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In This IssueWelcome
Message from the RepairGuru Featured Items Keep Your Humidifier Humming Parts You Might Need Stock Your Toolbox Quick Tip Fun Fact Featured ItemsParts You Might Need
Find these and a wide assortment of other essential parts here. Stock Your Toolbox for this JobQuick TipKeep your home healthy and comfortable by maintaining indoor relative humidity at 35 percent. Levels any higher than that may encourage the growth of nasty bacteria! Stay on top of your home's humidity level with a hygrometer, available at RepairClinic.com. Check your humidifier for a built-in humidistat, which allows you to
adjust your unit to the proper moisture level. If water condenses on
windows, walls or pictures, relocate the humidifier, lower its humidistat
setting, or reduce its us. Fun FactIt costs only about 3 cents to run the power dry feature on most dishwashers. Using the energy saving feature will conserve power but will not noticeably impact your energy costs.
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WelcomeWelcome to the September 2005 edition of the RepairClinic.com newsletter. Inside you'll find tips and tricks to keeping your humidifier humming. Message from the RepairGuruRepairClinic.com is helping more than 30,000 people a month repair their
own appliances. We continue to add model numbers for most major appliance
brands in order to help you find the parts you need. In addition, we now
offer SATURDAY PICK-UP! That's right, if you place an in-stock order on
Saturday before 2:00 p.m. ET and select either Overnight or 2-Day shipping
we will ship it that day. Keep Your Humidifier HummingWhen September hits, so do the signs of fall - school's back in session, football season kicks off and the air begins turning slightly cooler. That also means it's time to get your home ready before the long winter settles in. In many states, a humidifier is an important part of ensuring your home stays comfortable throughout the season. It helps prevent illness and dry skin, reduces static electricity, lowers utility bill costs (humid air doesn't need to be heated as much) and prevents cracks and drying in your woodwork, furniture, carpets and rugs. A little annual maintenance is essential to keep your furnace-mounted humidifier running smoothly. Scale and unhealthy bacteria can build up inside. These can potentially cause a health risk, significantly reduce the unit's humidifying capacity, or predispose the unit to a water leak. Follow these tips to ensure your home stays healthy and comfortable through the winter months. Identify your humidifier type - First, identify the type of furnace-mounted humidifier you have: flow-through or reservoir. Find illustrations of both types, as well as detailed identification of their various parts, at RepairClinic.com.
Clean the unit - Begin by unplugging your unit from the electrical
socket and disassembling it. Then clean and sanitize the various parts
using standard household cleaning products or the manufacturer's suggestions
for cleaning products or disinfectants. If you use any cleaning or disinfecting
agent, rinse the tank thoroughly with several changes of tap water to
prevent dispersal of chemicals into the air during use. Because flow through humidifiers don't have standing water, they typically stay free of mold growth. A thorough cleaning is all you'll need each season. However, as the name implies, reservoir type humidifiers hold standing water, making it necessary to treat the water with an anti-bacterial solution. Replace the pad - To prolong the life of your humidifier and prevent
bacterial growth, replace the pad (also called "filter" or "wick")
at least once a year. After replacing the pad, test the humidifier to
make sure it works properly. Troubleshoot water flow issues - Water flow issues affecting your humidifier's performance? A lack of water to the top distribution trough will reduce the efficiency of your humidifier. This can be caused by a variety of factors: a plugged or impaired water supply saddle valve, a plugged screen in the water intake valve, or a bad water intake valve. Some units use a float valve that can fail, causing a lack of water. On units with electrically activated water intake valves, an electrical failure can impede water flow. In most cases, the water intake valve solenoid can be heard clicking on and off. Troubleshoot this by turning the furnace on at the house thermostat. Switch the humidistat at the furnace to "off." Once the furnace fan starts, slowly turn the humidistat up. At some point the humidistat contacts should close, energizing the water intake valve and allowing water into the water distribution tube. At this point a fair amount of water should be entering the top water distribution trough through the water pad. Turning the humidistat back down will open the contacts, causing the water valve to click again. If water is flowing through the water inlet valve all the time, even when the furnace is off, you may have a bad water inlet valve. Additionally, if there's no sound when the humidistat is turned up or down, it might indicate a bad water inlet valve solenoid, a bad humidistat or possibly a bad transformer for the humidistat. These components can be checked with a voltmeter or ohmmeter. Well done! Next month: Learn how to keep your washer and dryer spinning. Subscription InformationTo unsubscribe, please click here.
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