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Does this happen to anyone. I don't think I've had it happen on this one. The coils on the back are so caked with ice it's not doing what it's suppose to do, right in the middle of bracing a top......... most importantly, for me.

I don't really want to pull the plug to defrost it at this juncture.

Yes, in the summer, regularly, much to my annoyance.

Must be spring........... sorry Tom.

Once it's frozen, it pretty much has to be switched off to thaw out. It won't be doing any dehumidifying until it's thawed. Freezing in the first place can often be due to lack of air flow because the filters/heat exchanger are caked with dust. Every now and again you've just got to strip them and clean 'em up.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

If you have compressed air, you can blow all the crap out of the coils and it'll work properly again, unles you are operating it in a room with air colder than it's designed for. They freeze up when there's not enough air circulating through the coils, or the room air is too cold.

Something like with the air blowing at 90 PSI will do the trick: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Air-Bl ... /203153528

Best to blow it out immediately after thawing, or lightly spritz the coils with water to soften the dust clogging the system.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I'm surprised you need to dehumidify in the dead of winter. Usually just warming the area lowers the RH to a good range. Must be a really high dew point up your way.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I've got in the habit of thoroughly cleaning my dehumidifiers regularly. I remove the plastic covers and blow, brush, or scrub away as much dirt and junk as I can. It is a bit of a job, but it really helps. I also vacuum out the filter every other day or so. This keeps them operating at good efficiency and extends the life as much as you can expect in a wood working shop.

I believe that some of my dehumidifiers have a feature to let them thaw out when they start to freeze. Might be something to look for if you have to by one in the future.

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

I should add that it is probably worth having a backup dehumidifier on hand. I have 3 or 4 in the shop at any one time (my shop is larger). I usually have 2 running and one as a backup if one of the other stops working or needs to be cleaned. If your dehumidifier is frozen it will not be working effectively anyone so you might as well thaw it out overnight, clean it and then get back to work once you've brought the humidity back down. I'm still using consumer grade units and find I never get much more than 2 years out of them.

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
https://www.facebook.com/canadianluthiersupply?ref=hl
House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

We are pretty lucky here on the Wet Coast of BC Joe. The humidity usually hovers around 50 to 70% unless we get a cold spell, into the minuses in celsius, which doesn't happen often. It's about the perfect humidity for wooden instruments to reside, but the humidity does need a little knocking down to build in just to be on the safe side.

As it turned out it seems I needed a little heat. My work in progress and The Stash live in a 4' x 16' room, big closet, that I keep dehumidified. It was just a little on the cool side.

Thanks for the reminder on backup units Josh. I'm running on my back up right now.