Seago Eco Dry dehumidifier issues

[MattS]

I bought one of these just over a year ago ecodry desiccant dehumidifier - Seago

I'm having issues with it keep stopping and just flashing a warning symbol up on the display. I've tried it in both my porch, and on the boat - and if you leave it for any length of time (e.g. a couple of days) it will error. The only way to get it operational again is by cutting the mains power, and then manually turning the unit back on again via the control panel. So it doesn't even really fulfill the feature "Automatic restart after power failure".

The chandlery I bought it from have spoken to Seago who say it's not a fault, but what happens when the temperature drops below 1C (which is its advertised minimum operating temperature), as it can't continue to operate. But rather than just go into standby until the temperature climbs again, it gets stuck in this error state. I'm fairly sure it hasn't got down to 1C in my porch, but am going to test it a bit more.

I have already had to get the unit replaced earlier this year, as it had just stopped producing water (it looked as if it was running fine). I am probably out of my original year warranty now, but it's starting to become a fairly ineffective "ideal for boats" dehumidifier....

Anyone else had any issues?

 

[[70521]]

A maximum/minimum thermometer might give you a clue.

 

[MattS]

A maximum/minimum thermometer might give you a clue.

Yeh - I had one in the cabin and it showed a min temp of 2C, but I'm going to put a second in to get another reading as I know they can be a bit inaccurate.

Even so, it doesn't seem like an ideal behaviour for a dehumidifier being sold for leaving unattended for extended periods of time I reckon!

 

[davehil]

Matt S, I have the same problem. Did you get it solved? I had my dehumidifier (the same model) on in the lounge at home overnight - definitely not less than 10c.

 

[MattS]

Actually, for some reason after it happened a few times I didn’t really see the same issue for the rest of the winter period last year…

I’ve just put the dehumidifier back on board today, so will see if it happens again this year and will report back if so! I’ve got temperature monitors in the boat now, so I’ll be able to easily see if the temp inside the cabin gets down to 1C…

 

[KompetentKrew]

I have the previous model of Seago dehumidifier, a Smart Dry 2, which is a compressor model.

I guess Seago must've changed to a desiccant version because they extract more humidity at lower temperatures, perhaps below 10°c. The Meaco DD8L, famous winner of at least one best-buy award, is a desiccant dehumidifier.

Although desiccant models extract more humidity per hour at lower temperatures, compressor dehumidifiers may still extract more water per watt - i.e. per £1 of electricity.

If leaving the dehumidifier on board over the winter I suspect one might be better off with a compressor dehumidifier set to come on between 11am and 4pm every day (when it is warmest, and compressor models are at their most efficient). Compressor dehumidifiers can be used with a timer socket, whereas desiccant ones should always be allowed to shut down gracefully and shouldn't be unplugged whilst the fan is still going.

I had water dripping off the walls of my cabin when I bought mine, in October a couple of years ago - it had been raining a lot the previous 2 weeks, and I'd been living on board all summer. A huge difference was evident within only a couple of days.