Patent ID: 8418378

Claim:
A condensation dryer, comprising: a drying chamber for items to be dried; a process-air circuit having a first fan; a heat pump in which a coolant circulates; an evaporator; a compressor; a condenser; a throttle; a temperature sensor to measure a temperature of the coolant; and a controller to store an upper limiting temperature of the coolant and a prespecified limiting number; the controller having: a first comparator to compare the temperature of the coolant with the upper limiting temperature of the coolant; a switch to switch the compressor off if the temperature of the coolant is greater than or equal to the upper limiting temperature of the coolant and to switch the compressor on after each compressor disconnection; a counter to ascertain a number of occurrences at which the compressor is switched off, wherein the counter is incremented by 1 each time the switching-off of the compressor takes place; and a second comparator to compare the number of occurrences with the prespecified limiting number stored in the controller and to evaluate a number difference between the number of occurrences and the prespecified limiting number with respect to the presence of an impermissible operating state of the condensation dryer.