Monday, November 17, 2014

Sunbeam® Scented Humidfier Tablets, Apple Cinnamon - Model: SSTA2300-UM

Sunbeam® Scented Humidfier Tablets, Apple Cinnamon - Model: SSTA2300-UMThe scent is not too strong and that was very important to me since certain scents give me a headache. I just wish there was more availability of the product. I brought the last 10 online.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

RPS Magnetic Central Air Conditioning Vent Cover - 3 Pack

RPS Magnetic Central Air Conditioning Vent Cover - 3 PackAs noted in previous reviews, these air vent covers aren't magnetically strong enough to cling to an air vent with air coming out of it. Hell, I couldn't get them to stay on even then the air wasn't blowing, much less when it was blowing.

For air returns, these would probably work okay if the magnetics were strong enough to hold it to the register.

If you are using it for floor vents, it is fine, but I have a vent on the ceiling and it does not stay up.

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The problem is that when packed three together, the magnetic fields are weakened. I found two covers placed with the right polarity stick to a ceiling vent better. You also need to cut them to the vent size to reduce weight.

It's a good idea but the solution needs refinement.

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Unfortunately, these cover are not magnetic enough to support their weight in a vertical position, which is what I bought them for.

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All the prior reviews are acccurate and these don't work as advertised for the purposes of covering wall vents. However as weak as these magnetic covers are they can potentially work for you. Here's the solution I found that works ok:

1) First make sure to cut them exactly to size...the smaller the better as this allows them to hold their own weight much better.

2) Double them up. After you cut it to size use 2 covers back-to-back on wall vents. They will hold this way.

If all else fails you can always use those mini-magnets which are obscure and powerful enough to hold these up and get the job done.

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Jarden Consumer-Domestic Demineral Cartridge Sdc2300 Humidifier Chemical & Accessories

Jarden Consumer-Domestic Demineral Cartridge Sdc2300 Humidifier Chemical & AccessoriesI purchased a Sunbeam ultrasonic humidifier and, knowing I have very hard well water, ordered the demineralization cartridge. Initially I really didn't know if it helped but also figured it can't hurt.

I recently purchased a second identical humidifier for another room. I did not immediately order one of these, and was shocked to see the amount of white dust in the room. Since installing a cartridge in the new humidifier I have noticed a significant decrease in the white dust.

Finally, a couple of thoughts. The demineralization is accomplished through a chemical process, it is not a "filter" and as such visually it looks like water would just bypass it. This makes sense as the minerals are soluble and not floating in the water. The lifespan does not seem to be that great. A continual usage may only last a month or so. Again, I have extremely hard well water (no softener), so your mileage may vary.

The Sunbeam Ultrsonic Humidifier that I purchased January 2010 produces a white substance from the outgoing mist that coats furniture and appliances. I was disappointed that this Sunbeam Cartridge did not filter out the white substance elements. I use city water to fill the Humidifier. Any suggestions?

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this absolutely DOES NOT WORK. Using a glass tv picture tube with all static removed, I ran ultrasonic with and without filter. Barely noticeable change.

the hell with ultrasonic humidifiers unless you have easy access to constant supply of distilled water. other wise this filter is junk

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I was hoping this would minimize the white dust from my humidifier, but it doesn't seem to help. What did help was switching to distilled water.

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The illustration doesn't show it but there are holes in the cartridge that let the water through without going through the filter media. Therefore I knew before I installed it that it wouldn't work but I wanted to give it every chance. If it reduces white dust at all it's not by much. Waste of money.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Crane Warm Mist Humidifer, 1 Gallon

Crane EE-5200B FFP Crane Warm Mist Humidifier, Black, 1 GallonI've been using humdifiers for years and have tried every type. The cool mist ones mildew up quickly and the wicks are expensive. The ultrasonics are nice, but unless you use distilled water, you run the risk of breathing in bacteria from tap water, since the mist is cool and the water and any particulates that are in the water are nebulized into the air. The warm mist are the best, since the water is boiled and only the steam escapes. I have used many brands of warm mist humidifiers over the years... Holmes, Duracraft, and Honeywell. This Crane model is THE BEST yet. It hasn't leaked once. The tank size is adequate for a medium sized bedroom. I run mine on the low setting and it goes for 12 hours easily. The operation is quiet. The other brands I've tired all have the same basic design... the heating element is round with a hole in the middle and is difficult to scrub on all sides if there is a lot of hard water build up. This design has a solid heating element built into the bottom of the unit and can be scrubbed easily with a brush to remove build up. There is some basic weekly maintenance required, but it's not difficult. You need to use distilled white vinegar to dissolve build up and disinfect. One thing I don't particularly like is the blue light that comes on when the unit is turned on. It's not bright enough to light up the whole room (kind of like a night-light), but for folks who like 100% pitch-black when they sleep, this may not be for you. I'm glad I found this brand and model. For the price, it's a great machine.

I needed humidifiers for a couple of rooms and I wasn't sure whether to go with this Crane humidifier or the Vicks V745A. Both had pretty good reviews, had similar capacities, were about the same price, etc. So I picked up the Vicks model at a local store, and I ordered the Crane from Amazon.

Both models are very similar in the way they generate steam, but there are a couple of significant differences that makes me prefer the Vicks model over the Crane.

For starters, the low setting of the Crane outputs about the same amount of steam as the high setting of the Vicks, and it turns out that the Crane is a 400 watt unit, while the Vicks is only about 275 watts. I keep the Crane on its low setting overnight in the bedroom, and the water tank is almost empty by morning. The Vicks needs to be on its high setting to go through the same amount of water in the same period of time.

Second, the design of the water tank on the Crane makes it harder to fill than on the Vicks. Neither one has a tank that will fit under my bathroom sink faucet, so I have to fill them in the shower. And although the filler hole on the Crane is wider, it lacks a handle like the Vicks model has, and filling it under the shower faucet is kind of awkward.

Next, once the tank is in place on the Crane model, the bottom of the tank sits in a lot more water than does the Vicks. Not sure this is really a problem, but when you remove the tank for cleaning (there's both daily and weekly cleaning recommended for both), it drips more water on the floor. Also, the filler cap on the Crane has developed a little bit of a musty odor, and again I'm not sure if it's from sitting in more water on a constant basis.

Finally, I find the Crane model to be a bit more difficult to clean than the Vicks. The space around the heating element is much narrower, making it hard to wipe around with a cloth. The Crane also accumulates more rust deposits than the Vicks, which is probably because of its higher wattage heating element.

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I tried this for several days and it really does work well as far as boiling the water and throwing out steam. The design leaves a lot to be desired though. The tower comes apart from the base very easily and it is next to impossible to clean inside completely. The mineral buildup is really bad since there is nothing to collect it. I ended up going with the Vicks V790.

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We bought 2 warm mist humidifiers previously, a Sunbeam and a Holmes. They both were terribly noisy.

We bought this from Home Depot, same price as Amazon. It is much more quiet. Good misting output. BUT, even though this web site says it is operational for 8 hours, on the product's box, it represents 7 hours AND, when in continual use, it lasts only about 5 1/2 hours. Not very practical.

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I ordered two of this humidifiers from Amazon later last year,they were used for around 3-4 months so far.This year we started to use them again, but with the first time using, I got smoke from one of them. I opened up the bottom cover, found the heater part melted the plastic in the bottom. This unit was in my kid room, couldn't image what would happen if adult was not there that time!!!! I checked back another unit, saw similar problem, the symptom was not so serious yet, but no doubt, it will get smoke and fire very soon. This product has fire danger, manufacture should recall this product!!

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Honeywell H32012 Dirt Devil Style 12 Replacement Belts

Honeywell H32012 Dirt Devil Style 12 Replacement Beltswill use it as spares. of course as soon as i bought this, i found another spare, so now i have 3 spares :)

Just what it says it is. My vacuum is working good again! Thank you Honeywell. This requests too many words for a review.

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Friday, November 14, 2014

XIKAR Digital Round Cigar Hygrometer 832XI

XIKAR Digital Round Cigar Hygrometer 832XIAnyone who invests money in cigars should also invest in a digital hygrometer. The Xikar Adjustable Digital Cigar Hygrometer costs a few dollars more than the standard analog models but its accuracy can't be beat. Without going into an extremely long, drawn out review I would like to make a couple of points that might save the would be purchaser some anxiety.

Like most, when I received the Xikar Hygrometer I wanted to get it calibrated and in my humidor as quickly as possible. Per the instructions I first set up my hygrometer at a perfect 75% relative humidity using the Salt Calibration Method. Unfortunately, as one of the other reviewers mention, once I placed the hygrometer in my humidor the relative humidity reading fell below 60%. After a few more tries my first inclination was to fault the digital hygrometer, chalk up the experience as a bust and return the hygrometer to the seller.

Before doing so, I recalibrated the hygrometer one more time using the salt calibration method. This time I threw a couple analog hygrometers in the bag. Once I obtained my 75% reading on the digital hygrometer I also recalibrated the analog models. Once again I placed the digital hygrometer in the humidor (along with the analog) and after a few hours checked my humidor only to find that the relative humidity had plummeted not only on the digital but also on the analog hygrometers.

After a conversation with my local tobacconist and some time spent googling I realized that it was probably not the digital hygrometer that was at fault but my humidor. So here's my point. The product instructions, however scant, leave out an important point that I'll emphasize here. MAKE SURE THAT YOUR HUMIDOR HAS BEEN PROPERLY SET UP (OR SEASONED) BEFORE USING THE DIGITAL HYGROMETER. THIS MEANS YOU HAVE TAKEN THE PROPER STEPS TO ENSURE THAT THE LEVEL OF HUMIDITY IS PROPER AND STABLE AND THAT THE HUMIDOR HAS A GOOD SEAL. A moment spent googling this topic will save you hours (or days) of frustration.

Once you've done so you'll find (as I did) that the Xikar Digital Hygrometer is a great addition to your humidor, is accurate, and will help you maintain your investment in an optimal environment.

I got this hygrometer as a replacement for the analog hygrometer that came with my humidor. I also bought a calibration kit with the hygrometer and I highly recommend doing the same. Calibration of the unit couldn't be simpler; put it in the calibration bag overnight with the display visible through the clear side of the bag. I then simply hit the "calibrate" button on the front of the unit while it was still in the bag and that was it. I've checked it's accuracy three or four times over the past couple of months and it's always been right on the money. The same applies to the thermometer. The unit is solidly built and well packaged. It has a magnetic back and comes with a metallic attachment plate with adhesive on the back. It fit perfectly into the hole that my old analog hygrometer was located in so it looks like it came from the factory that way. Couldn't be happier.

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Pros:

This XIKAR Digital Round Cigar Hygrometer 832XI Looks sleek and is a small round shape. It attaches from humidor to the Hygrometer using a magnet! Much better than using Velcro.

Cons: Calibration does not work properly. After doing the simple salt calibration test and following all directions that came with my XIKAR Digital Round Cigar Hygrometer 832XI it was still misreading by 5%. My analog hygrometer was reading the correct humidity but the XIKAR was not. Disappointing but I guess I was that 1 out of 100 who received a defective product. Hopefully the new one I ordered will work properly.

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Don't expect a whole lot from this item. Not all that consistent. Hardly ever reads the same twice. Better than nothing though.

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I have found this to be a great product. i already own a Xiar torch lighter so slightly biased, but the product performs well and is accurate. Ensure that you follow the instructions to properly calibrate it. I use this in addition to the built in hygrometer from my humidor. I have yet to find those built-in ones accurate so I bought the Xiar to ensure my cigars are fresh and maintain my level of humidity.

Skuttle Model 2001 and 2101 Saddle Valve

Skuttle Model 2001 and 2101 Saddle ValveJust purchased a 10 year old home with inoperative humidifiers. Turns out both saddle valves were completely mineralized together, so the easy fix was to just replace them with new ones. These valves aren't the same as the original, but are comparable and fit perfectly in place of the old ones.