Review Kaz/Vicks V4600D1 cool mist humidifier

[washman]

As the temps have dropped quite a bit and are staying there, I hauled out the 10 year old Vornado EV1 only to discover the base pan had cracked and did not take to being siliconed up. In other words, the durn thing leaked like a sieve.

 

Adding insult to injury, prior to this I purchased for $12.99 the OEM filters from Lowes only to discover they were made in China now and literally disintegrated when dampened with water. This pretty much rendered them useless.

 

I looked online and found this Vicks at my local BIG BOX, aka Home Cheapo and picked it up 4 days ago. It is one of those cool mist jobs that has a nebulizer that vibrates and a small, quiet fan the blows visible mist into the air.  The humidity control is a simple knob, rotate all the way clockwise for max output, turn it back to lessen the output. The fan runs at one speed. Not sure what construction it is, but it is very quiet indeed.  Water capacity is 1.2 gals.

 

While this unit does not pour out the moisture like the Vornado, it did manage to bring the humidity in my bedroom from 30 per cent to 42 per cent.  It took about 36 hours of constant running to bring it up that far.   It came with a Vicks scent pad sampler that I just now put in.  There is a noticeable scent of Vicks in the room.

 

Advantages...no filters to buy clean or replace. Quiet running.  3 year warranty.

 

Disadvantages.........have to clean it about every 7 days to keep the deposits of the nebulizer lest the humidity output drop. Made in China.......aren't the all?

 

[petek]

This reminds me I have to find another console humidifier on the cheap . I had a full size 3 tank Bionaire which was nice because you just lifted the 3 tanks individually and could fill them in the bathtub. What I didn't like was you had to buy those big paper wicks and replace them occasionaly. Then last year the fan started to make an annoying squeak.. rather than take it apart which it isn't meant to, I curbed it.. I'm going to get another of those console water wheel types even though they're a bit more of a bugger to fill.

 

[launderess]

Humidifier Filters

Also in that stash of vacuum cleaner bags and bits need to move on are filters for Bonaire and Holmes humidifiers.

Really need to make up a list.....

 

[retro-man]

I put the humidifier (console 2 tank model)into service a few weeks ago at the beach condo. It didn't want to start. Motor seemed to be frozen. Took it apart to look at the motor numbers to order another one. After wiping it off looked close and it stated to oil motor every 6 months. lmfao never in over 15 years have I done that. Just a couple drops of liquid bearings that I use for the grandfather clock and it turned easily then plugged it and ran it upside down for a few minutes, re oiled again then put it back together and it is working great. Nice and quiet. The motor stated to use 20 weight motor oil but I didn't have any on hand. The only place I could find to put oil was on the shaft of the motor and there seems to be a seal/bearing at the top that absorbs it. Will start doing this now at the beginning of the season from now on. It is a Bemis with a wick. I also put a furnace air filer on the back on the air intake and that prevents a lot of dust from going into the wick.

Jon

 

[washman]

Temps have moderated somewhat but will get bone chilling

still running it full chat and I have 43 per cent humidity in the bedroom now.  So far, no problems.  The Vicks scent pads are not very useful; after 8-9 hours they dry out and no more scent. Won't buy those but will invest in a mineral cartridge if I can find one.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I wonder if those scent pads

are similar to the vicks plug in vapor pads. Those dry up in about 8 hours too but I use Eucalyptus essential oil and rehydrate the pads.

 

[gusherb]

The Aprilaire 700 barely keeps up when it gets cold windy and dry, like it has the past few days. The worst day it couldn't keep it over 31% RH and I had turned the blower to on so it would run continuous. Debating pulling out my Kaz made Duracraft (I think that's the brand on it) steam humidifier or pulling out the big Holmes evaporative humidifier to assist the whole house humidifier this winter.

Another issue I'd had with the Aprilaire was the solenoid valve seal must've swelled over time as it started to barely pass any water through, took it apart then found I could adjust the valve stem to get it to work again. Never seen that happen before.

 

[mattl]

Never bee a fan of the cool mist vaporizers.  Depending on your water I found them to leave a white residue on furniture and items in the area around the units.

 

My Aprilaire is plumbed into the hot water supply and I can keep my 3500+sq/ft house at 50% fairly easily, higher if want but that creates issues.  The furnace installer said since it's on the cold air return I'd never get enough humidity without the hot water.  I have the control that has an outdoor thermometer and automatically adjusted the humidity based on temp, set and forget.  No messing with changing the humidity setting as the temp fluctuate.

 

[gusherb]

Your Aprilaire setup is the same as mine then, on the return connected to the hot water and controlled via the Prestige IAQ so it adjusts humidity setting based on OD temp. Your house must be a lot tighter if you can keep your humidity that high, like I said before this one struggles with this 3,200 sqft house on windier days. Probably all the leaky doors that need replacing.

 

[washman]

last 2 days the outdoor temp never went above 23

so when running this unit at full chat, I maintain 39-43 per cent humidity in the bedroom.  The living room/kitchen area runs around 37-39 per cent.

 

Seems to do ok so far. No white dust yet but given the relative hardness of my water, I expect to see some soon.

 

[washman]

Well the white dust is starting to manifest itself

didn't seem too much at first, but now I can see it plainly.  Part of a tradeoff I suppose, at least I am not spending 12.99 for Vornado filters 4-5x a season.

 

[petek]

I posted this in another thread,, I picked it up a few days back at a thrift store.. a Kenmore console for $12 with the big water wheel inside and infinite speed fan and humidistat. this thing really works well,, it holds a few gallons of water and needs to be refilled about every 15 or so hours depending on the how much you set it.. There's no white dust or anything but it does need to be cleaned occasionally, probably every month or so ,

 

[countryguy]

I used distilled water in my ultrasonic humidifier...no white dust at all. I buy the water cooler size bottles for $5.

Gary

 

[gusherb]

I got the solenoid valve on the Aprilaire 700 replaced under warranty as the old one wasn't letting enough water through anymore and now it's having no issue getting the RH to 32% on this 10° night. The windows are even starting to condensate...

 

[washman]

so far so good

It does not do the whole house but keeps the bedroom comfortable.  I accept the white dust as a trade off, at least I am not spending $$ on filters

 

[vacerator]

My Lenox

variable speed 2 stage heaterator unit has an April Aire style passive honeycomb pad humidifier.
I adjust the water valve to a trickle and it works just fine with minimal water draining into the bottom and down the condensate line to the floor drain. It maintains about 60% humidity. No sweat, or minute on my windows.
I change the pad once a year. It costs about $8.