£0.43 Fix for Meaco DD8L Dehumidifier

[Roger Jestice]

Hi,

Thank you for the tip/information, much apreciated. Did you need to have your unit sent in for repairs/replacement or were you able to sort the issue out yourself?
I've not taken mine apart yet to take a look to see what it looks like inside with regards dust/dirt, but, I'm not expecting much dust/dirt internally as this unit has had its filters cleaned at least once a month, but, who knows, it may be a shambles internally.

Thanks

Just to add to this thread for future readers, my Meaco DD8L dehumidifier started to leak water from the base so I returned it under warranty to Meaco. It was returned with he comment that the unit was full of dust and to regularly clean the filter. I explained that the filter was regularly cleaned and could not understand how this happened. Since then the leakage has occured again and today the unit stopped showing a red light.
The solution om both occasions was to disassemble the unit as my video posted earlier and to remove the black plastic outlet unit (four screws) directly under the condensing tubes. This is where the dust that is not caught by the filter congregates. The minutest amount seems to switch off the unit and so I'm having to clean it every 3 months. Hope this helps.

 

[alex___w]

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread so far.

I don't think that NTC1 is a 100k thermistor. I have a machine that was dead on arrival that I'm trying to fix and where the fault is shown as being with NTC1. I used a 100k one and my machine will run for about 20 minutes, but then will turn off with a steady red light (which means NTC1 failure). To test that the rest of the machine works I also plugged in a fixed resistor instead of the thermistor and that allows it to run indefinitely (or about 45 minutes, which is at long as I wanted to stick around monitoring it). Unfortunately, NTC1 is also the most annoying to get to since it is behind the desiccant wheel and you need to fully disassemble the machine to get there. It is also frustrating that I can't monitor the NTCs in use -- probing either of them with my multimeter instantly causes the machine to fault.

 

[alex___w]

It turned out that both of my NTCs were bad. Replacing both with new 100k ones has the unit up and running no problem.

 

[patrickpop96]

Hello guys,
I bought a second hand Meaco DD8L Zambezi .When I connect the power supply, the LCD turns on, "hi" appears on the screen, the flap moves to the closed position and the lcd is blank. I press the start button but it does not receive the command. Can someone help me with the electrical diagram or with some advice?

 

[Wanderingfree]

Hi Guys
I have a DD8 that doesn’t seam to blow warm air out of the top vent. It used to but now just blows out cool air.
Any suggestions please.

 

[Roger Jestice]

Just to add to this thread for future readers, my Meaco DD8L dehumidifier started to leak water from the base so I returned it under warranty to Meaco. It was returned with he comment that the unit was full of dust and to regularly clean the filter. I explained that the filter was regularly cleaned and could not understand how this happened. Since then the leakage has occured again and today the unit stopped showing a red light.
The solution om both occasions was to disassemble the unit as my video posted earlier and to remove the black plastic outlet unit (four screws) directly under the condensing tubes. This is where the dust that is not caught by the filter congregates. The minutest amount seems to switch off the unit and so I'm having to clean it every 3 months. Hope this helps.

I sent the unit back under warranty and it was returned saying that the unit had failed due to a build up of dust and that the filter had not been cleaned regularly. I dispute this claim as I know that the filter was cleaned regularly. They also suggested poking a cotton bud up the outlet pipe to clear any residual dust.
I continued to clean the filter regularly but the same thing happened again so I opened up the unit which was relatively dust free inside so took off the black plastic outlet directly below below the outlet from the condensing tubes. This has two circular depressions about the size of a small tiddlywink which contained a small amount of dirt. Having cleaned this and the outlet pipe the unit worked okay but the problem reoccured with several months. Again cleaning the outlet cured the problem.
In my view the filter is not stopping all the dust and this is causing the problem to reoccur again and again. Finally I have written off my losses and scrapped the unit and bought another make that has so far worked impeccably. I would be interested to hear if any of the other forum users have had the same problem.

 

[Skippery]

Does anyone have another recommended desiccant dehumidifier please? I was going to buy a Maeco but they seem to have a few problems according to the users on this site. Thanks

 

[Momac]

I was going to buy a Maeco but they seem to have a few problems according to the users on this site. Thanks

I guess among thousands of appliances there are certain to be some with faults .

 

[Lucy52]

Does anyone have another recommended desiccant dehumidifier please? I was going to buy a Maeco but they seem to have a few problems according to the users on this site. Thanks

Here on the other recent thread:
Dehumidifier recommends
You pays your money or takes your choice.

 

[gablecat]

Does anyone know what code C4 means?
My 2 yr old DD8L has worked perfectly. - Still appears to work perfectly, warming up, fan blowing and collecting water - until code C4 now appears 30 or so mins after I turn it on, and shuts the machine down.

 

[TerryA]

My 6 year old Maeco dd8l junior has been sat in a boat deprived of its power supply throughout the last cold wet winter. The boat now has mould problems and the Maeco don't run. It beeps 3 times when powered up, all the lights flash and then nothing. I tried leaving it powered up at home but still nothing happening. Reading this thread I assumed a faulty fuse would be the first thing to check and started some dismanling. I read post 1 but I can't see anything labelled TC or TC1 to test. Is the junior version different or if not can someone please point me in the right direction.

 

[Momac]

Does anyone know what code C4 means?
My 2 yr old DD8L has worked perfectly. - Still appears to work perfectly, warming up, fan blowing and collecting water - until code C4 now appears 30 or so mins after I turn it on, and shuts the machine down.

Don't know but could be overheating so would suggest cleaning the filter, if not already done.

 

[daniel.weck]

Well well well ... I posted in this discussion thread back in October 2021, at the time I "fixed" the problem by dismantling, cleaning and reassembling everything (luckily I didn't have to replace any part).
The problem is occuring again: 10-15 seconds after starting the dehumidifier, it cycles off (during which time the push-buttons on the control panel become unresponsive) and it eventually shuts down entirely.
I guess I'll have to take it apart again, hopefully a simple fix this time around once more
(I'll report back here once I find out more)

 

[phills1003]

Hi,
I have a Meaco dd8l Zambezi. It is completely dead! I have dismantled the entire thing to about as far as you can go! I have checked power at each end of the 4 thermal fuses located in the 'pie slice' shaped piece, and the temp sensors (small glass looking bits) next to them, and all seem to show consistent readings when the dehumidifier is plugged in. I need to check the small fuse on the circuit board still, but does anybody know of anything else I should be checking before I declare the thing knackered? I'm no expert in electrical components but I'm willing to give it a go! perhaps a new board is needed? It is very clean inside and everything looks in good condition which leads me to believe it must be a fuse or something simple which is causing the whole unit to be dead.
I have had it 4 years and it has worked faultlessly since new.
any help much appreciated!
thanks
btw, this is the most amazing forum thread!

 

[daniel.weck]

Well well well ... I posted in this discussion thread back in October 2021, at the time I "fixed" the problem by dismantling, cleaning and reassembling everything (luckily I didn't have to replace any part).
The problem is occuring again: 10-15 seconds after starting the dehumidifier, it cycles off (during which time the push-buttons on the control panel become unresponsive) and it eventually shuts down entirely.
I guess I'll have to take it apart again, hopefully a simple fix this time around once more
(I'll report back here once I find out more)

Well, mine ended-up in the recycling skip I am afraid. I purchased a replacement motor for the desiccant wheel but it wasn't quite the right fit for the plastic cog so I gave up. The white material on the wheel was starting to shed a lot anyway, so I anticipated other problems further down the line. Anyway, my unit has had a good run and was used extensively!

 

[Mark B 13]

Hiya, did you find/repair the fuses? Are they these on the heater?

 

[Metalicmike]

Most products are designed to fail, especially electronics as components are produced with varying life cycles.

 

[phills1003]

Hiya, did you find/repair the fuses? Are they these on the heater?

yes i found them all.

checked them all, two on the outside, two on the inside, voltage was consistent at each end of each fuse!
Ive bought a new machine now, if anyone wants to buy my broken one off me to repair, i'm open to offers!
Ive put it back together so its in one piece.

Thanks!

 

[neilf39]

So far my Meaco junior has been going for 5 years, left on more or less permanently from October to March without issues so been very reliable. There, that should cause it break down now.

 

[Joe_Pineapples]

Hey, found this thread useful in fixing mine so registered to post some more info because although others have posted the same problem no one had identified this repair.

Symptom: unit runs for 3 minutes then goes into "cool down" mode with a solid red light.

You'll probably also notice that the unit doesn't actually emit warmer air for the 3 minutes it runs. I think the red light is it going into temperature protect mode, which is actually true if you read the manual, but is usually.listed as a bad temp sensor elsewhere. In this case all the sensors were fine.

In my case this was caused by a faulty heater element fan motor - clearly the water had gotten into the motor bearing as it had become stiff to turn when I removed it. I presume it's then going into protect mode and not heating up anymore.

To repair you have to open the Dehumidifier to get to it, so top off (6 screws hidden under plastic sticker), sides off (4 screws in sump area) then pull apart with pressure applied to middle of blue strip either side.

You'll need open the PCB cover (2 screws) to snip some of the cable ties on the wiring but once this has been done you can manoeuvre all the bits around so you can see the back of the main fan and dessicant wheel. You may as well disconnect the little 2 wire red plug from the PCB now as that's the heater fan you'll be removing. It may make it easier to remove the button panel (big white connector, use a small screwdriver on the latch)

Once this is done the heater fan comes off with a few screws, can't remember how many. think you have to loosen the main fan cowling woth one or two screws as well maybe. All the screws are the same size so you don't need to worry about that You'll need to remove the metal shroud and inlet pipe from the heater fan. You'll know if it's the heater fan because it's like a much smaller version of the main one.

Once you're here if the heater fan is a bit stiff to turn then that's your problem. A little WD40 or penetrating oil with the little straw applicator to loosen the fan, clean out any dust woth a pick and then I used bike chain lube on the spindle at all the bearing points and let that sink in each way up after giving it a little bit of time on each part each way up. A syringe is helpful here and dint just use WD40 as that'll dry pretty quickly so use a thicker oil, as I say chain lube should be good, I would have used some Teflon lube if I had any.

It's an AC 240v fan so you can test it from mains if you're brave but once it's moving freely and spinning for a few seconds by hand after a quick turn then it should be good to go back together - mine ran perfectly after reassembly.

At this point I'd say also take some time to clean out the condenser unit on the other side (big white plastic thing) and also the black drain piece that is removable too, as mine was full of dust and blocked, which also fixed the unit leaking around the side of the water carrier!

Anyway it's been running for an hour since I fixed it, better than it has for about a year. Mine is approaching 5 years now and is used daily, for reference.

Hope this helps someone as this thread helped me!

All told, I reckon no more than an hour if you're competent, if it's ypur first time and you're being careful, a couple.of hours.

Cheers :^)