Honeywell direct injection humidifyer--tank overfilling


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Old 01-01-13, 11:35 AM
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Honeywell direct injection humidifyer--tank overfilling

I have a Honeywell model HM506A humidifyer giving a 6-blink error code, which indicates the tank is overfilled. I have cleaned the contacts on the water level sensor and still get the same result. I can hear water constantly flowing through the water supply line, even when the tank is full. Is there a way to test the solenoid valve to see if that's the problem? Can anyone explain exactly what the solenoid valve does? I presume it opens to allow water to fill the tank until the water level sensor detects a max. level in the tank, then shuts off flow until enough water has boiled off so the water level sensor tells the valve to open and add more water. But does it also control drainage of the tank? Can it be open for draining at the same time it is trying to fill the tank? I don't understand how water can continually flow into the tank. Any thoughts on how to confirm if the solenoid valve is bad or not, or if there could be debris interfering with valve operation, or if there is something else to check? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Jim
 
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Old 01-01-13, 02:04 PM
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Wish I could help you, but I've never been around this unit in person. So, sorry I couldn't be any help.

These units has been a big pain for most people, and I wouldn't suggest this unit to anyone. This only Honeywell Product I don't like.. Otherwise, I like everything else they have.
 
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Old 01-05-13, 11:37 AM
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Thank you for the response, Jay. Can anyone at least offer any tips for how to test a typical solenoid valve, if not for this specific model, or explain how it might operate in the humidifier to help me troubleshoot it? I'm taking another stab today at getting my humidifier to work again. I hope to avoid having to take a financial hit for a service guy right after Christmas!

Thanks again,
Jim
 
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Old 01-05-13, 12:12 PM
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Can anyone explain exactly what the solenoid valve does?
That's actually the easy part. It is an electrically operated valve. In your case I believe 24 v is applied to solenoid valve and tank fills. Inside the valve is a very small piston called, I believe, a pintle. This area of the valve can become blocked or clogged with minerals and not completely shut off water flow.

You could try shutting off power to the humidifier for a day or two and see if it still overflows. If it does....valve is bad.
If you can actually hear water running....just turn unit off. Water flow should stop instantly.
Does this unit require a constant stream of water for flushing or does it have a dedicated flushing cycle ?

I couldn't find any technical stuff about your unit although I located the owners manual in many different languages.

There may be two level sensors inside unit. One that detects normal filling function and one that detects overflow condition.
 
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Old 01-05-13, 01:40 PM
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I can't really cut off power to the humidifier by itself without tripping the breaker for the entire furnace--it's wired into the furnace unit. But if the valve is stuck in the open position because of minerals, wouldn't the water continue to flow regardless of the power? Maybe that is the problem. I have to cut off the water supply saddle valve to stop water from continually running.

I think the unit uses flushing cycles since I remember seeing something about how to set DIP switches in the manual to control flush cycle frequency. Maybe I need to set it to flush more frequently. There is a lot of mineral sediment every time I clean the tank.

I was finally able to figure out how to get the solenoid valve out of the housing (probably not the way it was supposed to), so I'll see if I can figure out if it is clogged/jammed in one position. Is it feasible to clean the minerals out?

Yes, I believe the water level sensor has overflow contacts in addition to low and high level contacts. Maybe when the water reaches the high level contacts, it signals the valve to shut, but it is either mechanically stuck, or electrically bad. Then when the water hits the overflow contacts, it trips the unit and gives the overflow code. Is there a way to electrically test the valve with a multimeter?
 
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Old 01-05-13, 09:13 PM
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Is there a way to electrically test the valve with a multimeter?
What would you want to check ? You can hear when its flowing water. If it didn't have power.....it would probably just allow a tiny trickle of water......not a full flow.

Without actually seeing unit I couldn't tell you if you could measure unit while it's active. You might be able to trace the wiring to a point where you could measure it safely.
 
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Old 01-06-13, 09:07 AM
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I was thinking to test the function of the solenoid to determine whether the solenoid coils are bad, or just unable to move the valve due to minerals clogging it. If it is just clogged, maybe I can clean it to make it work again rather than buying a new valve.

But even if it is clogged, I don't know how to clean it out. I can't figure out how to manually move the pintle to try to dislodge any debris. I'm thinking the water supply valve is stuck open, and therefore when it is signaled to close, it just keeps filling the tank.
 
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Old 01-06-13, 09:45 AM
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but it is either mechanically stuck, or electrically bad.
Electricity opens the valve......not closes it. It's spring loaded to close. At rest and not connected.....the water valve should be 100% closed.

The valve is opening therefore the associated wiring and the solenoid coil must be ok.

Your problem is that it's not shutting off or not shutting off 100%.
So you need to determine if it's not shutting off the flow of water because: a) it's leaking or b) the control is sending it power when it shouldn't be.

That's why you need to check the valve with it connected to water. With or without it's electrical connection.
 
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Old 01-06-13, 10:16 AM
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Ah, that's good info that electricity opens it and it's spring loaded to close--I wasn't sure exactly what the solenoids were doing. So having the valve removed and unpowered, it should be closed, yet I can blow into the water inlet connection and hear air gurgling into the main housing opening that connects to the tank. You hit the nail on the head--"not shutting off 100%". There is a small hole, maybe 1/32", that the supply water goes through into the valve housing. I've spent the last half hour filling the housing with vinegar and using a medicine dropper that conveniently fits snug into the water supply connection to repeatedly squeeze and suction vinegar in and out of the supply route. Now when blowing through it, air flows much more freely through it indicating the vinegar did clean some stuff out, but apparently not enough to allow the spring to be able to close it tight. Think I'll fill it with vinegar and let it soak for awhile and reinstall it. Hopefully having the system cycle the valve fully open and having water flush it out will help clear out any remaining debris and allow it to close tightly. If that doesn't fix it, I'll bite the bullet on a new valve since it is now obvious that the problem is the valve and not the control system.

Thanks for all the info! I'll let you know the result.

Jim
 
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Old 01-06-13, 06:49 PM
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Success! When I first flipped the breaker and turned the water on after reinstalling the solenoid valve, the humidifying light briefly came on before the "call service" light lit, and it gave the code for tank overflow again, just like before. But I figured it might need to cycle the valve to get the supply solenoid to shut properly after cleaning it out. So I reset the unit, and when the tank was filling, I shut the water supply valve off as soon as the "humidifying" light came on indicating the water got up enough to hit the water level sensor, but not yet overfilled. I let it humidify until the "call service" light came on when the water got too low (since I had cut off the water supply valve). I then reopened the water supply valve and noticed water did not start flowing like before--apparently the supply solenoid was now stopping the flow properly. After resetting, I heard the solenoid valve humming and water started flowing. After a minute, the "humidify" light came on, and the water stopped flowing. It's been working now for several hours, so it should have cycled several times by now.

Thanks, PJ, for bearing with me and giving me enough info to help me figure it out!
 
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Old 01-06-13, 07:30 PM
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My pleasure.

Based on this issue you can probably set up a cleaning timetable to reduce the problem in the future. Maybe like once or twice a season.
 
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Old 01-06-13, 08:21 PM
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Oh, I did check the DIP switch settings and found that they are already set to the shortest automatic flush period of 10 hours. Obviously that is not enough to prevent mineral build-up, so I'll definitely do a manual clean more than the once per season I have been doing...good suggestion.
 
 

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