Dehumidifier

[Doc]

Does anyone have a Dry Air Systems stainless steel marine dehumidifier? It is the kind that drains into a sink. I am going to guess it is 11-12 years old. JB Products, the mfg, seems to be out of business.

They were pretty popular when I got mine, going for about $350 plus freight.

Mine is not sweating and dripping like it used to and I would like to have it serviced.

 

[RickB]

They are just a simple refrigeration system. It sounds like yours could be low on gas or the compressor has finally worn to the point of very low efficiency. Take it to a good airconditioning shop and see if they can restore it.

 

[FF]

Why marine? Ant unit draining into the sink will do fine.

IF you have to pay for power pole electric the new unit will be far easier to live with,

 

[Doc]

It is marine because I bought it out of a boating magazine, of course. Plus it is essentially square in shape unlike the Sears and other brands which are sorta upright. There is no holding basin. It drains with a hose into a sink.

 

[Baker]

I had one of these on one of my sailboats. It did an excellent job of keeping things dry. The PO had hard mounted it in a vented cabinet with the hose draining thru an above waterline thru hull....very simple and effective. Rickb is right though. It is basically an airconditioner and an AC shop should be able to figure it out.

 

[Arctic Traveller]

We run an inexpensive Sears unit on our boat, and it works quite well, sometimes too well.* If I let it run too long, the boat gets so dry inside that the wood starts to shrink and warp.* Turning it off for a while seems to solve the problem though.* I now run it on a timer for about 6 hours a day, with the drain going into a sink overboard.* When the boat is in the rain capital of the world (Ketchikan Alaska) for the winter it's great not worrying about mold or mildew.* I've only had one problem with it, and that was after a power surge that distroyed a surge supressor and the controll board, so I can hardly blame the unit it's self.* I see no need for a "marine" unit costing several times more than an off the shelf home unit....................Arctic Traveller

 

[Doc]

AT,

I already own this unit. I am not considering buying it.

 

[Baker]

AT...one of the benefits of the marine unit is that you can set the humidity level.....while the PO warned me about the boat becoming to dry the automatic feature kept that from happening. Probably does not justify the cost and I did not immediately incur it, but it worked very well and it was completely hassle free....

 

[Doc]

I forget about the dial for % humidity desired. That is the most important reason that I got a marine version instead of Sears.

 

[Arctic Traveller]

Doc wrote:

I forget about the dial for % humidity desired. That is the most important reason that I got a marine version instead of Sears.

Actually, the unit does have a humidity control, but at first I figured that if a little reduction was good, more must be better.* Now I run it with the dial set at the minumum humididty setting for only a few hours a day, with the thinking being that I'll use less electricity over the course of a day.* Im not sure if thats faulty logic or not, but it seems to work well in terms of keeping the boat dry......................Arctic Traveller

 

[Doc]

Yesterday I took the cover off and sprayed some self rinsing A/C coil cleaner from Home Depot on the coil and condensing fins. It didn't look too dirty but quite a bit of nasty stuff dripped off. It seems to work better.

I leave the boat open all day in good weather year around. Then at night I close it up and run a couple of fans and the dehumidifier. It is behind the house so this is easy.

It is funny how different the weather in Southwest Florida is compared to the Texas coast. In Texas the dehumidifier was priceless on days when it was humid and muggy but not hot enough to need A/C or cold enough to need heat. Plus when the cold fronts came through it would almost rain inside the boat as it cooled outside but remained warm and moist on the inside.

Here in SW Florida the winters are so dry and mild that you don't really need anything most of the time. Where the dehumifier comes in handy is on warm summer nights if you are not aboad and running the A/C.

And...I just reminded myself...I sprayed this cleaner on all my built in A/C's on the boat a couple of years ago. It really helped because most boat air filters might stop chickens from getting through but they will not stop the airborne crude that builds*up*on the coils*from carpet, people, pets, and drunks.

-- Edited by Doc on Friday 4th of June 2010 02:41:14 PM