The first DeLonghi 30-pint unit I received from Amazon looked great but did not function properly; the cooling unit that removes water from the air didn't work. I returned the unit for an exchange. (Amazon gets five stars for their excellent return process). The second unit arrived in good condition and worked for about 2 minutes before the compressor in the cooling unit stopped, never to start again. I tested the unit in an 80 degree bathroom at 100 percent humidity and it did not remove a drop of water from the air. The literature with the unit does not provide any help on this type of malfunction, but does give a Web site address ( The Web site had great graphics but no useful information. A note to the company asking if there was any way to solve the problem elicited a recommendation to return the unit.The DDH30 dehumidifier appears well-made in other respects, but clearly there is a quality control problem with the refrigeration unit, or it is easily damaged during shipment. It appears impossible for a homeowner to open the unit to do any minor repairs, so the only alternative is to return units that don't work. An electrical schematic is located behind the removable water bucket, but isn't very helpful because there isn't any easy way to access the unit's innards. I notice that the controls for the DDH30 are more primitive than the larger models. Perhaps those more sophisticated units are more reliable, but I'm not taking the chance...
In my experience, the DDH30 dehumidifier -like the DeLonghi web site -looks great but isn't very useful.
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I had been a satisfied owner of a DeLonghi dehumidifier that ran for years. When it finally went quit working, I wanted another DeLonghi and ordered this one. It arrived with a broken-off humidstat knob and a bent case, so I had to return it for a replacement. The replacement's water condensation unit didn't work at all (i.e., it didn't extract any water from the air). It also a small, strange ding that looked as if a heavy interior part of the machine had been thrown against the inside of the case so hard it made a reverse dent. I returned this DOA machine too, and asked for yet another replacement, but Amazon said no. Can't blame them.It looks to me like the real problem is the ridiculously flimsy packaging, which isn't nearly sturdy enough to protect these weighty but somewhat fragile machines during shipment. Because of this, I cannot recommend ordering this item, even though for all I know the machine itself may be excellent if it isn't damaged in shipment.
I finally ended up ordering a different brand from a different vendor, and the difference in the packaging is worth describing. The DeLonghi machines arrived in only the manufacturer's original cardboard box. Inside the box were top and bottom styrofoam pads but just air around the sides of the machine. A couple of shipping straps helped hold the box together. The boxes were torn and gouged and in generally terrible condition on arrival; one looked like it had been taped up extensively to hold it together before it even shipped. But this "other" brand dehumidifier from a different retailer arrived with bubble pack and a second cardboard box around the manufacturer's original box, which itself had styrofoam protecting the machine on top, bottom, AND sides. The outside box had a heavy corner reinforcement splint along each of the four vertical corners and there were five shipping straps holding them in place. These splints extended beyond the top and bottom of the box, which had the effect of creating short legs so that the box itself didn't touch the floor very clever. The outside box had not so much as a dent. Now THAT's how to ship a machine like a dehumidifier, and sure enough, the one inside was cosmetically perfect and has been working just fine for the week since it arrived.
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Has worked for years. Wheels need to be stronger(plastic instead of rubber and one fell off) and a little bigger for moving it.
