Cautions

[stickmaker]

If you have a dehumidifier which drains through a hose, you should - about once a year - clean the hose out.

That is, hook it to a water source - your water heater will do - or use a shop vac, and clear the house. Flush it.

Even with an air filter (How long has it been since you cleaned *that*?) you will get dust and bacteria buildup, which can clog the hose and cause water to come out someplace else.

I normally do this sort of maintenance (which includes flushing the water heater and cleaning the heat exchange coils in my refrigerator) over Thanksgiving weekend, just so I remember to do it. This time, though, I noticed my dehumidifier draining onto the (fortunately concrete) floor and did the job early. After drying out the machine, I washed the filter and used a shop vac to clear the hose.

Dripping freely, again. :-)

Comments

[kengr]

A trick for cleaning hoses I picked up from watching the local water department cleaning water mains...

The stick a big clock of foam rubber in at one end of a main and then reconnect it to the system. A bit later the foam rubber block and an *amazing* amount of rust and gunk comes out at the other end.

I tried it when cleaning slurry hoses where I then worked. I small wad of paper towel and hooking up to the DI water hose forced the wad thru and cleared out all sorts of stuff (and later led to tracking down a problem with the DI system because the weird globs coming out caught someone's attention)

When trying this, be careful until you get a feel for the "right" size wad. Too big and you either have to rod out the line, or apply pressure from the other end to get it out.

Too small just fails to clean. But it can be tricky.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Good tip. Thanks.