Dehumidistat installation

[roni]

I picked up a ranco j10 dehumistat to connect to a fan venting my fishroom.

My contractor connected it but it had no effect on the fan.

Anyone have a similar product? Can you walk me through how to connect it?

http://www.amazon.com/Ranco-DH55-Dehumidistat-Switch-White/dp/B002PU9P5O

[BeanAnimal]

Roni, the unit is wired just like a light switch (assum,ing it is the line voltage model and not the LOW voltage model). That is, you break the HOT (black) wire going to the fan and wire the dehumidistat in series with the fan. If you turn the adjustment dial on the unit, does the fan turn on at some point? Did the contractor also wire a wall switch in series to enable/disable the fan and humidistat?

[ludiNano]

Im no help as to why its not working. But im very interested how it turns out, since i will be doing the same project in awhile in my fishroom.

I was looking in to this unit but your's looks a lot cheaper then yours. http://www.ecogrow.com/index.cfm/product/1927/mid/96/nid/118/home.html

[roni]

Roni, the unit is wired just like a light switch (assum,ing it is the line voltage model and not the LOW voltage model). That is, you break the HOT (black) wire going to the fan and wire the dehumidistat in series with the fan. If you turn the adjustment dial on the unit, does the fan turn on at some point? Did the contractor also wire a wall switch in series to enable/disable the fan and humidistat?

Basically, the contractor wired an outlet controlled by a wall switch. He then wired the humidistat into the outlet to theoretically turn off the outlet (which the fan was plugged into). However, when I turned the adjustment dial, the fan stayed on.

In order to wire the fan in, do I cut the cord for the fan, then attach one wire from the humidistat to the black wire, then attach the other one to the remaining length of cord? How do you make this look neat? Is there a ready made unit I can just plug into the outlet and then plug the fan into?

I found this, but it looks like it turns a humidifier on, not the opposite (turning the fan on to decrease humidity).

http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-1UHG3-Humidifier-Control-Plug/dp/B001OLVNUK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1312125523&sr=8-11

I'm very leery of messing with anything electricity related.

[BeanAnimal]

The hot feeding the outlet is in series with the wall switch. The humidistate ALSO needs to be in series with the wall switch. I would make the contractor fix it.

[roni]

Hmm, I think that's what he did. I guess it's possible that I just got a faulty model. I'll try again with a new one. Any recs on a different brand since I'm reordering anyways?

Thanks for your help.

[BeanAnimal]

When you turn the adjustment dial can you hear a click as you turn the dial toward 100% humidity?

[roni]

No sound when I turn the knob.

[BeanAnimal]

The stat may be bad... That said, because your electrical knowledge is rather basic, further testing is not going to be safe or easy. I would have a qualified person come out and help you test the unit, confirm the wiring and ensure that it is working before they leave.

[roni]

thanks. I think I'll do that and return this to be on the safe side. appreciate the help.

[BeanAnimal]

Not a problems