PSA-dehumidifier

[Thump553]

I have a basement dehumidifier that is easily 30+ years old. It's always been fairly noisy, but heck it's for the basement so who cares. The only service I ever did was dump the water bin, never even dawned on me it needed any. Compressor still works fine but recently the fan started to get incredibly noisy.

Put it up on a bench, opened it up (got to love this old stuff-all sheet metal and real (not pot-metal) screws. The inside was one huge dust clump-the fins were completely blocked. Cleaned and vacuumed out as best I could, put back together. Screech is gone, fan moves tons more air. Later did some youtube research and next weekend will probably reopen it again and lube the fan motor-I had no idea these "permanently lubed" motors actually could be lubed.

From now on this is going on an annual cleaning schedule. It's basically the same project as cleaning a window air conditioner.

 

[Torn Mind]

These old appliances were definitely made to last. These days, it's a luck of the draw to have a consumer dehumidifier last 10 years with normal use.

 

[mindless1]

It's a miracle the motor still works. Yes, permanently lubed only means they saved 3 cents not putting in a tube or hole to lube it so you have to tear it apart.

Fortunately many are held together with bolts or screws as it is more of a PITA when there are instead metal slits or tabs bent down that you have to un-bend then bend back when reassembling.

 

[Greenman]

Permanently lubed generally indicates sealed bearings. If that's the case, you will have to remove the seals to add grease (not oil). It may not be possible to replace the seals. Though replacement sealed bearings are almost certainly available.

 

[mindless1]

^ Not sure what gave you that idea but it isn't true. When manufacturers switched to permanently lubed, they did nothing significant other than remove the lube port, bearing staying the same. There is no such thing as a permanently lubed sleeve bearing anyway, just those that are not easy to lube, so lack of lubricant chews up a bearing that could have lasted several times longer otherwise. It was a very shady move by the motor manufacturers, who only cared that it lasts past the warranty period and then repeat sales are gravy.

Typically it is only ball bearings which have seals and are the far less common type on appliance fan motors, while the typical sleeve bearings just have a cavity around the sintered bronze bushing/bearing, that cavity usually filled with felt or similar to hold oil, and is accessible once you take the rear of the housing off.

The only seal on the vast majority is going to be rubber o-ring on the rotor shaft, or mica/plastic/etc washer, nothing that is damaged by disassembly because it freely spins with the rotor rather than being captive in the bearing/bushing.

The front, sometimes you can leave the rotor in the housing and get some lube to dribble in but often you need to pull the fan blades off to remove the whole rotor assembly to gain access through the motor casing.

I've lubed too many *appliance* fans to count, none had sealed sleeve bearings and if it uses ball bearings, it's going to be a modular bearing so get a new bearing as it will be worn out by the time it's starving for lube and should never have oil, only grease in it.

In a way it's kind of insane that there weren't class action lawsuits about this issue, such a terrible screw-you attitude by motor manufacturers when a simple hole to allow lubrication would have added minimal cost and if they had an argument about dust ingress, could have just put a sticker over it to seal it until which point the owner decided to remove it... if being cheap, a rubber plug was more common than a sticker.

Crazy how that works, irresponsible manufacturer choices cause hundred of dollars at a time worth of parts to go into a landfill - if not thousands per household/lifetime, billions in total, because 1/10th of a cent worth of lube couldn't be added by the average person without exceeding their comfort zone. Well, there is manual labor to get the motor out to lube it, so that's an alien concept to people raised on sitting around watching people talk on tv or type on the internet. Progress!!!

[/rant]

 

[Thump553]

Well they definitely could do that and used to. I had an old bench grinder inherited from my father. It probably dated back to the 40's or 50's. It had oil cups on the shaft-kind of looked like grease fittings except they were little ports to put in oil with a flippable metal door on top. I would guess the manufacturers are saving maybe a nickel per motor by deleting those.

The problem is compounded by using fragile plastic bodies with tiny cheap screws (if any, maybe just welded plastic. I have a couple of window fans (that run about $40-50 each) that I don't dare try to open and clean because it will almost certainly destroy them.

 

[mindless1]

^ Back when I got the window fan linked below, first thing I did (after verifying that it wasn't DOA), was pull the motors out and add lube, though when I clean it, so far I've gotten away with only using a long bristled paintbrush and an air compressor with a spray nozzle. There was nothing terribly complicated about opening it, just a bunch of screws to take out.

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One reason I chose this unit was it was inexpensive for having PSC motors instead of shaded pole, the latter typically having smaller bushings and oil reservoirs, so lifespan tends to be much shorter.

 

[Sukhoi]

^ Back when I got the window fan linked below, first thing I did (after verifying that it wasn't DOA), was pull the motors out and add lube, though when I clean it, so far I've gotten away with only using a long bristled paintbrush and an air compressor with a spray nozzle. There was nothing terribly complicated about opening it, just a bunch of screws to take out.

Amazon.com: Holmes Dual 8" Blade Twin Window Fan with LED One Touch Thermostat Control: Home & Kitchen

Buy Holmes Dual 8" Blade Twin Window Fan with LED One Touch Thermostat Control: Window Fans - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

One reason I chose this unit was it was inexpensive for having PSC motors instead of shaded pole, the latter typically having smaller bushings and oil reservoirs, so lifespan tends to be much shorter.

I have that exact same fan lol. How do you know it has PSC motors?

 

[mindless1]

I have that exact same fan lol. How do you know it has PSC motors?

1. Built different. Shaded pole have laminated steel plates stacked then a coil around one side. They run hot so usually don't have an outer casing, often look about like the pic below.

In their simplest (cost effective) form they are also not electrically reversible, can only blow one direction. Granted a reversible flow feature makes a compromise in the design of the fan blades instead of being optimized for one direction only.

2. The motor run capacitor inside the window-box housing.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Off topic but related.
Thinking about adding a dehumidifier to the basement.
I have a sump pump near an area I can plug one into.
What should I look for? I’ve heard they should be oversized because bigger means quicker/less energy is this correct?
Also not a ton of space around 1200 square feet to cover
I assume the hunnywells or other brand names are longer lasting.
What should I look for?


Edit: I know a drain hose is required

 

[Sukhoi]

I would think oversized would be bad as it's going to be cycling more and causing more wear and tear.