APEL70L Dehumidifier after a few years it stops working

[dekoop]

Model

APEL70L

Brand

GE

Age

1-5 years

I'm trying to break the cycle of replace/discard my basement dehumidifiers. I saved this last one out to see if I can repair it. Same old thing - after a few years it stops working.

Symptoms - Basement begins to smell. Temp is around 60 - 65 deg.

Observations - Blower is working fine. Air flow is good, filter is clean. Bucket-in-place and bucket-full switches are working properly (currently taped for testing). Compressor not running. Bucket empty.

Testing - When I first power the unit on, the compressor runs. I have verified that I can activate/deactivate the compressor by changing the humidity set point on the control panel. For all subsequent testing I put the set point to "always on". The compressor runs for between 5 and 10 minutes and then shuts down. It re-starts after 3-5 minutes. During this cycle I observed some frosting on just 1 coil, which did melt during the off time. Is this a normal cycle? There is a temp sensor on the coil which I thought might be suspect, so I relocated the sensor away from the coil. Same cycling. This went on for an hour or so at which time the compressor stopped and never restarted. The condensation never went beyond the first coil, and I collected no water. I discovered 2 things at this point: The compressor is hot - like, burn your hand hot. Is there some sort of thermal shutdown? I can't find a fuse or reset. And also - despite that heat, if I shut down the unit and re-start it, it will continue to behave as described above.

Any ideas?

 

[Dan O.]

Sealed system problem likely

Model Number: APEL70L___

That model number is incomplete. Did you get it right off the appliance's model and serial number identification tag?

During this cycle I observed some frosting on just 1 coil... The condensation never went beyond the first coil

That sounds like a refrigeration system problem, either a defective compressor or possibly short of refrigerant.

LINK > My dehumidifier is building up frost on the coils. What might be the problem?

The compressor is hot - like, burn your hand hot.

That sounds like a compressor problem but might also be caused by a restriction in the sealed system.

Is there some sort of thermal shutdown?

There is usually an overload protector on the compressor by the relay. It will shut the compressor down if it draws too much current or gets too hot, as a safety precaution.

The dehumidifier is probably not worth repairing unfortunately.

JMO

Dan O.