Whole House Humidifier - Disconnected Water Line?

It seems that my home humidifier is not working. Here's what I know:

humidistat clicks on Fan runs There is a metal line that I believe is the water flow line that is disconnected and I have no idea how or where to connect it. When I turned the little bar handle, water does drop out of it.

I have an aprilaire 760.

Not sure what else to do.

Reply to
kennethbuschel
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Reply to
Don Y

Open the yellow pages phone book, and look for "heating contractors".

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

So the line is connected to one of your water pipes. Apparently someone disconnected it from your humidifier. I can only guess this was before you owned or leased this home. Likely there was a reason to disconnect it. Probably it was overflowing and making a mess.

If you cant see where it connects to the humidifier, (which should be very obvious), you obviously dont know what to do, and I suggest calling a furnace repair company. Connecting a water line to a humidifier is not rocket science. And even if you do get it connected I bet it's not going to work. If it did work, it would not have been disconnected. So, expect water to run all over the floor.

There is usually a float valve in them, and they commonly seize up and do not stop the flow of water, then they overflow....

Reply to
Paintedcow

Or worse it can run into the furnace, the electronics, before it gets to the floor. If he hears the clicking, that's probably the solenoid for the water valve. It's located at the bottom of the 760 housing. There isn't much to go wrong, leak, etc with that model. Water line is connected to that solenoid valve, from the output side there is a rubber hose that goes up the side, to the top, where it connects to a fitting that puts the water on top of a little tray gizmo that spreads it out and it flows onto the media pad. The solenoid valve has a tiny mesh strainer to filter any crap and a plastic orifice that sets the flow. If the orifice was missing, I guess it could send in way too much water and flood things.

Reply to
trader_4

I had a humidifier malfunction many years ago, it flooded the furnace and basement. one big mess.

I disconnected it and forgot about it.

it was one of those rotating pad units, that required my putting the rotating wheel with a foam pad in a bucket.

pad was clgged with a brown crud. a gallon og vinegar would foam up it was a mess.

and even after rinsing the air in the house got a vinegar odor.

be glad that humidifer was disconnected. call a pro if necessary

Reply to
bob haller

I had put one of these dehumidifiers in my first house and it was a mess and a mess to clean. There was no water over flow and after a month or so, I'd have to remove the pad to clean out the calcium deposit with vinegar.

Now my Aprilaire 560 has no moving parts but drips water over a honey comb, ceramic coated aluminum pad to evaporate in the furnace air. Pad is rinsed by excess water and would probably last a few years but I change it every year. Water drains into my French drain which can handle it and in the Summer condensate from AC goes into same drain. Never a problem.

Thread just got me to check it and it is working fine. It's as old as the house, ~40 years.

Reply to
Frank

Sounds like a totally successful dehumidifier.

Except, that it isn't. Oops.

=============================== When I did HVAC installs, my boss used to really love the flow through humidifiers. Wasted a little water, but much lower maintenance.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Te excess water that flows out carries some of the excess minerals with it....that is the key to pad longevity.

Without the excess wather flow, minerals can check in but they can't check out.

Mark

Reply to
makolber

Unless they have designed something new, which I dont know about, NONE of the built in (to furnace) humidifiers last very long. And if your water is high in minerals, it's even worse. Not only are they a pain to keep working and clean, but they can damage the furnace by causing rust to the heat exchanger, and/or damage the electronics within the furnace.

I quit using them years ago. I just use a portable humidifier which needs to be filled with a pail, and also needs maintenance and cleaning, but cant cause flooding or damage your furnace. And if they go bad, you just replace the whole unit and dont have to find something that fits into the plenum.

Reply to
Paintedcow

I've had an Aprilaire for 10+ years with no problems. There isn't anything in there that is inherently a high failure issue. It's essentially a media element that water trickles over. The pads are a maintenance item and need to be replaced when enough minerals have accumulated, about every 2 years on mine. Mine is a powered one, with a small fan motor, other bypass models have no motor. So, there really isn't anything there to fail. Honeywell uses a similar design and the same media element. IDK what design other companies use today. Many decades ago there were types that used a rotating drum that went through a container of water, kept filled by a float, etc. The Aprilaire design is much better than that.

Reply to
trader_4

I don't think it uses much water. It only goes on when the furnace is on and it is only a trickle. My French drain has no sump pump and is only wet for a few feet beyond the exit. Besides, with a well, I don't pay for water.

Reply to
Frank

You can also throttle it back if you want to, by partially closing the valve. AA tells you not to, but I've tried it and haven't seen any difference. It's also not just the water, but the fact that it's heated water going down the drain. Still, I agree it doesn't amount to much. I'd rather have a reliable, trouble-free design that uses some water, than one that has to be cleaned more often, can grow mold, etc.

Reply to
trader_4

With my van, I can drive as much as I want, cause I don't pay for mileage.

Just like with your electric well pump, you don't pay for water.

Both, well, needs another look.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

One heating company, we had to wash hands after servicing the "minerals check in but not check out" type of furnace humidifier. I'd like to have cleaned em all out with bleach, but we didn't stock bleach on the trucks.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Years ago Sears used to sell furnace humidifier like that. Hobart brand. It stayed always clean. Now with Aprilaire 600 I used to dunk the pad in CLR but I got lazy. I just throw old pad out and put in a new one.

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Amazon puts pad at $10 but I don't think I pay that much at Home Depot and will buy for two years.

I see Amazon sells a kit for replacing the holder and rest.

I just vacuum and brush mine off.

Reply to
Frank

I tap a cold water line and to answer Stormin, I doubt if it puts a strain on the pump or electric bill.

Reply to
Frank

Whether you tap a hot water line or a cold water line doesn't matter. The water going down the drain still winds up heated and at about the same temperature whether heated by the water heater or by the furnace.

Reply to
trader_4

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