Humidifiers and Dehumidifiers - Honeywell HE260A quit

I installed a Honeywell HE260A a couple of years ago and it has worked great until this winter. It just won't fire up. No changes in wiring or setup. When I crank the humidstat up, I hear it click, but no water flowing through the solenoid valve. The solenoid valve does heat up after the furnace is on for awhile, so I think it is still powered?

Of note, I recently blew the fuse on my furnace circuit board by moving my thermostat without shutting off the power. :wall: But everything seemed to return to normal after replacing it.

Comfortmaker gas furnace N8MPN075B12A
Honeywell HE260A
908 humidistat
wired to EAC terminal on furnace circuit board

Where do I start to troubleshoot?

Thanks.

When I crank the humidstat up, I hear it click, but no water flowing through the solenoid valve. The solenoid valve does heat up after the furnace is on for awhile, so I think it is still powered?
CHeck to make sure the water is turned on?


wired to EAC terminal on furnace circuit board
I hope a transformer was used on this? Why wasn't it wired to the HUM instead?

CHeck to make sure the water is turned on?

That was my first idea after checking the electrics. Made sure water was running through the copper line and then turned off the water heater supply to reconnect, to make sure the saddle valve stayed open.


I hope a transformer was used on this? Why wasn't it wired to the HUM instead?

The 24 V transformer that came with the unit. I use the EAC terminal because the blower will power the humidifer and sometimes I run just the blower when the upstairs gets much hotter than downstairs.

Have you removed the screen to see if that is clear?

The screen is going to be inside the brass fitting that the water line hooks up to.

Also, pull the rubber hose off the outlet side of the valve, and blow into the hose.

Have you removed the screen to see if that is clear?

The screen is going to be inside the brass fitting that the water line hooks up to.

Also, pull the rubber hose off the outlet side of the valve, and blow into the hose.

Screen and hose are clear.

I also found this in another thread about a similar problem:



the good news is that I managed to fix it by replacing the humidistat, there was nothing wrong with the solenoid valve. Hopefully I wont have to do it again next year.

thanks

But if the solenoid is clicking, how can the humidstat be malfunctioning? Is there more of the solenoid I can take apart?

I don't recall if you took a voltage reading or not at the valve? I looked back quick, and didn't see anything off hand.

I looked at my valve, I thought it could come apart more, and it didn't.

You are correct, the humidistat is a switch, "on, or off".

I had the same issue almost every year as well. First, do you have a water softner or do you know if your water is on the 'hard' side? The reason I ask, is that what I found to be the problem was a plugged orifice. The small pipe that forms the 'in' line that you connect your water line to, has a small screen in it. Remove this small pipe from the solenoid. Remove the small screen. Hold pipe up to bright light, you should be able to see a small pin hole with light coming thru it. If not, it is most likely cloged with calcium or other minerals. I was able to clean mine with a very small sewing needle. You need to make sure that you do not ream out the orfice bigger than it was designed as you will (over time) use more water than what will be disapated thru the humidifier.

I was all set to contribute to the body of knowledge so others could learn from my mistakes, and then I find out someone already had the answer. I stepped away from the project this week, and tonight decided to tackle it again, disassembling the solenoid valve and finding the plugged pinhole as described. I returned to post my results, only to wish I had read the forum last Sunday night!

Glad you got it figured out, and gong!

Have a great weekend.