I recently noticed the whole house humidifier (installed by the previous owner) stopped working (Honeywell 280A). Filter dry, no flow, no click from the solonoid valve.
I did some investigation and figured I had a bad solonoid valve.
After installation, I noticed a bad smell (burning plastic / electric) that seemed to be coming from the board in the housing next to the air pressure switch.
After looking closely, one of the components looked toasty.
I did tons of searching to try and find this part but no joy.
After getting really frustrated, I finally wondered.. what the heck does this board do anyway? And do I need it? after all, the humidostat and air pressure switch are just a series of switches that need to be closed to start water flow…. (right?).
So I omitted the board, and simply put the humidostat and air pressure switch in series and… everything seems to work great.
My question is:
– What function does this board fulfill?
– Why can I not find it anywhere for sale? (Every offering for an air pressure switch only includes the mechanical air pressure switch, and not this board).
– Am I a fool to run the system in the (simplistic) way I have it set up currently?
(Pic of PCB attached). Thanks in advance!
–Dave
Best Answer
The board is the device that inturpets the humidity levels from a sensor and turns on the water solenoid, most units also have a flowswitch to turn the system off if there is no air flow. I would want at least an air flow switch controlling the water valve so the system is not flooding the duct work when no air is flowing , I know it is very small amounts of water but over time it candbuild up. Other than flooding the duct I do not think it will cause a problem to bypass the board.