Dehumidifier degraded performance

Question

I have a 2 year old dehumidifier that had been working fine until this past winter.

As humidity started to increase I noticed the that the fins on the heat exchange developed frost. I checked the air filter, I checked the refrigerant plumbing and finally cleaned the fins with compressed canned air without any improvement. While cleaning the unit I noticed that one side of the heat exchanger is all full of rust while the other side is pristine. Is this normal?

This is the 2nd dehumidifier (in a second house) that has died within 2 years of purchase. Is this a common problem with dehumidifers these days?

What is the normal cycle of a dehumidifer that is working properly. I seem to remember that even when unable to reach the humidity setpoint this dehumidifier would stop after several minutes of running (possilby to allow for thawing of any frost?) and then resume course after ~10 minutes off. Can someone with a working consumer dehumidifer confirm this behavior?

edt: spelling

Answer 1

My experience with dehumidifiers is that most usually last 2-3 years. I had 1 that lasted 7-8 years but that was a rare experience. I buy them at a store that has a cheap 3 year warranty. So far I have used the warranty 3 times on different units. It is a cheap way to extend the life of the unit. This works for me since the cost of repair is usually close to or exceeds the cost of the unit. As for normal cycles, mine is set for 40% and it runs until that humidity level is reached. There is never any ice build-up or should there be. Ice build-up occurs when the refrigerant charge is low, the filter is dirty, or it is running in an area where the ambient temperature is below it's recommended temperature.