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Posted on Feb 22, 2009

Honeywell True Steam heats but continuosly drains / vibrates

I installed a Honeywell True Steam 9 gallon humidifier a few months ago with the standard manual humidistat. It's worked fine since we found the sweet spot in our house, which turned out to be high...around 55...house isn't very tight and unit is at the upper limit size-wise to support our square footage, around 3,100 sqft. Anyhow, it seems to be contsantly draining now as case and drain line are always extremely hot, and the supply line with in-line filter is vibrating every few minutes whenever it is refilling the tank, which is constantly because it's continually draining. This condition is obviously wrong and not only am I hearing the vibration in the house, but am also sending good water down the drain without the benefit of it humidifying the house, I believe.Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. No fault lights are illuminated and the "power" and "humidifying" LEDs are lit. Thanks!!!Dave

  • bradwr Apr 15, 2009

    I have had the exact same problem with a 6 gallon and a 12 gallon Honeywell TrueSteam humidifier. It works fine for a few weeks, goes through a few auto drain cycles and then starts draining constantly 24/7 while it is still humidifying.

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  • Posted on Oct 28, 2012
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Easy one gentlemen! The problem is the water and the **** in it. The **** builds up inside the valve and doesn't allow it to work properly. This is how you fix it: - remove the solenoid. It is quick: remove the 2 hoses and pull out the 4 wire plug. Take the solenoid in your kitchen. - the valve has 3 ports: one @ top (port A), one at the bottom (port B) and one large, with a little filter in it, where you have to push the locking mechanism in every time you re-install the water reservoir. This woulb be port C. Pour a few drops of CLR into port C. The CLR will drain down. Re-fill a few times, then wash with water. Take a small flat screwdriver, put it into port C and try to move the little black plunger / piston inside the valve. Move it as much as you can, in and out. That little plunger gets sucket into the valve by the electric coil every time the valve is energized. When power is off (de-energized), the plunger is supposed to seal back. If **** gets in, it will not seat properly, so try to rub the sealing surface (seat) with a small screwdriver. Repeat the wash cycle w/ CLR. - cut the 2 wiresgoing to the solenoid and try to rig something safe: connect the 2 wires to a small extension cord and use lots of tape to insulate the wires but also to secure them in place. Energize and de-energize the solenoid many times. The coils are 120 vac. You shouls see the little plunger moving in and out freely. Disconnect, clean again, etc. try not to kill yourself by electrocuting with 120 and water and some unsafe grerry-rigging ... - re-install it all and should be fine now. Good luck! Eugen -

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  • Posted on Jan 20, 2010
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I had the same problem.
I replaced the solenoid which resulted with the same problem.
I then blocked the drain using a ball valve, that resulted in the humidifier overflowing.
I do have a fault code (3 blinks) indicating failure to fill tank.
However, if this were true, blocking the drain would have solved this problem.
I have replaced the unit with a new one, and it is now working perfectly.
If you have covered all these bases then I suggest replacing your unit. Hopefully it's under warranty.
Cheers, Rich

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