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.

Products featured: dehumidifiers

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311 responses

  1. Hi I have a Meaco Zambezi dehumidifier and so far no issues . But today when it was plugged in but not in use it’s displaying H1 . The user manual doesn’t identify error codes on the trouble shooting page, please advise. Thanks

    1. Hi (sometimes people think it’s H1) – If you leave the machine in Standby mode (turned off but still plugged in to the mains) and the
      relative humidity goes above 70%rh then ‘HI’ will appear on the display.

      This is Zambezi telling you that you should turn the dehumidifier on because the room relative humidity is too high.

  2. Hi Chris,

    We have the 12L Low energy dehumidifier, which has been brilliant up to now. We have however been having an issue, where the RH is set to 50% it reaches this and turns off, but then does not turn back on (display still shows low RH%) when the RH rises (even if it reaches circa 80% RH). If the unit is turned off then on again, it will recognise the higher RH and turn back on again. The only reliable way of using the dehumidifier now is to have it collect water continuously.

    Many thanks,

    Simon

    1. Simon,

      Thank you for your purchase and your question. With this model it will test the room humidity every 30 minutes to see what the relative humidity is. What you seem to be suggesting is that it when it does so it is not reading the correct relative humidity? Question would be how do you know that the room relative humidity is higher at this point than the readings the machine is giving you? Rather than turn the machine off at the mains i would change the setting to CO and see if it reaches a different relative humidity than the one it read when it woke up and ran the fan to test for one.

      I would also clean the filter to make sure that the room air is getting through ok.

      Chris

  3. We have the 20L low energy dehumidifier. We’ve had this running a lot over the past week but have noticed it’s not been collecting any water.

    I have checked all the settings, it’s not on air purifier mode. The flat is very damp, between 70-80% in all rooms. The thermostat reading will go down but no water is collected.

    1. Hannah,

      Use the button under the display to change the target from whatever it is on now to CO. Do this and clean the filter, if nothing is collected after three days of this then please call us on 01483234900 for further assistance.

      Chris

      1. I have Meaco 12L dehumidifier since 2 years. So far worked perfectly, this time I’ve noticed it didn’t collect any water at all. I wanter to change the HEPA filter and waiting for delivery, I read it should work even without filter but it just doesn’t condense water despite the water is dripping on the windows.

  4. Hi
    I have purchased a 20L low energy dehumidifier and been running it for 3 weeks 24/7 on both low and high fan speeds at 55. I have inserted the air purifier filter today and it only runs on the higher fan setting and seems to be more noisier and running for longer. Is this correct as hubby is very concerned about it being on all the time and the amount of electricity it is using?. Am I best to run it just through the day and turn it off at night?

    1. Julie,

      This will happen when a dehumidifier is introduced into a home for the first time, this shows that the house is damp and the dehumidifier is drying it out. How long this takes depends on how damp the house is, how much moisture you put into the air each day and what target the dehumidifier is set to. It will settle down.

      The machine will always be nosier with a HEPA filter in place because you have inserted and extra layer of resistance into the airflow.

      Chris

      1. Thanks Chris for your speedy reply but it only runs on the high speed fan with the Hepa filter in, is this correct? and what about just running it in the day and switching it off at night as it is noisy, would this be ok or is it more efficient to run 24/7? Husband not convinced it’s not going cost us a fortune in electric but I defo feel the house is not as chilly. 🤷‍♀️

        1. The machine doesn’t know if the HEPA filter is inserted or not, so any change in fan speed is a coincidence.

          To dry the house faster keeping it on 24/7 is best, but you can turn it off at night if helps as a compromise.

          As the air is dried the house will feel warmer, so the power consumption is never wasted.

          To cut the dehumidifier work load think about where the moisture is coming from and see if you can reduce it.

  5. Hello,
    My new Meaco DD8L won’t turn off after pressing the power button. For about 10 minutes the fan will keep running on a quieter setting then it will finally turn off by itself. This is frustrating if I need to turn off the machine to move it aside, as I am having to wait. I have tried a longer press of the power, a short press, and a really short press, it’s the same every time. Is it faulty?

    1. Chris,

      This is normal from a desiccant and is not a fault. The cool down cycle is a vital part of the operation and it is very important that it is allowed to finish. The process will be faster if the filter is clean and there is space at the rear for the air to get in.

      Chris

  6. I have a DD8L Zambezi , only bought a few months ago and hardly used. I am now unable to change any settings as none of the buttons respond except if i press the down arrow for about 3 seconds then it bursts into life wife a drip icon with a line through it. Press the down arrow and this turns off. The child lock is not on and it still “wakes” to sense etc. but I cannot change any settings or turn the device on /off standby. The buttons all click as they should. Left the device unplugged for 24 hours – still the same. Any suggestions? Bought from amazon and they won’t do anything but take it back and refund / no exchange and they cost about 40% more than when I bought it so would be out of pocket if I returned and then bought another.

    1. The down arrow button that brings up the water droplet with the line threw it turns off the dehumidification. So you definitely don’t want to do that. Just give us a call on 01483 234900 and ask for Phil and he will walk you though what you need to do.

  7. The Louvre door on my Meaco 12L Low energy dehumidifier only works for a few minutes and then stops in the ‘open’ position. Can you help?

  8. Hi I have a 25L Ultra Low Energy Dehumidifier bought in January 21. Recently the defrost light has come on. The room temperature has been around 19 degrees C. When switched off and on again the defrost light goes out. Any advice as to why it comes on?

    1. Paul,

      This can be normal as the defrost circuit is linked to the internal dewpoint of the dehumidifier and not the room temperature. Just leave it to do it’s thing and all will be fine.

      Chris

  9. Hello,

    I bought two ABC Meaco Dehumidifiers at the same time. One is running ok and collecting water, the other will turn itself off completely, no red power light even when the relative humidity is above the target of 40. I have a hydrometer so I can check what the RH is. I just went down to empty it and one was full of water and the other was turned off so had not collected anything even though the RH was 55. Please Help x

    1. Siobhan,

      Check a few things for me please in this order.

      Press the button below the display once, let me know what number flashes up.
      Clean the filter to eliminate that.
      Then wet the machine to CO and tell me what happens after a couple of days.

      Thank you.

      Chris

  10. Hi I have a meaco 10l, when I turn it on it states the humidity is 70rh, I set it to 60 and it goes down to 40-50rh turns off then never comes back on . I have a smart monitor in there and I see the humidity go back to 70 but it never comes back on. The device still states the humidity it turn off at even though it is way higher. Is this faulty? Only had it 10months thanks

    1. Daniel,

      As long as you have cleaned the filter regularly it is probably more likely that the smart monitor is reading a different location or is incorrect to be honest. To test the machine make sure that filter is clean and then set it to CO and see how you get on.

      Chris

      1. Hi, I have just purchased the 12L dehumidifier and Air purifier and have set it to 55. It has been running constantly now for 36 hours and I have emptied it twice once full. The humidity level has not gone down by more than 5 remaining on 73.
        Is this normal to take so long or have I put it in the wrong place in my home. It is in the hallway, I live in a 2 bed ground floor massionette.
        Please advise. Thank you.

        1. Lauren

          This just shows the work that the dehumidifier has to do. It will be taking moisture out of the air, whilst at the same time you are still putting moisture into the air (bathing, showering, cooking, drying laundry, breathing etc). The house will also be drying out its walls, furniture, paper, wood, clothes etc.

          So this does take time, but the dehumidifier will get there. Expect the initial drying out to take a month.

          Chris

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