# Machines overheating? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2022, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789 "2022-10-25T22:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/21 "2022-10-26T01:43:48Z")
I wouldn’t know how to transfer a photo to the straight dope. Its called Servpro low grain refridgerant dehumidifier. Edit-apparently, its job is to get rid of water damage from what was used to put the fire out. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/22 "2022-10-26T01:59:16Z")
ServPro is the name of the company that deployed the dehu. It’s a large enough company that the manufacturer of the machine (likely DriEaz or Phoenix) makes branded equipment for ServPro, along with ServiceMaster or Belfor (just to name a few). the low-grain refrigerant operates by passing air through a refrigerated coil. This cools the air, reducing its capacity to hold water. The excess water is “squeezed” out of the air and condenses onto the coil. The air is heated back up so that its relative humidity is low, increasing its capacity to pull moisture in from wet materials in the room. The warm air is also used in the dehumidifier to melt frozen water off the refrigerated coil, where it collects in a pan and is pumped down a tube to some nearby drain in the building. The “low grain” in the name means the dehu is specialized in achieving particularly low humidity levels (grains are a way to measure moisture in air). The numbers you’re seeing are likely the hour counter. Other numbers that might be displayed are the temperature (in F or C), the relative humidity (in %RH), or maybe even the specific humidity (in grains per pound). These type of dehus tend to heat the air by dint of their operation. They can easily heat rooms to an uncomfortably hot level (over 100F, but nothing like 500F or something). ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/23 "2022-10-26T02:01:56Z")
Thats why it was getting sauna like; they closed the exit door to the stairs. It was way humid and humidity and electrics don’t mix well. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/24 "2022-10-26T02:02:15Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > After the fire, they put a machine that sucks impurities from the air on the first floor and the fire floor. These machines show one is 500 degress now(they’ve been running over a week) and the one on my floor is almost 700. I think it’s safe to say that those numbers are not measuring temperature. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Its called Servpro low grain refridgerant dehumidifier. Servpro has more than one model of LGR dehumidifiers. The ones I looked at had a running hour meter on them, in tenths of hours. So 500 would be 50.0 hours and 700 would be 70.0 hours. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > It was getting sauna like in the hallway That can happen, especially in an enclosed hallway. The way a dehumidifier works is that internally, it’s a heat pump with a fan. The heat pump works by cycling a refrigerant through two coils. The first coil has the refrigerant at a lower pressure, which causes the refrigerant to get cold. Air from the hallway (or room or wherever you have the machine) gets pulled in by the fan. As the room temperature air passes over the colder coils, water in the air condenses out. The refrigerant also gets warmed up by the air, and has to do something with the heat it just pulled out of the air. The refrigerant then goes through a second coil at a much higher pressure. This makes the refrigerant get even hotter, and now that the refrigerant is hotter than the outside air, the heat naturally transfers out of the second coil and into the air. This makes your hallway warmer. The cycle keeps repeating, and water keeps condensing out of the air, and hot air comes out from where the second coil is located in the machine, over and over, for as long as the machine is running. This is normal. This is how a dehumidifier works. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > so I propped open the door to the stairs? > Is this dangerous? No, it’s not dangerous. > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > If it got too hot wouldn’t it damage the outlets on the floor? No. If it were that hot, you could probably boil water on the floor tiles and if you touched the floor tiles or the walls or the outlets you would receive a nasty burn and would have to go to the hospital. Hot like a sauna isn’t anywhere close to boiling water. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/25 "2022-10-26T02:04:52Z")
Thank you. Well, if it were too sauna like, wouldn’t affect outlets? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/26 "2022-10-26T02:06:07Z")
In the long term, a lot of humidity will corrode the metal inside the outlets. In the short term, it’s no biggie. It’s no worse than what people in the tropics who live near the ocean experience. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/27 "2022-10-26T02:13:07Z")
I’ve not heard of hot temperatures affecting outlets per se when I worked water damage restoration. Temperature and humidity control are key components of proper water damage mitigation. When done properly, affected rooms take less time to reach drying goals. One sort of conflicting thing that can occur in this industry is that mitigation companies (like ServPro) are paid per piece of equipment deployed, and equipment can be one of the most profitable aspects of a water restoration job. This can cause companies to deploy lots of air movers and dehumidifiers so they can increase the insurance payout. A lot of insurance companies these days require well-documented drying logs which justify the equipment load. It’s not uncommon for the amount of equipment on a job decreases day by day, as the area gets closer to drying goals and the size of the area that is still affected shrinks. This usually requires daily visits from a technician to inspect the equipment, record moisture levels, and run equipment sizing calculations to see what changes should be made to deployment. Equipment sizing should generally be done in accordance with the _S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration_ published by IICRC. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/28 "2022-10-26T02:17:47Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > [@SuntanLotion](#): > > > > so I propped open the door to the stairs? > > Is this dangerous? > > No, it’s not dangerous. Not dangerous, but by propping the door open, you’re increasing the length of time before all of the moisture is removed from the room or hallway in which the dehumidifier was placed. Servpro is a big company that specializes in recovery from fires and water damage and I assume they had good reason to leave the stairwell door closed. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/29 "2022-10-26T11:52:27Z")
Propping open a fire door might be a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/30 "2022-10-26T13:35:39Z")
It is just the door people use to go down the stairs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/31 "2022-10-26T14:23:42Z")
Right, but if it is a “fire door” it should automatically close and latch. [From here:](https://idighardware.com/bronx-apartment-fire/) > For decades, the model codes adopted across the US have mandated fire door assemblies on apartment entries and stairwells. **Fire doors are required to be automatically closed and latched if a fire occurs, and the doors themselves are constructed to withstand fire for 20 minutes to 3 hours** I don’t know much about apartments fire doors, it’s been many decades since I last dwelled in an apartment. But you should look into whether the door you propped open is a fire door. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/32 "2022-10-26T14:42:39Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Propping open a fire door might be a bad idea given that this is all _because there was a fire_. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/33 "2022-10-26T16:48:15Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > It is just the door people use to go down the stairs. No. It’s a door designed to keep people alive as long as possible in case of fire. If I was employed there and this was occurring, I would be contacting OSHA immediately. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/34 "2022-10-26T17:05:54Z")
The servpro workers kept it propped for over a week. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2022, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/35 "2022-10-26T17:11:55Z")
Not surprising at all, but someone should be checking on the legality. Being a potential hazard I’d call Servpro and see what they had to say about it and if I don’t find the answer to be sufficient I’d call the fire dept. and ask them to check on it. I would step carefully around this, the fire dept. might have given Servpro informal approval to do this which shifts the onus onto the fire dept. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/36 "2022-10-29T02:46:26Z")
Who will star in _Terminator XXI: Rise of the Overheating Machines_? ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/37 "2022-10-29T03:05:11Z")
The fire made me afraid. It can affect you that way. Two days ago, the Servpros opened the stairwell door all the way, and today they shut the dehumidifiers off. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/38 "2022-10-29T05:36:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Most appliances rarely reach 10,000 degrees. Most appliances are lazy, and don’t bother to make something of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/39 "2022-11-08T00:32:59Z")
Update!- after 3 weeks of a loud fan running outside my apt door-they’re gone!😃🙌 What a relief. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789/40 "2022-11-08T15:13:30Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > After the fire What fire ?!?! (Glad it’s all over now !) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/machines-overheating/973789.md?page=3)