Lasko 5000L whole house humidifier solenoid fix
 

I have a Lasko 5000L whole house humidifier. This year I forgot to power it up until this past week. The house just felt oddly cold and the usual symptoms of low humidity were there like dry hands. I checked my house humidity and it was at 25%. Yep, pretty low.

So I powered it up, and checked to make sure it was working properly. The setup is pretty simple. It has a humidity sensor in the return duct of the furnace. That controls power to a solenoid valve that flows air over a mesh in the ducting. When the furnace is running, and the humidity is too low, the solenoid opens and adds water to the air. I heard the solenoid clicking, but I didn't hear any excess water draining out of the bottom of the unit and into my basement sump. So, I opened it up, and sure enough, no water was flowing. I played around with the control a bit more. The solenoid was going, but still no flow.

I didn't really get pictures as I just wanted to get the job done. Here is one of the solenoid on the side of the machine.

https://ecorenovator.org/forum/attac...1&d=1544454286



Alright, time for fix it mode. I removed the solenoid valve from the unit. This was just two screws and two blade connectors. I shut off the water to the unit and removed the tubes going to and from the solenoid. I then took it and sat it in a cup of white vinegar overnight. The vinegar only soaked the mechanical part of the valve, not the electronic part. I occasionally swished things around and could see flakes of white and brown come out of the valve. Not a ton of junk, but some. The next day, I flushed the valve with water in the sink and hooked it back up and presto bango it was flowing water again. Nice simple fix to a little problem.

I do like a simple fix. They don’t come around very often but I like them when they do.
Added benefit a no cost fix even better.

How does it work as a humidifier what level do you try to keep it at?

That is a great question, and I don't really have a great answer. I really haven't used it a ton. Most of the winters I haven't even turned it on. Those that I have, I think I set it to 30-35% and call it good. However, I'm not sure it was even working then. I really haven't used it in a couple years now. Back when I did, I didn't really measure the humidity in the house either. I currently have it set to 50%, but I think that will be a bit much for this time of year. However, I'm sure I have to humidify everything in the house, so it may take a while to level out. Talking with a coworker, he said just turn it up as much as you can, and watch your cold/bad windows for condensation.