Meaco DD8L. What settings do you all use?

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fredrussell

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Treated the boat to a DD8L dehumidifier. Just wondering what settings other boat owners leave it on when boat left for days/weeks?

And how long does the funny smell from dehumidifier persist? The manual says the smell “will not last long”. I certainly hope so, made me feel a bit queasy with it running in the house.
 
I don't recall there being any smell at any point but have had mine three years so memory may have faded.
 
fan on speed 2 setting
humidity on three water drops

leave it running on automatic with the drain in the galley sink. The smell from new wasn’t bad, smelt more chemical than anything else and dissipated over a few weeks.
 
Curious to know how much it’s costing you per day to run. Does the cost per day go down if it’s dry outside? We have recently bought a Meaco collecting in lock down from marine super store and didn’t notice any smell . We run into sink but have put fan and the raindrop down to lowest setting - I think we seem to be paying around 80pence per day but I did think it would be less personally. Our only method of control in lockdown is either to turn off power remotely or ask a liveabord nearby to pull out shore power I guess .
 
On the setting I stated mine can use about £1 in 8 hours but I don't use it continuously. I have been putting it on once or twice a week for 8 hrs . I can walk from home to the boat.
 
I set mine on the lowest fan and the middle drops, on a continuous setting, since the desiccant type doesn't like interrupted power too often. It uses a lot of electricity for a week or two and then very little. I haven’t noticed any smell in the last few years of use.
 
I put one in a boat that had got badly damp but I think I over did it leaving it on the clothes drying setting for weeks. I suspect it took too much moisture out of the fibreglass coach-roof which it didn't occur to me could happen, it seemed to have a buckle in it that for the life of me I can't remember being there before. Not sure.

Anyway I'd agree with middle fan and no more than 2 drops. I believe that is 50% humidity.

edit: actually fan setting 1 is probably fine in a small space for long term maintenance use.
 
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Actually thinking about how they work I wonder if a higher fan setting would work out cheaper. It has to heat the air for it to condense on the desiccant. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work in just one pass but takes a bit of time / passes or at least is more efficient once the room temperature has risen. Certainly the air temp in the boat rises before it shuts off. On a low fan it will take longer to heat the boat which will allow more heat to be lost from the poorly insulated boat over that longer time. Faster fan (I think) heats up the space quicker rather than just moving it past the desiccant more. In which case it will heat the air and deal with any excess moisture quicker and turn itself off sooner. If thats right might be best to use the drying symbol for fan and 2 drops for moisture level.

Would be good if the theory could be tested though
 
I am waiting eagerly to see if the power per day goes down over the next few weeks . It certainly seemed to add a degree of warmth we thought based on initial impressions but now in lock down not so keen to visit Gosport really. We did ask Meaco help line about putting a timer plug on and they advised against this approach . All I can say is it certainly better than nothing and lighter to carry than our previous version which still works but in the garage now as just seems to work when filling tank .
 
The smell (which I don't mind) seems to go after a few moments with the main hatches open.

I leave mine on the three droplet humidity setting (I figured it's still a lot drier than outside) . Fan speed `. It's left on all winter, draining into the sink, all winter. I've seldom arrived to find it running although I can tell it has been doing so from the smell and very dry air.

All good for me.
 
top tip with these is when something falls into it or when the insides start falling apart the last screws you can't find to open it are under the top face. It won't come off so you need to cut access holes in it. I've had 3, the first Meaco replaced with a recon unit when I couldn't get it apart (its really not obvious and they refused to tell me the secret) but I fixed the other 2 myself after years of use once I worked that out. It was just bits coming undone so don't despair if it starts making lots of noise or an overheating smell because the desiccant wheel isn't turning fast enough.

Sorry thats all not very reassuring is it. I would still buy another as they are excellent overall. Plus it has an overheating cut off so when there's an issue I doubt fire is likely. They have a sterling record of 100% not catching fire when 100% of them failed :rolleyes:
 
Here in arid Argyll, I have found the lowest setting ( 1 fan and 1 drop) to be perfect. Over last winter, 6 months, it was operating continuously along with a battery charger and frost heater. Total electricity charge was about £35. The boat is thoroughly closed up but I don't use any special sealing mesures.
 
cpedw said:
Here in arid Argyll, I have found the lowest setting ( 1 fan and 1 drop) to be perfect. Over last winter, 6 months, it was operating continuously along with a battery charger and frost heater. Total electricity charge was about £35. The boat is thoroughly closed up but I don't use any special sealing mesures.
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Sealing should be worth doing, if you can prevent any air getting in once its dried it shouldn't need to come on again. If you tape the gaps in the door I recommend this stuff Pro-Gaff RS161BK24X25 24 mm x 25 yd Matt Cloth Tape: Amazon.co.uk: Office Products genuine film production gaff tape which is the best for coming off cleanly even after its been on a long time. Its unsurprisingly not the strongest tack but thats not needed anyway. Mop out the bilge first as well of course. We know about osmosis and the powerful forces that work towards maintaining equilibrium, it wouldn't surprise me if when the outside air is wet the force to equalise between that and the dry internal air is strong enough to be effective even through small gaps.
 
Screw holes (sorry Meaco). I wrote the humidity levels on mine as it seems counter intuitive to have one drop being the highest amount of moisture. They could have just written the % on there for the same cost as a picture of a drop but hey ho. (this one lives in my workshop in case you're wondering about the filthiness)

photo_2021-01-14_08-59-59.jpg
 
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