Entropy

Relax in southern comfort on the east bank of the Mississippi. You're just around the corner from Beale Street and Sun Records. Watch the ducks, throw back a few and tell us what's on your mind.
User avatar
JR.
Posts: 3700
Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 7:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Entropy-it's always something

Post by JR. »

P1010142-1.JPG
P1010142-1.JPG (55.33 KiB) Viewed 10475 times
OK this isn't fixed yet but I feel like I have properly diagnosed the fault.. The display for one of my three dehumidifiers (a big 70 pint unit) has been misbehaving for weeks. The dehumidifier has both a temperature display and a RH display... for a few weeks now the temp display has been stuck on Lo indicating temperature is too low for it to work properly, and the RH display has been reading some 10+ points high.

Connecting the dots I figure the temperature sensor is faulty or has a bad electrical connection. The RH display probably uses the actual temperature to correct the raw moisture sensor reading and calculate RH (a function of both moisture and temperature).

This is still under warranty so I am waiting for their advice about how to handle it. I could fix it myself (probably a solder connection or broken wire) but since it is only a few months old lets see what they want to do ( I wouldn't want to pay shipping costs).

The unit still works, I just can't trust the RH set point accuracy. Last night I pulled about a gallon of water from my main room... I let it run at night. My 50 pint unit is running right now back in my bedroom sucking up last night's humidity while it was turned off so I could sleep. 8-)

BTW I found a good web link for a temp/RH calculator that also shows mold and rust risk wrt temp.RH. http://www.dpcalc.org/

JR

PS: I am starting to rethink how much the air in my house exchanges with outside air every day. The indoor humidity follows the outdoor temp/humidity closely. When it's warm outside the outdoor air holds more moisture that it brings inside, When It's cold outside that air holds lees moisture so indoor humidity is reduced by outdoor air mixing in. My house is apparently not as tight as I though. :oops:
Cancel the "cancel culture", do not support mob hatred.
User avatar
JR.
Posts: 3700
Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 7:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Interesting, since I hadn't heard from the service people I called, for another 2 weeks after i sent them photos, of the warranty documentation, I sent a follow up email saying I would just fix it myself if I didn't hear from them in a timely period. :lol: Seriously it's either a broken wire or solder connection on the temp sensor.

Today I got a phone call saying they were sending me a replacement unit, and didn't want the old one back. They want me to remove and mail the label off the back of the unit to them first. I suspect the shipping cost is not worth returning the busted unit to repair and resell.

Looks like I will end up with 4 dehumidifiers. Three working and one in need of repair. :roll:

JR
Cancel the "cancel culture", do not support mob hatred.
User avatar
mediatechnology
Posts: 5444
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Oak Cliff, Texas
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

Now its cold, wet and I'm picking up insulation and foam - pieces of people's houses - that blew in from the tornado that touched down 8 miles due south of here.
The wet insulation is very heavy and that weight was carried a long distance.
Once it stops raining water, insulation and foam and I venture further out I may start to find people's possessions scattered in my woods.

We're OK, no damage.
Winter thunderstorms are the worst...
emrr
Posts: 570
Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: NC, USA
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by emrr »

Glad you aren't picking up your own damage. I thought you were probably close.
Best,

Doug Williams
Electromagnetic Radiation Recorders
User avatar
mediatechnology
Posts: 5444
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Oak Cliff, Texas
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

My neighbor reports she's finding someone's photographs.
User avatar
mediatechnology
Posts: 5444
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Oak Cliff, Texas
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

We think it may have tracked north closer to us but didn't touch down.
User avatar
JR.
Posts: 3700
Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 7:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

Did you hear the very distinctive "freight train" rumbling sound?

I live a few blocks from a rail line, so sometimes I hear real trains sometimes the weather, but nothing very close lately. :D

Tornados tend to follow geographic tracks and the closest track to me is several miles away (it is why they always seem to hit trailer parks). People don't put expensive buildings on frequently hit geography (that's why theres a golf course and agriculture center over there).

Of course any single tornado can hit anywhere, but they often follow patterns.

JR
Cancel the "cancel culture", do not support mob hatred.
User avatar
mediatechnology
Posts: 5444
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:34 pm
Location: Oak Cliff, Texas
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by mediatechnology »

We didn't hear the freight train sound.
I think (hope) the escarpment that we're on is not friendly to tornadoes.
We are about 200-300 feet higher than most of the area.
On our hill we are more likely to receive straight line winds.

This time they seemed this time to track S-N in lower lying areas to the east a few miles.
Usually they track SW to NE west of here.
User avatar
JR.
Posts: 3700
Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 7:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

mediatechnology wrote:We didn't hear the freight train sound.
I think (hope) the escarpment that we're on is not friendly to tornadoes.
We are about 200-300 feet higher than most of the area.
On our hill we are more likely to receive straight line winds.

This time they seemed this time to track S-N in lower lying areas to the east a few miles.
Usually they track SW to NE west of here.
Yup they tend to follow natural depressions or valleys but still pretty random when and where they drop.

Glad it missed you...kind of like a weather lottery.

JR
Cancel the "cancel culture", do not support mob hatred.
User avatar
JR.
Posts: 3700
Joined: Sat May 24, 2008 7:21 pm
Contact:

Re: Entropy

Post by JR. »

I finally jumped through the final hoop (I think) to get my warranty replacement dehumidifier. I had to scrape 4 labels off the back of the unit, including S/N and mail it to them. Apparently this protects them against repeat claims for the same bad unit.

I expect I'll be able to repair this but for now I am just using it as is with the RH set point adjusted higher to accommodate the lack of temperature correction.

JR
Cancel the "cancel culture", do not support mob hatred.
Post Reply