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(More customer reviews)I got a good chuckle out of reading some of the negative reviews on this unit. I own an industrial water treatment contracting company and it always strikes me as funny how uneducated people are with water, something they use every day. I figured I would take a minute and clarify a couple of things for people that use or are planning on purchasing one of these humidifiers, (Oh and yes I actually own one)
Humidifiers have been a part of our family for around fifteen years after I read a study on how they can reduce the usual winter ailments, colds and flu's.
First how these units work.
If you take the humidifying unit apart, you will find two probes. I believe they make them out of a Carbon and other materials. They are round and about ½" thick, and approximately four inches long. They connect each of these probes to your electrical cord. When you plug your humidifier in and these probes are immersed in water and they create an electrical current between the two probes. This creates water that boils, and thus creates steam.
Some key facts about water. Pure water will conduct none, to very little electrical current. This is why the instructions recommend adding a pinch of salt if your unit does not produce steam.
Water is the considered the Universal Solvent. In other word's water pretty much will absorb and dissolve anything that we submerge or add to it. Sometimes instantly sometimes over time. Two key things are in water that effect these humidifiers. One is the hardness of the water. Hardness is measured by checking how much Calcium and Magnesium is in the water. The other effect is Totally Dissolved Solids, or TDS. (all the other minerals that actually dissolve into water)
When you boil water, (essentially what these units do), the vapor that they produce is considered pure water or close too pure. So in essence as the water vapor escapes the unit what is left behind are the residual minerals, (tds) and the hardness, (magnesium and Calcium). Generally the Hardness cakes on the probes and creates a cement like residual. TDS usually fall out of suspension as clumps. Gray/black sand/rock formations.
So when you read comments in these reviews about residual inside the tank, or that the unit stopped producing steam, what these people are referring to is the residual left over after the water is boiled off. Depending on the water quality of their tap, the residual can be a lot or very little.
Ok, before you purchase one of these units, just remember. It's $15.00. (Wal Mart has them for a few bucks less) Your not buying an ultra fancy $200.00 Brook Stone humidifier. These are generally one season, low maintenance, throw them away when you're done. So keep that in mind.
If you want make one last, you can get some plain white vinegar. Find a jar or container that the Humidifying unit will fit into, (without being submerged) and fill it with 3/4 vinegar ( a mild acid) and set the unit in it and let it soak for a day. Repeat as necessary until the unit operates to your liking. Note the probes inside the unit do wear out, and hard water does cake up pretty thick on the probes which increase that Wear and Tear effect. (I've taken enough of them apart to know)
Bottom line - If you want a cheap way of creating warm humidified air these are the unit for you. Don't expect anything more then what they price them at, and if you don't plan on maintaining them, ie using vinegar to keep the probes semi-clean of hardness deposits, then expect no more then one to two years of use.
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