I bought a dehumidifier because my room is extremely humid. I leave it on all day and after a week, have only about a cup of water in the collector. Something must be wrong. It is near the bathroom, so there should be plenty of moisture to pull from the air. Anyone have any experience with these things? Thanks.
Does it have settings described in Chinese that you don’t understand? If so, it’s proabably set to a humidity % and will stop collecting water once that humidity level is reached. In which case you’ll need to adjust the setting to a lower humidity level.
A cup of water sounds like way too little to me. 
Your dehumidifier may suck turkey eggs, I’m afraid. Was it new? Is it under warranty?
Another thing to consider is whether it’s set correctly. Some of the electronic ones have settings allowing you to regulate humidity to a certain level. If you set it to, say, 65%, it should run quite often and collect a LOT of water (at least a liter a day, maybe two). If you set it to a higher level, it would run less often and collect less water, but it would still be at least a liter every few days – cartainly not just ‘a cup’.
What brand is it, and what controls does it have? Do you know what they say in Chinese (presumably)? You might have accidentally set it on an alternative function such as “air purify”, too.
I have a Kolin. Pressing the function button cycles it through the following (my quick translations):
- dehumidify to a 60-70% humidity level
- dehumidify to a 50-60% level
- continuously dehumidify (i.e., always on)
- clean (filter) the air
If I had it set to 4, it wouldn’t collect water at all, or barely any. Maybe yours is set to something like that? A non-dehumidifying function?
If you don’t read Chinese, try taking a picture of the control panel and posting it. If you don’t know how, send me a PM and I’ll walk you through it.
Good luck!
You should have more water to empty out over a week.
1st: What is near the bathroom? Your room, the dehumdifier, or both? Are you in a single room or multiple room dwelling?
2nd: What brand is your dehumidifier?
3rd: Does your room feel drier? Is it comfortable for the skin? Maybe it’s working fine.?
I empty mine twice a day, about 2 liters a pop. Luvs it.
I haven’t bothered with one in Taiwan but used to have 2 in Hk and they would regularly fill up in a day. Even on the low settings they would suck up oodles of water. Am I right you shouldn’t drink it? why? Should I just write to the new scientist?
Not unless the toilet is empty. 
my dehumidifier only has 2 settings: dehumidify and “clean the air.” perhaps he has it on the “clean the air” setting. If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder it’s not filling up.
Make sure the light is on the
除濕
setting.