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View Full Version : AprilAire Failing again


Cliff Rohrabacher
06-09-2009, 4:49 PM
Many of you know I bought two of their Whole House units.

The larger failed in the first year. AprilAire would not deal directly with me forcing me to go to some HVAC contractor who'd charge me $700.00 for a lousy blower and motor (a glorified squirrel cage fan).
I ended up tracking their manufacturer down (German Company selling through Newark Inc. ) and bought one from them.

Then the smaller unit broke cause the cheap Mexican Capacitor burst and squirted its oil all over the printed circuit board that runs the machine.
Oddly "Mexico" was the only word on the capacitor that was clearly printed so I had no way to spec the cap for the motor other than "guess."

So I get a new Cap from Grainger and away I go. Today the On/Off switch burnt out. Burnt out~!! It fried and melted~!!

Do not buy Aprilaire products.
Just say no.
glenn bradley
06-09-2009, 6:25 PM
Ouch. Please tell me you found them randomly;y and they weren't recommended by a friend. Sorry you are having so much trouble with them. A recurring problem always seems worse than a new problem on a different item to me.
Cliff Rohrabacher
06-09-2009, 7:59 PM
Ouch. Please tell me you found them randomly;y and they weren't recommended by a friend.

They are the Go-To dehumidifier of a great many HVAC installers. In theory the equipment comes with a 5 year warranty but they don't sell to non HVAC installers so if you got yours independently as did I you are SOL for warranty service.


A recurring problem always seems worse than a new problem on a different item to me.

These two machines have had one thing after another fail. And every single one is a failure of engineering to do things right. I'd have been better off just buying cheap crap from the Borg and replacing 'em when they broke.
Jim Finn
06-09-2009, 10:40 PM
I was once an HVAC contractor and only sold one model of "Aprilair" humidifiers. The one that has no fan in it. just a valve and a water panel. The air is ducted from the supply air duct to the unit that is mounted on the return air duct. No problems with it and much cheaper. I wonder if they still make those?