I have a humidifier attached to my furnace. It was here when I bought the house so I never got instructions on how to use it.
It’s connected to a water line with a water tap, just like this. I’ve fucked around with the “knob” part of the tap over the past year and now I have no idea if the tap is on or off. It turns all the way to the left and all the way to the right. No idea which is on or off.
The filter in the unit is new. The unit’s been running for about a month. I just opened it up to see if it was wet, and it’s dry as a bone. So I don’t know if there’s any water being passed through and that is why I am not sure if the thing is on or off.
Your humidifier has a “humidistat” that controls a solenoid; the solenoid simply being a water valve that opens and closes from an electrical signal. (which logically is sent by the humidistat)
If the humidistat is in the living room (sometimes it is mounted near the furnace on the return air duct) simply raise the “setpoint” to the highest setting. Be near the solenoid (it is the brass valve at the bottom of the humidifier with 2 wires running to it) and if it is wired correctly you’ll hear a “snap” as the solenoid opens. (This may require 2 people; one to manipulate the stat and one to listen to the solenoid)
Those saddle taps often get calcified and no water passes through them. OTOH, often the humidifier is unwired in the furnace. Running the humidistat up and down and listening for the solenoid snapping open and closed is a quick and easy way to see----at the very least—if the solenoid is getting a signal. (I’m assuming you don’t have a volt meter…)
It’s possible…
Your humidistat simply wasn’t calling for humidity; IOW, the humidity in the space was already above the setpoint.
The saddle tap is calcified shut.
The humidistat is faulty.
The solenoid is faulty.
Your blower wasn’t on. Most installers install a “current sensing relay” and wire it in series with the solenoid. It’s job is to prevent the humidifier from running unless it senses the blower is on. The logic is that running water through your humidifier without a blower will simply run water through the drain. The humidifier is useless without a blower. Make sure your blower is when testing the humidifier.
I have a manual model that requires me to go to the basement to turn the knob. It has a very basic chart on it that tells me what setting to use. Since it’s only been in the 30’s lately, I put the knob on the lowest (er, highest?) setting, 35, based on the chart.
Before I took beowullf’s advice and turned the tap all the way to the left (turns out it was all the way in the middle-ish), I had heard this solenoid popping quite a bit when the furnace was on. I had no idea what it was other than I knew it was the humidifier because I didn’t hear it until I turned the thing on.
After turning the tap all the way to the left, the furnace happened to be on and I put the humidistat all the way to the highest (lowest?) setting, which is 5, which the little chart suggests for sub-zero temps.
I didn’t hear any solenoid pops nor did I see any water going through the drain (I have a handy clear tube).
When the furnace was off, I popped the lid off the humidifier and checked for any signs of water. None.
I DO know that the humidifier worked at one point, because when I moved in I had to have a plumber friend come by and fix the leaky drain pipe.
Also, I’m pretty sure the thing has worked previously because me and the dog stay relatively shock-free during the winter. So I’m assuming I’ve got moist heat.
I’m not sure what to do now…it might indeed be humid enough for the humidifier not to need to come on. We’ve got snow but it’s very wet snow. But if I can’t see any signs of water with the thing on the highest setting, does that mean I should maybe have a pro come out and give it a once-over? Or should I clean all the parts it’s safe for me to clean first and see what happens? (There’s directions that came with the new filter)
I don’t know how handy you are, or your gumption level.
You might call a service company to check it out. If you want to try a couple things yourself, I can give you some things to look for. You’re free to PM me and I’ll give you my phone number and I can answer any questions you may have. (I’ve done this for a couple other Dopers…)
Or you can call a tech. It shouldn’t cost any more than they’re standard service call fee. ($69-129 in my parts, SW Ohio)
I am going to follow the cleaning instructions on the filter box (looks like it’s stuff I’m supposed to do every year and I have never done it) and if that doesn’t help, I’ll PM you.
