Concerned about humidifier operation...

[WATYF]

Hello. I just had a whole new HVAC system installed. Part of this package was a furnace-mounted humidifier. I decided not to get a t-stat with a humidistat built-in, and I just use the humidistat that's attached to the humidifier. Up until now, I had left it on the same setting it was on when the guy installed... but last night I decided to turn it up a bit to see if I'd notice any inprovement in the humidity levels.

Since then, I noticed that the humidifier kicks on a lot. (It makes some odd noises sometimes when it kicks on and off too, but I guess that's normal) This particular humidifier has its own internal fan, so what I hear every few minutes is the fan from the humidifer kick on and run for a minute or so. The thing is, I don't feel any air coming out of the vents, because it's just the little internal fan in the humidifier that runs, not the furnace blower.

So my question is.... is this bad? Should the humidifier be kicking on all the time if the furnace blower isn't on? Do I have a puddle of water forming at the bottom of my return as we speak? Or is this normal and nothing to worry about?

For now, I'll just set it back to where it was, until I'm relatively sure that I'm not ruining anything, but I thought it was kinda odd that it would be running that much without the furnace blower being on.



WATYF

[Ed Imeduc]

Call them back the humidifer should turn on only when the furnace blower comes on is all. Not on its own. Then it is controlled by the hum. tstat there on tha duct.


;) ED

[gannont]

Hi, I'm new here too. I also seem to have a similar wiring problem. The home we bough 18 mos. ago has a Kenmore central humidifier that never worked until I replaced the drum motor and cleaned it all out this fall. It is wired in the Sears "standard" configuration, which is that the hum. fan comes on any time the humidistat switches it, whether the furnace blower is on or not. Sears manual (and tech support!) says this is okay. I'm between a rock and a hard place- if the humidifier only runs when the blower is on, I have no chance of getting enough humidity in the living space (upsatirs). Also, since the humidistat is in the return duct (basement), I suspect that it senses a lower temperature and hence higher than actual RH, and I have to crank the humidistat way up to get it to humidify. Does this make sense?

So, I have a number of questions:
1. Should I be thinking about one of these A50 relays or equivalent so the hum. is only on when the blower operates?
2. How about the other way- would it be okay to signal the blower to come on when the humidistat triggers the humidifier, even if the burner is off?
3. Should I leave the humidistat as is, or configure differently? I've been thinking about a room sensor in the living space, but installing would be a fairly big job.

Any advice appreciated!

Tom

[Ed Imeduc]

You want it on only when the blower is on. You could put the A50 on it to turn on when the blower is on. Then this way you could turn the blower on like 24/7 for a time and it would put more humidity in the home for you.

ED ;)

[WATYF]

Well I still haven't gotten this fixed. The job was done by a contact I got through work (I work in the HVAC mfg industry). He did a great job on everything, so it's not like I got hosed... it's just this one little connection issue... and I can't seem to get ahold of this guy to get it fixed.

I just want to get this taken care of, and I'm willing to do it myself, since it sounds like a basic wiring change. So what is this relay you guys are talking about? Where would I get it, and how would I install it?

Any help is greatly appreciated.


WATYF

[Jay11J]

W,

Wht brand of a furnace did you get? Most newer furnace has a screw that you can hook up to on the control board.. You won't then need the relay.

[WATYF]

I got a Trane 80%. I can't remember the model number, though.


WATYF

[WATYF]

....it says "XB80" on it.

[Jay11J]

I looked at the wire schematic for your model, and it don't have it.. So you'll have to use a relay to turn your system on when the fan runs.

[WATYF]

OK Thanks. What's the name/model of this relay and where would I get it? (or who would I talk to to find this out?)


WATYF