OT but with ME connection

I recently purchased a 2nd hand dehumidifier from eBay to help keep the workshop dry. It worked well for a couple of weeks, extracting about 5ltrs/day. But then it stopped with a warning light on. The manual says to contact my supplier. Its a Rubydry DH600 and I can't find any place that repairs them. Can anybody help please? I'm near Coventry.

lemel_man wrote:
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Have you tried these people? http://www.dry-it-out.com/ruby-dry-amber-dry-dh600-dehumidifier Don

Donwill wrote:
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Thanks. Yes I tried them but was hoping to find someone nearer to the Midlands.

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Cheap dehumidifiers do not have a hot gas defrost system, instead they rely on ambient warmth to melt the ice from the heat exchanger, which effectively means that below about 5 degrees they will not defrost. It is possible that your machine has simply locked out because of a block of ice on the HE and simply needs to be thawed out for a few days with the power turned off. I turn mine off during very cold conditions for precisely this reason.
Cliff Coggin.

Cliff Coggin wrote:
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The Rubydry is a desiccant unit, it doesn't have a compressor.

lemel_man wrote:
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Did you manage to sort it out? I'm thinking of getting a dehumidifier for my workshop so I'm interested in your progress. They cannot be that complicated surely, a fan to draw the air in, a motor attached to a rotating disc with the dessicant in it, and a heater to dry out the desiccant. If you cannot get it repaired maybe you can investigate it's innards, someone on this NG must know how they work and what bit is most likely to fail. I've taken the liberty of adding "Dehumidifier" to your subject line in the hope that it may attract some interest, hope you don't mind Cheers Don

Donwill wrote:
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I don't mind at all; in fact its a good idea, thank you.
I contacted "Dry-it-Out" and spoke to a very helpful guy. He suggested checking a fuse, and checking that the belt motor was still working. Both were OK. He then suggested that a sensor had failed, but was unable to identify which one because of various design changes introduced by the maker. He said he could give it a thorough service, replacing any parts required, and send it back to me with a 12 month warranty for £59 inclusive, which doesn't sound too bad. I showed it to a friend a couple of days ago, switched it on to demonstrate the warning light, but it started running properly. I left it on and its extracted about 8 ltrs so far, and is still running fine. Don't you just love intermittent faults!
In case somebody knows this DH600 unit intimately, when it goes wrong the warning light is on, the Mid light flashes, and the on/off button is inoperative. The only way to switch it off is by pulling the mains plug. After reconnecting, the on/off button switches the unit on again and it either beeps and shows the warning light again, or it starts properly. As I said, its been running properly for 48 hours now. After I got it, it ran for two weeks before the error occurred. After pulling the mains plug it ran properly for a day or so before the error reappeared, but after doing that a couple of times the error became hard. That's when I left it switched off and posted here. Then my friend came round and its currently running again.

lemel_man wrote:
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Another thing you could do is to ask the same question complete with the latest info, in the "uk.d-i-y" news group, they seem to have quite a knowledgeable group of engineers who contribute regularly. I would include "Dehumidifier" and "Repair" or similar words in the subject line. Good Luck Don