HELP !! moisture problem

[marcusbigdady]

I need help (ideas and or pics). Moisture in the basement. My sump and Ref. Are in the basement, A/C is on the dehumidifier (65 quart) is on and I have a small dual fan blade fan in the window blowing out, what else can I do? Sump/frag and skimmer tank are 220 gal and Ref. Is 35 gal.
Please help….Thanks

 

[hllywd]

Doesn't the window fan defeat the effects from the AC and dehumidifier?

Tim

 

[Mark NJ]

I have the same problem. I have been doing some research and although I haven't gotten to the task yet, I'm going to build a simple stud wall to enclose the sump and fuges. I'll probably use Durock for the interior walls and seal it but you could probably use the water resistant (green) sheetrock. In addition to the enclosure and the de-humidifier I am planning to install a humidistat fan inside the fish room and vent it to the outside. Set it to the percent humidity you want and it turns on and off automatically to vent the excess. There are lots out there but here is a link for an example. I figure the enclosure will isolate the humidity in fish room from the rest of the basement and hopefully be easier to manage. Good Luck
Mark

http://www.airtechenvironmental.co.uk/Pages/humidistat fans/humidistathf150.htm

 

[marcusbigdady]

Mark NJ,
I have thought about that idea the only problem for me is a house built in 1890 not much of a basement and the ceiling is low.Do you think you will have a heat problem with it enclosed and the dehumidifier running...

hllywd,
I have no A/C vents in the basement,and the air is being pushed out,the only reason i am running the fan is for heat issues,from my lights and the dehumidifier...

Any more ideas or suggestions,Am i missing something here,I am at a loss on this issue .....Thanks, everyone

 

[mattsilvester]

Hi there,

I too had problems in my old house with dampness / moisture from my reef tank. My system is currently dried out, as I am renovating the property - but when I set the tank back up I will eclosing the entire system with a near air tight cabinet. Basically, I intended to build (for all intensive purposes) from marine ply, and throughly seal it with several coats. This will then be clad with a nice fascade / cabinet etc. I will then install a humidity sensor connected to a ducted extract fan.

Typical comortable (normal) humidity levels are around 60% relative. Hence I will set the sensor to that. I suspect that the fan will probably run most of the time, hence I will be selecting a fan that is designed for continueos operation, at trickle speed. This fa will double to serve as a heat removal fan also.

As far as usuing a dehumidifer - if you have adequate extraction, all the humidty will be removed at source, and a dehumidifier should be redundant. This should be positioned outside the fish room. The reason being that if your xtract fan is taking out air with relative humidty greater than 60%, it will ned replacement air, which will be drawn in from the air around it. If the air outside the room is slightly "drier" then it will ensure that the replacement ar has a drying effect. If the dehumifier is in the fish room then you will only be extracting your dehumidified air........ and would derive no benefit from it.

As far as what humidity level to set your humidity stat to...... what ever your house is, I would set it 1% lower.

HTH

Matt

 

[Mr.Biggs]

Question for you. What is your current HVAC system like?

What is your current water evaporation rate. (how many gallons per day).

Other thoughts.
Reduce the evaporation from your tank.

WARNING this can lead to heat and gas exchange problems.

If the surface water on your tank or sump has ripples get rid of them.
Move power heads etc.. Eliminate fans that blow across the water. If you need to cool lights look at getting some glass on the top of your tank.

If water is splashing into sump run pipe below water line.

I have a 120g tank that can splash water into the sump with a fan blowing across it and will evaporate 5-6gal of water a day.

by eliminating the fan and splashing water it will be less than 1-2gal a day.

depending on your sump cover it also.

Buy a small window A/C unit and replace the dehumidifier for the summer months.
Put it in the window where the fans are.
A 5000 BTU should run you a $100 at Wal-Mart.

The dehumidifier is a A/C unit but both parts are in the same room so over all when running you will have more heat generated than lost. These are nice only in the winter time when the heat is a good by product.

The Window A/C will cool and dehumidify at the same time.

 

[BeanAnimal]

save all this little packets that come in electronics and other products that say "silica gel do not eat" and place them around the room


How many gal an day do you evap?

 

[RandyStacyE]

BeanAnimal may be on the right track.

How about a blower of some sort (a quiet one preferably) and blow air through a bunch of ‘desiccate pellets’. I’ve used desiccate pellets before at work for making dry air exiting air compressors. After the air has been through an air/water separator we ran the air through a big tube filled with these pellets and the air was bone dry. After a while the pellets start to loose some performance so you’re supposed to empty the pellets and put them in the oven @ a certain temp & time to dry back out. I don’t think they expire either. The pellets I've used were about the size of large jelly beans and they were white.

Should work in theory if the desiccate chamber was built right, but maybe the pellets would crap out too often.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I was only kidding... my goodness it would take a lot of desicant... A LOT. It would be a lot cheaper to buy and run a second third and fourth dehemidifer

 

[RandyStacyE]

I hope you don't think I'm talking about those little packets. We ran a decent size compressor for hours upon hours before the pellets needed dried out again. I thought maybe that could keep the residual moisture in check.

We bought these pellets by the 5gal pail.

 

[prugs]

I am seriously looking into getting one of these units. They are very high efficiency for a dehumidifier. Pricey, but use a lot less energy to get the same amount of water out of the air. My old dehumidifier is using more electricity than my 3 x 250watt HQI setup. It is the top of line unit per the Energy Star Program.

http://www.thermastor.com/prod_santafe.htm

 

[BeanAnimal]

The pellets are expensive... but the bigger problem is the amount of moisture they would have to remove. Big difference in trying to dry some compressed air, and drying out a room

 

[marcusbigdady]

$1,300 and pulls out 90 pint, if air permits in constant 100% plus humidity,now with that said, if i can pull out 65 pints in the same conditions and pay about $150-$200 for a unit and only save about $2.67 a year as they advertise whey spend the extra money.I know they have alot of options for the units but if you are a little handy you can build most of the stuff that are extras(vent system)...Or am i missing something.The units are nice looking but mine will be in the basement and the size is a little smaller on the $1,300 unit......

 

[marcusbigdady]

I turned off the dehumidifier last night and the humidity this morning is 64%(cheap monitor from walmart),no signs of condinsation as of yet but we will see what the after noon brings with the temp rising,I did close off my out side vent,and the window fan is still running for heat issues.

no lids on the sumps,i am running small fans,so i don't have to run my chiller,its working good so far i haven't went above 82 degrees YET...

 

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7887498#post7887498 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marcusbigdady
$1,300 and pulls out 90 pint, if air permits in constant 100% plus humidity,now with that said, if i can pull out 65 pints in the same conditions and pay about $150-$200 for a unit and only save about $2.67 a year as they advertise whey spend the extra money.I know they have alot of options for the units but if you are a little handy you can build most of the stuff that are extras(vent system)...Or am i missing something.The units are nice looking but mine will be in the basement and the size is a little smaller on the $1,300 unit......

How did you come to the $2.67 a year savings.

 

[marcusbigdady]

Sorry, i was reading it without my glasses on, it's as much as.....$275.00 a year.It also said that it uses 6.8 amps per hour which is only 1 amp less than a cheap dehumidifier

 

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7889346#post7889346 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marcusbigdady
Sorry, i was reading it without my glasses on, it's as much as.....$275.00 a year.It also said that it uses 6.8 amps per hour which is only 1 amp less than a cheap dehumidifier

Yeah, 1 amp less than a 40-50pint unit. That badboy sucks out 100 pints at 1 amp less than the cheap units.
I just checked my 4 year old whirlpool 40 pint unit. It uses 7.3amps, & it's up for sale. Any takers?