Dehumidifier starts, stops, starts, stops about 4-5 times before actually staying on, what gives?

SOURCE: goldstar dehumidifier

The hose connector does not drain the bucket, it drains the condensate before it enters the bucket. Tube passes through back of dehumidifier by the cord wrap area. (you may have to remove a small cover)

SOURCE: Goldstar DH304 Dehumidifier

Take cover off. First check the fuse on the circuit board. If it's blown replace it. That should get the motor running, the motor might be or is going out. If the motor is bad you'll have to replace the motor. If the fuse is good and the motor is good, unhook the wires on circuit board that go to the humidity control switch. If the unit comes on with the humidity control switch unhooked, you'll have to replace the humidity control switch. Sears has them for about $11.50. Hope this helps.

SOURCE: Goldstar dehumidifier won't run

Hi,
Sounds like this unit developed a freon leak and that will make it run hot like that...cheaper to replace it then to repair...
There are many reasons for a dehumidifier to not work or collect water.
Here is a tip that I wrote to help people to figure out what is going wrong with their dehumidifier.

Dehumidifier is running but no water is in bucket
http://www.fixya.com/support/r4662409-dehumidifier_running_but_no_water_in

heatman101

SOURCE: goldstar dehumidifier dh305t7

http://www.lg.com/us/support/product/support-product-profile.jsp?customerModelCode=DH504ELY6&matchedModelCode=NOT_MATCHED&searchEngineModelCode=DH504ELY6&initialTab=documents&targetPage=support-product-profile#
Only available for DjVu reader (download link on LG site). You'll need to download and install the plugin then close and relaunch your browser. I was only able to get it to work in IE in the end with Firefox and Chrome not working. IE objected I had to "allow" the plugin to run then once again close and relaunch the browser then it finally worked. Good Luck!