Is Ebac dehumidifier smart control really smart?

[Mike Clarke]

I'm looking for a suitable replacement for a 10 year old Ebac 2650e
dehumidifier which has failed and isn't economically worth repairing.

Although this device has done the job of keeping the humidity down over
its life it fell a long way short of Ebac's claims for the smart control
system "it takes readings throughout the day allowing it to determine,
with an algorithm, the best time to run". Despite this claim mine
consistently ran on a 50% duty cycle of about 35 minutes regardless of
the prevailing humidity. When I raised the matter with Ebac shortly
after purchasing it they sent a replacement but that behaved in exactly
the same way.

So before looking for a new dehumidifier I'm wondering if others here
have experienced the same behaviour with Ebac's 'Smart Control' or if
I've just been unlucky.

[Chris Hogg]

Post by Mike Clarke
I'm looking for a suitable replacement for a 10 year old Ebac 2650e
dehumidifier which has failed and isn't economically worth repairing.
Although this device has done the job of keeping the humidity down over
its life it fell a long way short of Ebac's claims for the smart control
system "it takes readings throughout the day allowing it to determine,
with an algorithm, the best time to run". Despite this claim mine
consistently ran on a 50% duty cycle of about 35 minutes regardless of
the prevailing humidity. When I raised the matter with Ebac shortly
after purchasing it they sent a replacement but that behaved in exactly
the same way.
So before looking for a new dehumidifier I'm wondering if others here
have experienced the same behaviour with Ebac's 'Smart Control' or if
I've just been unlucky.

I've had an Ebac DI-818WG (model 3650e? so probably similar to yours)
for several years. Used almost exclusively for drying the laundry in
the spare bedroom when it's too wet outside to hang it in the
conservatory (my conservatory is more like a lean-to greenhouse
attached to the house and accessed from both inside and outside. The
laundry would never dry there on wet days). I usually set it on
'laundry' mode (which AFAICS just increases the fan speed) and set the
timer for eight hours. When it reaches the end of the time period it
will default back to smart mode and appear to tick over on that
setting.

My two gripes about it are that it doesn't tell you how long it's
still got to run before it reaches the eight hours originally set, and
I would like to adjust the humidity myself, as I used to be able to do
with a previous dehumidifier (make not remembered) rather than relying
on their choice.

But it dries the laundry, so I'll carry on using it until it gives up,
at which point I'll look for one with user humidity control.

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Chris Hogg

Post by Mike Clarke
I'm looking for a suitable replacement for a 10 year old Ebac 2650e
dehumidifier which has failed and isn't economically worth repairing.
Although this device has done the job of keeping the humidity down over
its life it fell a long way short of Ebac's claims for the smart control
system "it takes readings throughout the day allowing it to determine,
with an algorithm, the best time to run". Despite this claim mine
consistently ran on a 50% duty cycle of about 35 minutes regardless of
the prevailing humidity. When I raised the matter with Ebac shortly
after purchasing it they sent a replacement but that behaved in exactly
the same way.
So before looking for a new dehumidifier I'm wondering if others here
have experienced the same behaviour with Ebac's 'Smart Control' or if
I've just been unlucky.

I've had an Ebac DI-818WG (model 3650e? so probably similar to yours)
for several years. Used almost exclusively for drying the laundry in
the spare bedroom when it's too wet outside to hang it in the
conservatory (my conservatory is more like a lean-to greenhouse
attached to the house and accessed from both inside and outside. The
laundry would never dry there on wet days). I usually set it on
'laundry' mode (which AFAICS just increases the fan speed) and set the
timer for eight hours. When it reaches the end of the time period it
will default back to smart mode and appear to tick over on that
setting.
My two gripes about it are that it doesn't tell you how long it's
still got to run before it reaches the eight hours originally set, and
I would like to adjust the humidity myself, as I used to be able to do
with a previous dehumidifier (make not remembered) rather than relying
on their choice.
But it dries the laundry, so I'll carry on using it until it gives up,
at which point I'll look for one with user humidity control.

We've had a 'Ruby Dry' for several years.
It's a desiccant wheel dehumidifier.
Control is pretty much man-draulic.
You switch it on, set either fan speed, or select a target humidity
level (40% 50% or 60%), and that's it.
It doesn't have a timer, and I wouldn't use it on a external timer
because when you switch if "OFF" it actually runs through a cool-down
phase (lasts two or three minutes IIRC).
Some people have claimed Ruby Dry don't last long, but I strongly
suspect this is because they just cut power to the unit, and don't allow
it to go through that cool-down process.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Post by Sam Plusnet
We've had a 'Ruby Dry' for several years.
It's a desiccant wheel dehumidifier.
Control is pretty much man-draulic.
You switch it on, set either fan speed, or select a target humidity
level (40% 50% or 60%), and that's it.
It doesn't have a timer, and I wouldn't use it on a external timer
because when you switch if "OFF" it actually runs through a cool-down
phase (lasts two or three minutes IIRC).
Some people have claimed Ruby Dry don't last long, but I strongly
suspect this is because they just cut power to the unit, and don't allow
it to go through that cool-down process.

Having dealt with several desiccant wheel dehumidifiers which have come
in to Repair Cafes, my advice would be:

o Never run when unsupervised.

o Never run in a room without a smoke detector.

Common failure mode is desiccant wheel stops turning. Heater then sets
fire to it.

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Andrew Gabriel

Post by Sam Plusnet
We've had a 'Ruby Dry' for several years.
It's a desiccant wheel dehumidifier.
Control is pretty much man-draulic.
You switch it on, set either fan speed, or select a target humidity
level (40% 50% or 60%), and that's it.
It doesn't have a timer, and I wouldn't use it on a external timer
because when you switch if "OFF" it actually runs through a cool-down
phase (lasts two or three minutes IIRC).
Some people have claimed Ruby Dry don't last long, but I strongly
suspect this is because they just cut power to the unit, and don't
allow it to go through that cool-down process.

Having dealt with several desiccant wheel dehumidifiers which have come
 o  Never run when unsupervised.
 o  Never run in a room without a smoke detector.
Common failure mode is desiccant wheel stops turning. Heater then sets
fire to it.

Noted with thanks.

[Andrew]

Post by Mike Clarke
I'm looking for a suitable replacement for a 10 year old Ebac 2650e
dehumidifier which has failed and isn't economically worth repairing.
Although this device has done the job of keeping the humidity down over
its life it fell a long way short of Ebac's claims for the smart control
system "it takes readings throughout the day allowing it to determine,
with an algorithm, the best time to run". Despite this claim mine
consistently ran on a 50% duty cycle of about 35 minutes regardless of
the prevailing humidity. When I raised the matter with Ebac shortly
after purchasing it they sent a replacement but that behaved in exactly
the same way.
So before looking for a new dehumidifier I'm wondering if others here
have experienced the same behaviour with Ebac's 'Smart Control' or if
I've just been unlucky.

I bought an Ebac PowerDri a couple of years ago hoping it would be more
efficient than my 40-YO Ebac homedry, but despite claiming that it
'works' down to 3C, what happens is that the cooling radiator simply
gets bunged up with frost once the temp is below about 15C.

This means there is no airflow, and even worse it has a digital timer
that simply turns the compressor off for 5 minutes every hour allowing
any frost to melt but below 15C this thawing of the cooling section does
not happen !.

My 40-YO ebac homedry has an electro-mechanical valve in the
warm refridgerant line and every hour this valve is activated and
warm gases pass through the ice-encrusted cooling coils, and the ice
quickly melts and is collected in the tank.

No such rapid de-thaw mechanism seems to exist on the Powerdri,
so at low temperatures it cannot 'work'. If your house has been
flooded during typically colder weather where this device is
intended to be used (or drying out plaster etc in a property
where heating has not been installed) then definately avoid
this model.

I think Ebac objected to 'Which' magazines review of their
de-humidifiers. I'll check out the back copies in the
library next time I'm in there.

[alan_m]

Post by Andrew
I think Ebac objected to 'Which' magazines review of their
de-humidifiers. I'll check out the back copies in the
library next time I'm in there.

They also objected to the which? reviews on their washing machines and I
wish I read them (and found the reviews that were not all glowing
praise) before I purchased one. Made in the UK in the same sense that
British Leyland made cars in the UK.

Their washing machines have reluctance to spin. They claim a
sophisticated out of balance detection which can spend 40 minutes trying
to balance a wet load before giving up. The problem with this is that
unless it tries to spin little water is removed from the load and a wet
load is unlikely to be balanced.

In my experience 1 in 5 loads fail to spin and leave a soaking wet load
in the machine. Leave the load a few hours for the water to drain via
gravity and then select a spin only program and you will get a proper spin.

Ebac remove all negative reviews from their web site and from any social
media advertising comments. Go to TrustPilot and look at the review for
their washing machines and the same comments about not spinning are common.

[Theo]

Post by Andrew
My 40-YO ebac homedry has an electro-mechanical valve in the
warm refridgerant line and every hour this valve is activated and
warm gases pass through the ice-encrusted cooling coils, and the ice
quickly melts and is collected in the tank.
No such rapid de-thaw mechanism seems to exist on the Powerdri,
so at low temperatures it cannot 'work'. If your house has been
flooded during typically colder weather where this device is
intended to be used (or drying out plaster etc in a property
where heating has not been installed) then definately avoid
this model.

Sigh, that reversing valve is heatpumps 101. That's how you efficiently run
defrost cycles, using the energy you just pulled into your warm refrigerant.

Post by Andrew
I think Ebac objected to 'Which' magazines review of their
de-humidifiers. I'll check out the back copies in the
library next time I'm in there.

It sounds severe cheapskatery that they didn't put it in. Even the £30
Peltier dehumidifier I got from Amazon built up (small amounts of) ice in
regular room temperature, so I don't see how they could get away without it.
They make a big song and dance about being 'made for the UK climate' but it
seems like they live in a different climate to the rest of us.

I think the dessicant dehumidifiers don't need defrost cycles so are better
for colder locations, but ebac don't sell those.

Theo

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Theo
I think the dessicant dehumidifiers don't need defrost cycles so are better
for colder locations, but ebac don't sell those.

True, & that's why we bought a desiccant wheel dehumidifier.
They do however need to run a cool down process when you switch them off
- which makes them unsuitable to be mated with a plug-in timer.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Post by Andrew

Post by Mike Clarke
I'm looking for a suitable replacement for a 10 year old Ebac 2650e
dehumidifier which has failed and isn't economically worth repairing.

What part failed?

Post by Andrew

Post by Mike Clarke
Although this device has done the job of keeping the humidity down
over its life it fell a long way short of Ebac's claims for the smart
control system "it takes readings throughout the day allowing it to
determine, with an algorithm, the best time to run". Despite this
claim mine consistently ran on a 50% duty cycle of about 35 minutes
regardless of the prevailing humidity. When I raised the matter with
Ebac shortly after purchasing it they sent a replacement but that
behaved in exactly the same way.
So before looking for a new dehumidifier I'm wondering if others here
have experienced the same behaviour with Ebac's 'Smart Control' or if
I've just been unlucky.

I bought an Ebac PowerDri a couple of years ago hoping it would be more
efficient than my 40-YO Ebac homedry, but despite claiming that it
'works' down to 3C, what happens is that the cooling radiator simply
gets bunged up with frost once the temp is below about 15C.
This means there is no airflow, and even worse it has a digital timer
that simply turns the compressor off for 5 minutes every hour allowing
any frost to melt but below 15C this thawing of the cooling section does
not happen !.
My 40-YO ebac homedry has an electro-mechanical valve in the
warm refridgerant line and every hour this valve is activated and
warm gases pass through the ice-encrusted cooling coils, and the ice
quickly melts and is collected in the tank.
No such rapid de-thaw mechanism seems to exist on the Powerdri,
so at low temperatures it cannot 'work'. If your house has been
flooded during typically colder weather where this device is
intended to be used (or drying out plaster etc in a property
where heating has not been installed) then definately avoid
this model.
I think Ebac objected to 'Which' magazines review of their
de-humidifiers. I'll check out the back copies in the
library next time I'm in there.

I built a new microcontroller for a ~20 year old dehumidifier, which had
stopped working because the control board died. The original had
provision for doing defrost (temperature sensor on the evaporator, and a
defrost indicator lamp), but that never worked, and the evaporator would
turn into a block of ice when run below about 15C.

My logic, which I worked out by experimenting, was roughly...
When evaporator drops below zero, start a 10 minute timer - the
evaporator doesn't block in 10 mins of running below zero.
When timer expires, go in to defrost mode which is switch off
compressor, but keep fan running. This causes the ice to melt and run out.
When the evaporator goes back above freezing, continue defrost mode for
5 mins to allow all water to run out of the evaporator. If this
condensed frost is allowed to refreeze rather than running out, it's
harder to defrost it than it is to defrost the initial frost covering
you get on a surface below zero. Then switch compressor back on. (This
also guarantees there is at least 3 mins between compressor switch off
and switch back on again, which is required to ensure the pressure
differential in the refrigerant has dissipated before restarting, or
compressor may fail to start.)
There's also a temperature range, outside of which the unit will not try
dehumidifying, which is currently set to 10-22C. It does work below
this, but the defrost cycles become progressively more of the duty cycle.
This unit does not have any switching valves in the refrigerant circuit,
and relies on ambient airflow to defrost the evaporator.

My replacement microcontroller is a first generation Raspberry Pi B, so
the dehumidifier is controllable remotely via a web interface, ssh, and
a proprietary monitoring and control API which I use for all my
environment control projects. I didn't bother implementing local
controls on the unit because this added a benefit in this case of no
local tampering, although I do drive the original indicator lamps to
show what the unit is currently doing. Also, it uses a high precision
digital humidity sensor which is much more accurate than the original
plastic film humidistat which was on it.

[Mike Clarke]

Post by Andrew Gabriel

Post by Mike Clarke
I'm looking for a suitable replacement for a 10 year old Ebac 2650e
dehumidifier which has failed and isn't economically worth repairing.

What part failed?

No idea which component was the culprit but all the lights on the
control panel were flashing continuously and the fan was pulsing in step
with them. This even continued after lifting out the water container
which would normally turn it off. https://milibyte.co.uk/ebac.mp4

I've replaced it with a Meaco 'Arete One' which so far seems to perform
much better than the old Ebac. It's a bit noisier than the Ebac but does
extract more moisture out of the air, this might be partly due to the
25L rating compared to only 18L for the Ebac.

Unlike Ebac's very vague description of the control system, with claims
that it learns about the moisture level patterns in the home, Meaco
explain that it will cut out when the RH is reduced to 3% below the set
target level and will run the fan briefly every 30 minutes to check the
RH level and will cut in when it reaches 3% above the target. And this
is exactly what it is doing.