Dehumidifier Went Tango Uniform

Another Whirlpool. Fifteen years is a pretty good lifespan IMO. Good news for me, too: probably means I have six or seven years left on the two Whirlpool dehums in *my* basement.

What's wrong with it, anyway? What are the symptoms?

Breaker trip. No apparent dead shorts. No "click" on startup.

Conclusion: Compressor is locked. Replacement cost of compressor exceeds what would be prudent given the low cost of a new unit.

Your logic is mine also on getting another Whirlpool but the current (dead) one was made in the States and my suspicion is that the new ones are not. (not that there's anything wrong with that) but there is.

Checking Consumer Reports showed the Kenmore to be a decent buy but those weenies often get things wrong.

I'd like to hear from a current satisfied owner.

Regards,

Tom Watson

Yep, I agree with both of those conclusions.

It's been a while since I checked, but as recently as maybe three years ago they were still made in the U.S.

Thank you for that, Doug. I'm going to look into it.

Regards,

Tom Watson

Move your shop to Austin TX. You won't need it. LOL

You might try a "hard-start" kit and a sharp rap with a hammer. Google "unlock+compressor"

on 7/16/2009 3:57 PM (ET) Tom Watson wrote the following:

Kenmore is a Sears brand name, but since Sears does not make anything, the appliance is made by someone else, maybe Whirlpool, and if 15 years old, could also be White Westinghouse. My WW is 20 years old and still running.

I had Luchenbach in mind. :-)

Hell, if I lived in Austin, I'd spend all my time in the music bars - so I wouldn't need air conditioning or a kitchen, neither.

Regards,

Tom Watson

can get 20% humidity and you don't have to fight through all that ... air! mahalo, jo4hn

No recommendation, but I would suggest looking for mechanical, rather than electronic controls. My Maytag shuts down completely with any power loss, and will not restart without manually pressing the ON button. Since we have momentary outages every 8-10 days (just long enough to make the clocks reset), I have to check the damn thing daily to make sure it is still running.

I'll take 100 ft elevation, a mile from the beach.

Got to love that ocean.

BTW, what's humidity?

Lew

or Whitehorse. Stuff gets freeze dried.

L.

Move to Phoenix.

nb

Actual, popular, bumper-sticker:

"South Austin - We're all here because we're not all there!"

No doubt considered brilliant in Austin.

nb