How To Recharge A Dehumidifier?

Ever wondered how to recharge a dehumidifier? Among all the common home appliances, the dehumidifier plays a crucial role, and it is easy to find in almost every home. A dehumidifier reduces moisture from the humid environment and provides a balance of air to breathe, making it quite an ideal option to look after.

A range of manufacturers are coming with great designs, and this helps eradicate several types of issues without any problem. You can find these products coming from affordable to a premium price point.

The major difference is in the build quality and coolant type. If your dehumidifier contains a compressor, then it will be slightly expensive.

The only problem with coolant or compressor is, after a while, you can find that effectiveness is a major problem. The effective option to get rid of this problem is to recharge a dehumidifier, which might be time-consuming but one of the effective ways to prolong the durability of the existing product you have.

When Should You Recharge The Dehumidifier?

You need to recharge your dehumidifier when the unit is unable to remove the excess moisture from the room and just wasting electricity. You can find that the fan is working effectively and the motor is also working.

The issue is with recharging, and you have to examine three aspects of the dehumidifier in such situations. These factors are:

  • First thing first, always checks whether the motor is working properly or not. If it is not starting or making an excess of noise, then the problem might be with the motor.
  • The fan is the second part, and it might be stuck due to dust or debris. In such situations, you should check whether the fan is rotating and pulling air or not.
  • It might be possible if you are using a dehumidifier; even the room doesn’t have much humidity. You can check the weather forecast.

If these are not the issues, then you definitely need to recharge the coolant, which will get your dehumidifier to working condition and an effective one. Haven’t you tried it or expected it?

Well, we are here to let you take a deep look at how it works, then you can evaluate whether you need to recharge it or contact customer support for a fix.

How Compressor-Based Dehumidifiers work?

The use of a condensation mechanism takes place, which extracts water from the atmosphere. A fan pulls room air inside and then uses the evaporator to convert damp air into water drops.

You can find water drops collecting in the water tank, whereas the condenser is drying out the air and pushing it out.

After a while, the room temperature starts getting high by a few degrees, but the air inside a room will be dry.

The evaporator and condenser are part of a compressor that works on the specific gas. The effectiveness starts getting lower, and the only solution is to recharge the compressor. It will take a couple of seconds.

But you can’t access the compressor directly, so you have to remove the frame by unbolting a few screws and then exposing it. If you don’t know how to recharge, you can learn about the common steps that follow up with every dehumidifier.

The Procedure to Recharge a Dehumidifier

What refrigerant is used in dehumidifiers? All those dehumidifiers which work on coolant or refringent have this option; a compressor contains R-410A refrigerant that are easy to recharge. R-410A is the industry-standard refrigerant in the dehumidification operation.

The procedure to recharge a dehumidifier is as follow:

  1. Due to safety reasons, the recharge kits are not available in local hardware stores. But, there are online websites that can offer you recharge kits. These kits contain a small gas can or cylinder containing R-22, R-410A, or any other gas.
  2. You should know that the Gas-can you are buying must be compatible with the compressor. It can be done by checking it by yourself. Remove the cable of the dehumidifier from power and then get the necessary equipment to open it.
  3. Unbolt all the bolts and keep on taking pictures so you know where a particular part belongs. Now, start by removing the top or back part. You can find the method to open online about any model.
  4. Once you are done opening it, get the compressor out, and you can find a hose. Get the can you have and then connect to it properly. Make sure that you align it effectively and press against the compressor.
  5. Now, you can feel that the compressor is getting charged. Make sure that you are dealing with flammable content, so get everything in the backyard and make sure that there is nothing to flame it.
  6. It will take a couple of minutes, and then you can find that gas starts transferring from the can to the compressor. It will take a while, and you can find the time given on can. If you use a machine with a motor, then you need to know when to stop.

Once you are done charging the dehumidifier, you can remove the can and start bolting all the parts at their place. Keep it in mind that you spend a little time checking all the parts again and not opening any other part.

It might be risky to do it without using a mask. So, you must take care of safety and ask anyone to stay around for safety reasons.

The Final Verdict

After completing the whole process and following all the steps in the right manner, it will be easy to recharge your dehumidifier. Make sure that you follow the steps wisely and take care of safety factors. One of the common problems with a dehumidifier is that they require recharge after one year of excessive use.

During the hot but humid season, it takes lots of effort to remove the dampness from the air, and your dehumidifier might cause several problems regarding the effectiveness. Make sure that you choose the right gear so that it doesn’t cause any problem while removing the backside of the dehumidifier.

Mas Broto

Written by: Mas Broto

Mas Broto is a small business owner with 30 years experience in the real estate industry. He is the founder and editor of theDailyThrive.net, the most comprehensive free home improvement website on the planet!