Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I just bought one of these, and have had it running for two weeks now. Here is what you should know. First of all, it was fairly loud out of the box. But over the course of the first week, as the motor broke in, it became a little quieter each day. I was worried that it wasn't doing anything at first, because it really doesn't move much air. But it definately picks up a lot of crud out of the air. The 'clean' water will often become VERY cloudy over the course of 24 hours. The 'smell' addetives they include are not as critical as they make it sound. It cleans the air just fine with plain water. However, if I have company coming over, I may add a drop of the blue stuff just to help freshen up the room a little more.
I finally understand the weakness of a water-based air cleaner compared to the other types. The other ones you can just setup in some corner, and forget about it for weeks. That is not the case with this machine. Because water evaporates, you need to pay attention to this thing every day. Currently, the water goes down from the MAX line to the MIN line in about 24 hours, so I have to add or replace the water every day. I am also worried that this machine will not live very long. It seems cheaply constructed, and I am concerned it might stop working after a few months.
I bought it for a room in my house that honestly does not smell very good. I have tried cleaning it thoroughly, but that doesnt fix the problem. The smell does seem to have diminished quite a bit over these past two weeks that I have been running this machine.
I do recommend this to anyone who is looking for a low budget air cleaner, but with the understanding that you need to keep an eye on it's water level every day. Otherwise, don't bother buying it. It will not do you any good if all the water evaporates.
UPDATE July 2010: I have had this air cleaner running for about half a year now. It is still running. Although the noise level went down at first, it never comes close to being 'quiet'.
NEVER just add water to it. Always dump the water and put fresh water in. How this machine works is it sucks water up the small hole at the bottom of the spindle, and sprays it out the holes at the top of the spindle. The gunk it cleans out of the air will build up inside of the spindle. Eventually these dark clumps will break off and you will see them floating around inside the water, and they can plug up these small holes. You can reduce this problem by putting fresh water in each day insetad of adding water to dirty water.
Cleaning: The Spindle does NOT come apart, so cleaning the crud out isn't easy. I wouldn't recommend adding bleach or some other cleaning agent to the water. You wouldn't want poisonous stuff being spread into the air. I just do my best to clean the crud out of the spindle by blowing into the holes with an air compressor, or sticking small objects into the holes, like toothpicks or twist ties. It's not perfect, but thats about the best you can do without using chemicals.
Click Here to see more reviews about:
Thermax Mini Max (Large) Water Based Air Purifier/Air Freshener
Click here for more information about Thermax Mini Max (Large) Water Based Air Purifier/Air Freshener
