It was a bad day, then it was a good day.

[Amnesia]

Last August, we bought a Midea dehumidifier for almost $300. It worked well then. We didn't use it for a while and when we turned it on, it didn't work. The electronics were fine, but it wasn't dehumidifying. We think it leaked its refrigerant. So, we contacted customer support and they said we could exchange it at Home Depot. We did that.

When we tried to use the second dehumidifier, it also didn't work. This time, the unit was reading the room humidity wrong. It stayed between 30% and 37%. Well, we knew the room RH was in the mid 60s. This thing was about 30% wrong. That meant it wouldn't run automatically. It doesn't operate below 35%. So, in another session with their customer support, we were told we couldn't exchange it, but we could return it for a refund.

This is when an ordinary day became a bad day. We went through several layers of management at Home Depot, only to eventually be told they wouldn't let us return it. So, the Midea representative was wrong—or maybe just trying to get rid of us. We were mad at this point. So, instead of taking the unit home, we just parked it on a cart in front of the store. My thinking was we were out $300 and this was junk, so why not let the store do whatever is to be done with junk of this type. We walked away from it.

This is when a bad day became a good day. Once home, I opened the email that asked me to rate my customer service experience. Well... It was one of my best rants. Enough said. Within 10 or 15 minutes of me hitting the submit button, we received a call from Midea support. They were apologetic and offered to send us a check for the full cost of the dehumidifier. I felt bad about the lousy rating and victorious by not having lost $300. I do wonder what happened to the abandoned unit.

 

[Rootsruler]

Home Depot has gone to shit. Their return policies punish customers. I've been told several times by their management that it's because of store theft that they have to have tighter control on returns. I called bullshit in one of my conversations with them and told them the problem you are having is coming from within yet you are punishing your customers for your lack of employee theft control.

They didn't like that.

They flagged the account I've had there for years and will not allow me to return ANYTHING. I can buy whatever I want but if I try and return it my account flag will show up and they will deny my return accusing me of being a "serial returner". I called and complained to them that this is total horseshit because my friend who lays tile returns all kinds of stuff regardless of how long he's had it. They take my information and then tell me they'll refer it to their higher ups as they don't have any control over those decisions. Wanna guess how many calls or emails I've gotten back?

Fuck HD!

 

[Amnesia]

Home Depot has gone to shit. Their return policies punish customers. I've been told several times by their management that it's because of store theft that they have to have tighter control on returns. I called bullshit in one of my conversations with them and told them the problem you are having is coming from within yet you are punishing your customers for your lack of employee theft control.

They didn't like that.

They flagged the account I've had there for years and will not allow me to return ANYTHING. I can buy whatever I want but if I try and return it my account flag will show up and they will deny my return accusing me of being a "serial returner". I called and complained to them that this is total horseshit because my friend who lays tile returns all kinds of stuff regardless of how long he's had it. They take my information and then tell me they'll refer it to their higher ups as they don't have any control over those decisions. Wanna guess how many calls or emails I've gotten back?

Fuck HD!

That's awful! It's much worse than my story. I'm not sure who to blame. I wouldn't be surprised if my account were flagged, too. We usually go to Lowe's.

This humidifier series we bought has good specifications. It has WiFi, adjustable humidity levels and a large tank. If only it worked.

 

[Rootsruler]

It sucks because I'll get calls to go do a remodel on someones home and if I can't return material and parts that I didn't use I have to eat the cost. I could just piecemeal it and get what I think I'll need but you know how that goes. There's always something you forgot or didn't get enough of. Making multiple trips to the store just kills my day.

Other than HD I'll by extra in case the client wants to change something up or I'm not sure how much of that material or part I'll need and when I'm finished I return what I didn't use.

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I did a pretty in depth analysis when I was looking for a dehumidifier so I have a fairly decent handle on what's out there and what will work. What are your requirements?

For my setup, I have a 30 pint dehu with drain hose. I like to have a unit that has a discharge hose so that I don't have to keep dumping the reservoir. I route the condensate into a feed reservoir. After a few days there's usually enough condensate to be able to water the girls without having to draw from the house.

My last run was Gorilla Glue. I was in flower week 4 and left to California. I set up a DIY Auto watering system and allowed the dehumidifier to dump the condensate directly back into the reservoir. I set the solution to 1200ppm, filled the reservoir with 25 gallons and left. I was gone almost 6 weeks. Week 4 of my trip, a friend went by and topped up the reservoir with 5 gallons of water and reupped the PPM in the solution to 1000 ppm. When he tested before topping off the solution was at 840ppm and he said there was around 15 gallons of water still in the reservoir.

 

[Amnesia]

I did a pretty in depth analysis when I was looking for a dehumidifier so I have a fairly decent handle on what's out there and what will work. What are your requirements?

Thanks. We'll need a new one. We moved our growing to a smaller room, so we don't need one as big as the one we had. It was a 50-pint model. What we think is most important is the ability to set the humidity level. WiFi would be nice, but not necessary. We don't need a pump. A 30-pint capacity would probably be about right.

 

[MDK]

Hey, some items just suck. Sometimes policy and bullshit sucks even harder. You won for not only you, but for every other little guy that lost. So cheers. Have a big fat schmokey you earned it, well done.

 

[Pipecarver]

Thanks. We'll need a new one. We moved our growing to a smaller room, so we don't need one as big as the one we had. It was a 50-pint model. What we think is most important is the ability to set the humidity level. WiFi would be nice, but not necessary. We don't need a pump. A 30-pint capacity would probably be about right.

I have a 30 pint and a 35 pint dehue, with the 35 pint running I no longer need the 30 pint. I bought the 35 because my 30 just couldn't keep up and was running 24/7....My point is if you can find a 35pint close in price to a 30...get the 35. I'm in a cold damp basement with 99% humidity outside and I can hold my humidity to 52% and my dehue set at 45%...my 30 pint couldn't do that

 

[Amnesia]

I have a 30 pint and a 35 pint dehue, with the 35 pint running I no longer need the 30 pint. I bought the 35 because my 30 just couldn't keep up and was running 24/7....My point is if you can find a 35pint close in price to a 30...get the 35. I'm in a cold damp basement with 99% humidity outside and I can hold my humidity to 52% and my dehue set at 45%...my 30 pint couldn't do that

We almost don't need one, now. We were using a room behind the garage as our lung room when we bought the dead humidifier. That room is large and isn't connected to the house's air system, so we used a portable A/C and the dead dehumidifier. (That room also had a problem with spider mites.) Now we're using a spare bedroom inside the house. We can open the door to the room when it gets too humid in there. That mostly works but makes the house more humid and I'm getting complaints. The house system also dehumidifies to about 50%. I center the RH for the plants at 60%, except during flower when I keep it lower. Anyway, I'm sure I don't need a 50-pint model now.

 

[Amnesia]

Hey, some items just suck. Sometimes policy and bullshit sucks even harder. You won for not only you, but for every other little guy that lost. So cheers. Have a big fat schmokey you earned it, well done.

Thanks. I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm glad Midea support came through. I wasn't impressed at all with Home Depot. I think those two corporations need to think about their policies.

 

[CannaGranny]

Thanks. I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm glad Midea support came through. I wasn't impressed at all with Home Depot. I think those two corporations need to think about their policies.

So, Midea did this without requiring you to change your comments? They required nothing else from you? Interesting!

 

[Amnesia]

So, Midea did this without requiring you to change your comments? They required nothing else from you? Interesting!

That's correct. I imagine they just wanted to close the case.

Now I feel bad about being mad at the Midea support folks. Their support was good, and they did come through in the end. However, they told me I could take it to Home Depot for a refund, and that was bad information. Home Depot is a long drive for us, so that made the situation worse. I think @Rootsruler is right. Home Depot is trying to protect itself from dishonest people and everyone else is being penalized in the process. They're not the only businesses that have that problem, though.

 

[Rootsruler]

That's correct. I imagine they just wanted to close the case.

Now I feel bad about being mad at the Midea support folks. Their support was good, and they did come through in the end. However, they told me I could take it to Home Depot for a refund, and that was bad information. Home Depot is a long drive for us, so that made the situation worse. I think @Rootsruler is right. Home Depot is trying to protect itself from dishonest people and everyone else is being penalized in the process. They're not the only businesses that have that problem, though.

If you feel bad go to their site and post up your experience including who the actual culprit is. I understand that gear is going to break at some point. Even new sometimes gear gets bounced around after it leaves the factory. All understandable. You had a good experience, not so much with the gear but with the integrity of the company. Certainly a reason to give them another chance. Doesn't mean I'll keep them at the top of my list but if I see something interesting from them I'll at least consider it knowing that the company has some integrity.

I would still go with another 50 pint. You may not need it as much but there will be a point in your grow where you wish you had it.

I bought an ACI T3 humidifier so that I could automate the humid portion of my grows. It's not a lot of time over the entire grow time but it's there when I need it and I don't have to manually adjust it. One less thing I need to stay on top of other than making sure the unit is doing its job.

My dehu's thermostat works decently so I don't really need to do anything to keep it in range. Do I wish it could drop humidity even more? Of course but now we're talking about moving into a commercial dehu.

My quest is to be able to quickly dial in my entire system at the beginning of every grow so that once I have it set I can concentrate on keeping disease and pests away from them. I don't like to helicopter over my grows. Once they're in range I close up the tent and let them do their thing. Me staring at them will not increase their growth rate.

 

[Amnesia]

Certainly a reason to give them another chance. Doesn't mean I'll keep them at the top of my list but if I see something interesting from them I'll at least consider it knowing that the company has some integrity.

Midea makes a lot of products, so you'll probably see them when shopping for appliances like refrigerators and freezers. They make other dehumidifiers, too. I'm sure they're a good company, but I don't think I want to talk to their customer support again.

I would still go with another 50 pint. You may not need it as much but there will be a point in your grow where you wish you had it.

I'll think about it. I haven't started shopping for one yet. The smaller ones usually don't have adjustable RH level. So, that's an incentive to get a larger one. Opening the door to let the A/C dehumidify is working okay in the meantime. I'm getting complaints about the room smelling musty, though. I can't smell anything due to brain damage, so I must rely on other people to tell me about odors.

I bought an ACI T3 humidifier so that I could automate the humid portion of my grows.

I have one of those for my 2x4 tent. It's automated, too. I have mine outside the tent. That makes more room in the tent and it's much easier to fill the tank. I like those features. I've had a few issues with ACI, but I like their features. This week, I'll be adding a Controller 69 Pro to my smaller tent with an inline fan. The shipment is supposed to arrive Wednesday.

My quest is to be able to quickly dial in my entire system

Mine too, but I also like to be able to tweak it from just about anywhere, mostly due to weather changes.

 

[Rootsruler]

How do you like the T3? I haven't used it yet as I received it after I was in flower where I didn't need to increase humidity but I'm hoping I can set it and forget it for the next run.

I'm tempted to upgrade the 5 x 5 with a T8 and Controller 69 Pro and move the T6 over to the pair of 2 x 2's I have. One of the 2 x 2's has 3 mothers in it while the other is currently finishing up a couple of plants I had originally used to showcase the VS1500 I won in a raffle at the farm. I can T off both tents into the T6 and get all the air movement I need. Actually a bit of overkill for both but better to have too big than too small.

 

[Amnesia]

How do you like the T3?

So far, it's just about perfect. I mentioned that it's outside the tent, which is nice. It has variable levels of humidity, too. The tank size of over a gallon means it doesn't have to be refilled often. I have a smaller one in the smaller tent that needs to be refilled every few days. It's not a problem, but more time between refills is a plus.

... and move the T6 over to the pair of 2 x 2's I have.

I've given some thought to connecting two or more tents and maybe circulating the air between them. If done well, one controller might be sufficient. That would probably be true of heaters and humidifiers, as well. The plants in the tents probably would have to be close to the same stage of development, though. I've also considered having a tent just for equipment, so that the air would be heated, humidified or dehumidified in the second tent. I'm still pondering where to put the sensor--probably near the canopy where I place it now, but a duct might provide a better sample.