard to measure and differences between devices are very common. Factors that are unknown here are;
Are all devices next to each other?
Are any of the devices next to a window or a heat source?
How old are the thermohygrometers?
When were they last calibrated?
How accurate are they?
All of these things will effect the readings and how well they can be trusted.
If you would like me to look at this in greater detail then feel free to get in touch via the contact form on the website.
Chris
I purchased the Meaco 12L dehimidifier around 18 months ago, I noticed a few months later that the bottom of the machine under the collection tank was wet, the machine is not overflowing and can find no other reason for there to be water under the tank each time, luckily it doesnt spill out onto the floor. I got an exchange under the 1 year guarantee but found the second one doing exactly the same thing. So as the machine works perfectly well otherwie is this anything to be concerned about, thanks
Thank you for your message, there are only two reasons for this. Either the machine is not on a level service or the filter and the internals are getting dirty and the dirt if blocking the flow of the water. As this is not a known fault with the dehumidifier it must be one of these two reasons.
Hi,
I have a MeacoDry ABC 12L, doesn’t work anymore. Beeps once when is connected to the plug, I press the “on” and nothing happens. If I take out the deposit beeps as well but nothing else.
Joseph,
Thank you for your message. This means that you are pressing the on button for too long. Just a quick press and all will be fine.
Chris
Hi
Split personality on my machine
When the humidity drops below the chosen level it kicks in and water collects.
However every day where the humidity happens to be lower the set level it also just randomly starts up and seems to collect nothing – so right now currently set to 50 and its displaying room is 40 but fan is on – tried in normal and quiet mode and it does it for both)
Why is it doing this as Im paying for what appears to be a fan to randomly kick in and cool a room in winter which isn’t ideal
(Meacol 25l)
Tony,
The fan should kick in every 30 minutes to check the room relative humidity to see if it should turn on or off. How long are you seeing the fan on for, longer than a couple of minutes each time?
Are we talking about Arete 25L or 25l Ultra Low Energy?
Chris
Meaco Abc dehumidifier. Not been used for a few months. Just plugged in and it beeped but doesn’t turn on. Still in warranty.
Andy,
Thank you for your message and your purchase. Normally this means that you are holding the on/off button down for too long. Please press it quickly once and it should turn on.
If it doesn’t then please call us on 01483234900 for a service.
regards
Chris
Hello, Chris. I have meaco 20l low energy dehumidifier. I’ve noticed strange high pitched noise recently, which is not loud but I think it wasn’t like this before. When I remove hepa filter or if I set on lower mode this noise is gone then. Few days ago my kids pushed the dehumidifier, it fell over with water tank falling out on the floor while switched off. Maybe some fault happened? Thank you
The fall will have been very unlikely to have caused any issues. The most likely problem is a dirty HEPA filter restricting the air flow.
Hi. Our meaco has started beeping every so often. It is not running at the time and is not even turned on. Plugged in and switched on at the mains. Any ideas why it has started doing this.
Stuart,
You don’t say which model you have so I cannot help you. But feel free to call customer service on 01483 234900 and they will take care of you.
Chris
Hi, I have the Meaco 25l low energy dehumidryer, when I plugged it in today it worked for about 10 seconds then stopped and started to bleep
any ideas what’s happening any help would be appreciated.
Kind regards.
Peter,
On that machine if there is anything wrong you will get an error message on screen, no error message means no fault. Are you seeing a code on screen?
Chris
My zambesi dd8l has turned itself off and is showing the fault code C2 and won’t turn back on. It’s around a year old
Ruth,
Please give the office a call on 01483 234900 Monday to Friday so that we can help you.
Chris
I purchased a Meaco Arete Dry – first time dehumidifier owner – and have been using it for a few days now. I also get the slight wobble when the compressor starts up but also noticed when I switch it off the compressor sounds noisy, decreasing in speed with a slurping sort of noise until it stops, its difficult to describe. Is this ok ?. I did leave the unit untouched for six hours as described in the manual to settle the refrigerant from transit. Also I was expecting the expelled air to be slightly warmer but it always feels quite cold, is this normal ?, is it because of the temperature of the room its operating in ?. So far I’m happy with it but was concerned that the compressor was faulty. Thank you.
Jon,
Thank you for your purchase and your message. Compressor should vibrate and at start up and shut down they do this more. The noises you are describing are the oils and refrigerant moving around and are quite normal. Because the air is moving it might feel cooler but it is 1°C warmer than room temperature.