£0.43 Fix for Meaco DD8L Dehumidifier

[Lomax]

are there hidden screws?

Yes, four of them, ringed in red in the attached photo. You can remove the keypad membrane by heating it up with a hairdryer, or just punch holes through it where the screws are. You can feel the screw holes through the membrane.

 

[Mikael2791]

I also own a Meaco DD8L Zambezi that is completely dead. Tested all the good tips, but unfortunately the error is not here. also thinks that it must be the board that is failing

 

[stardoorst]

Hi Mikael2791, is 5V present on your pcb with the display?

 

[stardoorst]

There must be an issue in the digital/processor section of the main pcb which is irreparable at home. In my opinion in this case the only way in order to repair the dehumidifier is replacing the pcb. Problem is where to buy it. I've contacted Meaco via their Live Chat Service asking if I could order the pcb. They replied they don't sell internal parts for the units and offered me as a sign of goodwill 20% off for a replacement dehumidifier. I'll consider another manufacturer because quickly failing Meaco even with 20% off is not worth buying.

 

[martin99]

My Meaco DD8L dehumidifier suddenly stopped working. Completely dead. The fuse in the plug was good so knowing that Meaco charge £70 for a repair, which I wasn't about to spend on a well used dehumidifier, I thought I'd open it up and take a look.

I started by looking at the control panel which houses a glass fuse, this too was good. I then decided to do some basic testing as the thing not having a glimmer of life in it suggested a fairly fundamental issue. On probing the incoming terminals, only two were live, one marked 'L' to which (predictably enough) is attached the live core of the mains flex and the adjacent terminal marked 'TC'. Nearby is a terminal marked 'TC1', which on looking at the back of the board is clearly the supply to the unprotected side of the glass fuse holder, the protected side of which powers the rest of the board. This terminal was at 0 volts, but obviously needed to be at 230 volts for the machine to show any signs of live. 'TC' to 'TC1' tested open circuit.

Tracing the wires down through the unit, which did involve dismantling just about all of it, there are two thermal fuses in the 'TC' - 'TC1' circuit. One was fine, the other was open circuit. I bridged the fuse to test, and the machine worked. Replacement fuses are £0.43 plus P&P from the UK or £3.84 for 5 with free P&P from an eBay seller in Taiwan.

These dehumidifiers, whilst very effective, have a bit of a reputation for failing. The two thermal fuse in question are mounted one each side of the heater element and only rated a 99 centigrade, so it seems quite possible that a modest overheat from a build up of dust or the inlet grille being briefly obstructed could easily cause one to trip. I understand that Meaco generally blame failures on the filter not being cleaned regularly enough. Whilst I suspect that dust inside the machine was the cause of mine stopping working, since the filter was clean but there was plenty of dust inside the machine, it appears it's more a design issue than a lack of maintenance. The filter is after all nothing more than a coarse gauze.

Either way, at 43 pence and about an hour to strip, clean and rebuild once every two years if it lasts as long on its second fuse as it did on its first, I can live with it.

Thanks do much for this - thermal fuses on order now and hopeful..

 

[Apetkov21]

Hello I'm new with dehumidifier I both Meaco DD8L from auction. After one day using the dehumidifier stop working. Work 5 to 10 minuets and give me error and stop working.. Can you please someone who got same problem to tell me how to fix this issue.

 

[hallto]

And an update from me: I never bothered with the new control board, since I wasn't 100% sure that it would revive my completely dead DDL8 Junior. I picked up a second hand machine (same model) on eBay instead, for £130 delivered (which seems to be the going rate) and will keep my old unit for spares... Turns out my second-hand replacement has a fault as well; it never shuts off, even when humidity level goes below 50%. Suspect the humidity sensor, and may try swapping with the one from my old unit, but since they're such a pain to disassemble I haven't got round to it yet... The way the weather has been lately I can't say it's much of an issue!

Hi Lomax! Interesting to learn that several DD8L owners experience the same issues- dead unit, but temp fuses and mains inlet fuse ok. The NTC or PTC thermiator is also intact. I also can hear the faint hiss noise when the mains is connected, but no lights or responding on power on/of switch.
It would be of great interest to find a solution to this problem, since it seems to be a comon problem.
Any further ideas on what to test? Have you considered swapping motherboards between your units to see if the faults follow the motherboard or rest of the unit?
Also - let me know if any have suggestions for further testing that I might do wit my unit, and I will repport the results in this thread.
Kind regards,
Torgeir

 

[arnfinn]

Hello I'm new with dehumidifier I both Meaco DD8L from auction. After one day using the dehumidifier stop working. Work 5 to 10 minuets and give me error and stop working.. Can you please someone who got same problem to tell me how to fix this issue.

I have a similar problem and "solved it" by only using it with timing activated (for instance tell it to run for 8 hours). Then do not get an error. I have been using it like that for some years now and have not tried to find a proper solution. If I don't activate the timer it will fail after some minutes.

 

[Roger Jestice]

Hi OP.
I have the same model and same problem. So went about starting to strip mine, but I'm on the point of throwing it in the bin! I have taken every single screw I can find out, but the control panel wont come off! There must be some hidden screws somewhere if you could help me please!??
Cheers
Stu

Excellent video on youtube, see

. Like you I was confused but this video shows hidden screws and method of disassembly, it's easy when you know how!

 

[tinhaze]

Our Meaco DD8L Junior has developed a fault where after a couple of minutes it stops running and the fault light starts flashing. Thanks to the excellent video posted by Roger Jestice I easily disassembled it and found that the dessicant wheel wasn't turning. The synchronous 5/6RPM motor that drives the dessicant wheel wasn't open circuit and had power supplied, and the dessicant wheel turned easily by hand when the motor was removed, so a mechanical failure of the motor seemed most likely. Following the example of earlier posters I dismantled the motor, cleaned and lubricated the gears (not they appeared to need it), and re-assembled it. The motor now makes an attempt to turn the wheel, but stutters to a halt after several seconds.

Looks like a new motor is needed. Has anyone ever found a source of a replacement motor?

 

[PeterBoater]

Our Meaco DD8L Junior has developed a fault where after a couple of minutes it stops running and the fault light starts flashing. Thanks to the excellent video posted by Roger Jestice I easily disassembled it and found that the dessicant wheel wasn't turning. The synchronous 5/6RPM motor that drives the dessicant wheel wasn't open circuit and had power supplied, and the dessicant wheel turned easily by hand when the motor was removed, so a mechanical failure of the motor seemed most likely. Following the example of earlier posters I dismantled the motor, cleaned and lubricated the gears (not they appeared to need it), and re-assembled it. The motor now makes an attempt to turn the wheel, but stutters to a halt after several seconds.

Looks like a new motor is needed. Has anyone ever found a source of a replacement motor?

See post #95

 

[tinhaze]

See post #95

Thanks Peter - I saw that post, but it doesn't link to the motor that you found. Do you have a link for it?

I've done an extensive web search - there are lots of motors that are almost the same, but not quite. The critical part that they are all missing is a 10mm long shaft with a double flat. If I can't find an exact match, I'll try adapting the plastic gear wheel that fits on the shaft to fit the circular shaft that most motors have.

 

[PeterBoater]

Thanks Peter - I saw that post, but it doesn't link to the motor that you found. Do you have a link for it?

I've done an extensive web search - there are lots of motors that are almost the same, but not quite. The critical part that they are all missing is a 10mm long shaft with a double flat. If I can't find an exact match, I'll try adapting the plastic gear wheel that fits on the shaft to fit the circular shaft that most motors have.

Not cheap and the shaft length isn't mentioned but Sharp Microwave Turntable Motor : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen . I did see a Baum one that had a long shaft with a double flat but it was £80+ . Fortunately, I've never had to replace the Meaco motor but I did have to replace the motor on a microwave and it was only about £5+, delivered from China. As you have found out, shaft length and shape are the criteria (where have I heard that before?). I can only suggest Googling 'microwave turntable motor ' and go to Images.

 

[tinhaze]

Thanks for the link. As you pointed out, without dimensions you can't tell if the shaft would fit. I forgot to mention another requirement for the motor: it should have wires and not spade connectors on the side - there isn't space in the dehumidifier for the connectors.

I've already looked at hundreds of images on Google, so I think it's probably time to try plan B.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Zhmtio]

Dear all,
I would like to thank all of you that posted in this thread over the years since it helped me to verify and fix my dehumidifier (Meaco DD8L junior).
I had the same problem as menu of you were the machine stopped working and the error light came on.
After reading this thread I concluded that the issue was the thermistor. With trying and a little spying (on my brother's dehumidifier) I found that the thermistor is NTC 100Kohm.
After replacing it it's working perfectly.
Once again thank you all for your help and I hope that my post will help someone in the feature!

 

[Firefly211]

Exactly the same symptoms here. Mine runs for about 30 seconds and then shuts down. I have to say it’s been regularly used for the last seven years so it probably doesn’t owe me much. I’m wondering if it’s the humidity sensor and taking it apart and giving it all a good vacuuming might do it the world of good?

 

[Chopchop]

Dear all,
I would like to thank all of you that posted in this thread over the years since it helped me to verify and fix my dehumidifier (Meaco DD8L junior).
I had the same problem as menu of you were the machine stopped working and the error light came on.
After reading this thread I concluded that the issue was the thermistor. With trying and a little spying (on my brother's dehumidifier) I found that the thermistor is NTC 100Kohm.
After replacing it it's working perfectly.
Once again thank you all for your help and I hope that my post will help someone in the feature!

Hi dehum users,
Can any kind soul please tell me the type number of the 44 pin microcontroller in the DD8L junior?
Or the chip manufacturer?
Cheers
Peter

 

[Lomax]

Hi dehum users,
Can any kind soul please tell me the type number of the 44 pin microcontroller in the DD8L junior?
Or the chip manufacturer?
Cheers
Peter

It's a Sino Wealth SH79F166AF - it is mounted to the back of the control PCB.

 

[Chopchop]

Hi, thanks for that. My further reading showed that the oscillator generating clock can suffer aging, and when I put oscilloscope on the crystal to check, the noise injected kicked it into life, and ran ok thereafter until next time heart massage needed months later.

 

[miphotoman]

Ok guys. I replaced the thermistor with a100K finally and the machine worked at full speed for 10 minutes. I hope this is the right value for the thermistor. Here in Greece is summer now so I have to wait a little to be 100% sure.

Was wondering if your repair was successful long term. I have the Zambesi model that stopped working just out of warranty, not too uncommon apparently :-(. There is no sign of life on the control panel. I have discovered that one of the thermistors is open circuit and I am looking to source a replacement. The filter has been kept clean, washed weekly, and very little dust apparent on opening up the casing.