Why Does My Humidifier Turn Off After Turning On?

Why does my humidifier keep turning off? And what can I do about it?

This is the dilemma that many people find themselves in at one time or another. Your appliance works just fine and then one day, it starts turning itself off, without lowering the humidity.

On this blog, we have discussed many humidifier problems before, including ultrasonic humidifiers making white dust.

We also looked at the most important checks you can carry out if you notice that your Pure Enrichment humidifier is not working.

Here, we shall look at another common problem of your humidifier turning off after every so long.

So, why does my humidifier keep turning off? It could have run out of water, or it could be broken down.

Also, when the humidifier is not set up properly, it might not sense the tank and therefore it might refuse to turn on.

Homedics humidifier keeps turning off – Things to check

A humidifier that just won’t stay running can be very frustrating. Remember, this can happen even to a humidifier that you bought yesterday.

Also read: Why is my dehumidifier blowing cold air?

If it is too old, perhaps it is time to toss it into the trash can and get another one. But if it is new-ish, well, it is time to do these three checks:

1. If it is a warm mister – check heating elements

If you have a warm mist humidifier, sometimes, a layer of minerals could coat the heating elements. The appliance will just refuse to start or it will shut down after a short time.

Once you clean the elements, it should work. Perhaps you might even need to change the elements.

If it is a cool mist humidifier, try the most common checks. First, you should check whether the tank has water.

Since this appliance produces mist from the water in the tank, if there is no water, it just won’t turn on. If it does, it will not run for long.

Also read: Temperature and humidity relationship chart

2. Check the humidity settings

If your humidifier keeps turning off, you need to check the humidity settings that you have entered.

If the humidity setting is too low and the humidistat senses that the set humidity level is good, it will just shut off. Even if you restart it, it will shut down after some time.

To ensure that this is not the problem, try setting the humidity a bit higher and then watch what happens. If it works alright, you definitely have set the humidity level too low.

Also check that the tank contains enough water, ensuring it is full.

3. Check mineral deposits on the filters

Cool mist humidifiers come with filters, and when they clog up with minerals, they become hard to fix.

You have to open the appliance to access the filters. You can either clean them or replace them altogether.

It is vital to note that not all cool mist humidifiers come with filters. Therefore, do not be surprised if yours doesn’t have one.

Just follow the guidelines in the user manual to open up the appliance and check inside to see what could be wrong.

If you are not sure how to go about it, just leave it so that you don’t void the warranty.

4. Water in the circuitry

Because this appliance works with water, some times, some water will find its way to the circuitry. It can happen from spills when you are attaching the tank, or from other related accidents.

If you are good with your hands, you can dismantle the humidifier by removing the tank, the base and other parts.

If you access the wiring and you find that it has water, that is the reason for the unit turning off all the time.

You just need to dry it well, which might take a few days. In most cases, you do not even have to dismantle the unit. Just leave it for several days without using it to dry up completely.

5. Check the humidifier tank cap

In some cases, we have had issues of humidifier going off due to tank cap being too tight such that it creates a vacuum.

However, that is just a few isolated cases. In many instances, if the humidifier tank cap is not installed correctly, the unit keeps going off!

Remove the cap, put it back correctly and see whether the humidifier will stop going off.

6. It was faulty from the factory

There have been cases of humidifiers that just stopped working or that did not raise humidity to the set level despite running for hours on end.

Some humidifiers come with manufacturing defects. If you realize that this is the problem, just return the unit for a replacement or a refund.

This is why you should always find out the warranty on the appliance that you are buying. Warranty ensures your purchase is risk-free.

PureGuardian humidifier keeps turning off

Guardian Technologies is the one-stop center for small, comfort appliances that you can use to enhance your indoor spaces. They make humidifiers, dehumidifiers, diffusers and others.

If you have one of their portable humidifiers at home, well, you will want it to run continuously, whenever it is in use, until it increases humidity to the desired level.

However, as happens with other appliances, from time to time, your PureGuardian humidifier might start turning off arbitrarily.

Many things could be causing this. However, as we have shown you in other parts of this article, always start with the simplest checks.

For instance, if the mist falls on the humidity sensor, it might trigger the sensor into thinking that the humidity is high. Therefore, it can keep turning on and off.

Another simple check you should make is the cap. If it is tied up too tight, it could be creating a vacuum. To see whether this is the issue, loosen the cap a bit, leave it holding on by a few threads.

If you do not set the humidifier just right, it might keep going off. The tank has to be positioned right, the filters cleaned and the mist settings just right.

For this, you should go to the Guardian Technologies website, and download the user manual for your small space humidifier model.

Vicks humidifier keeps turning off

In another article, we saw that you can use a Vicks humidifier without VapoPads.

However, like other small space humidifiers and dehumidifiers, even Vicks is not immune to the issues they face.

Vicks makes some of the quietest humidifiers in the market, good enough to use in baby’s room.

If you have a unit and it starts going on an off, do the regular checks such as power cord check, water level check, humidity settings check and others.

Vicks humidifiers have extra features because they come with a scent pad that you can use for essential oils for babies. However, even such models still operate very well without the scent pad.

These humidifiers do not have any special problems associated to them. They operate just as good as other brands in the market, even better to some extent.

If you notice the humidifier going off without increasing the humidity to the desired level, check the settings again.

If your indoor humidity was 35 before turning on humidifier and you mistakenly set to 37, the humidifier will run for a short time and then it will stop.

Usually, setting the right humidity level should solve this problem. Always keep the humidifier clean, checking the filters and replacing them when due.  If they get clogged up with grease, they might fail to work.

Change the Vicks humidifier Vapopads after the recommended number of hours.

Crane humidifier keeps turning off

If you own a Crane humidifier, you might experience it going off unnecessarily. This does not mean that the humidifiers are bad. In fact, Crane is one of the best brand names for small comfort appliances.

If you find many Crane humidifier problems, there are common checks to make. However, the most common problem that turns humidifiers off is overheating.

If a unit runs without enough water, it might overheat. It will then switch off as a safety measure to prevent damage.

If you see a red light on the humidifier, it means there is not enough water. Therefore, unplug it from the wall, let it cool down a bit, add water to the required level and run it again.

Humidifiers also have water level sensors. Sometimes, these sensors might sustain damage and fail to read the water level correctly. If this happens, you would need to replace the sensor of your Crane humidifier.

Another consideration is water in the wiring or circuitry of the humidifier. If you realize this is the problem, you will need to dry it out completely. This can take a few to several days.  You have no option but to wait it out.

Why Humidifier Keeps Shutting Down: FAQ

Humidifiers can stop working because of a number of reasons. Here are some frequently asked questions that might help shed more light on troubleshooting a humidifier when it fails to work:

Why does my Crane humidifier keep shutting off?

If a Crane humidifier cannot run continuously, check the simple things first. These are the power cord, the amount of water in the tank and whether there is water in the base (it will fail to work if there is too much water). If the humidifier is under warranty, call Crane.

Why does my Vicks humidifier keep turning off?

Check whether the heating elements (for warm mist Vicks humidifier) are coated with scale. It comes from minerals in hard and tap water. Check that the cable is not burnt or cut, and ensure there is water in the tank. Poorly maintained humidifiers can also grow mold and cause humidifier sickness.

Why does humidifier turn itself off?

If a humidifier has a humidistat, it will work the same way as a thermostat. Once it boosts the humidity to the set level of 30 to 50%, it will switch off automatically. Enter the right settings because too high humidity can cause mold.

Why does my dehumidifier shut off after 5 minutes?

the main reason for the humidifier turning off after 5 minutes is not setting the humidity level correctly. Therefore, the unit runs for a few minutes, reads humidity level as good and turns off.

But this only happens with humidifiers that have a built-in humidistat, such as the LEVOIT Dual200S Smart Cool Mist Humidifiers that you can buy on Amazon.com.

If you have the regular Vicks humidifier, you will have to turn down the mist output manually since it does not have a humidistat.

A faulty humidity sensor also causes the humidifier to keep going off. Mostly, when the sensor fails, it requires replacement.

The humidity sensor is located at the bottom/base of the humidifier. If you do not place the unit on a flat, level surface, the sensor may fail to work.

Conclusion: Why humidifier keeps shutting down

If your Homedics Total Comfort humidifier keeps shutting off, one of the above three checks should establish the problem.

It is also a good idea to check whether the power cord is alright. If you smell a burn, it has shorted or something.

Hopefully, this should help you solve the problem of your humidifier turning off all the time.