To reduce canister replacement costs. Remove the canister and clean at the beginning of the winter season. This is when the minerals have dehydrated to their maximum . They are most friable in this state and most susceptible to breakage and release from canister inner lining. Tap the wall of the canister to dislodge the material residue. Remove the plastic drain filter by taking a small dowel(or the like) from the opposite end of the canister, and gently tapping it out. Continue shaking and tapping the sides of the canister until no more falls out. Then, take some duct tape and close off the end which had the drain filter. Make sure it seals watertight. Pour 6 ounces of CLR (or vinegar, if less ambitious)to canister. Turn on side so CLR sloshes around the bottom. Slosh, and let rest for a few minutes, repeat 4 -5 times. You will hear large pieces of mineral/calcium buildup dislodge into the liquid. Tap some more while sloshing. Drain the debris and solution out of canister. Fill with clean water to flush out remnant surfactants. Repeat entire process till you are satisfied. One last thing. Untape the drain end, and carefully look to the opposite end of the canister to the level sensor probe. The lower tip of this probe can calcify quickly. If there is still minerals on it take a strong stiff rod of some sort(metal rebar worked for me) and chip off the residue. Finicky but achievable. Flush unit again and reinstall. Ohh, vacuum out the drain cup and valve assembly directly when everything is dry. Moisten the red inner O ring before inserting canister. The red o ring is replaceable at most hardware stores. It may not be red , but the right size. Hope this helps to defray rapidly increasing canister costs. If you have really hard water a mid winter cleaning might be prudent.

@riderCraig

3 ай бұрын

Great advice to extend the life of the canister, I was running my humidifier on hard water for a few months before we installed a water softener. The canister was pretty much toast after 4 months of total use because the electrodes were caked with minerals. I will try your method of cleaning them. Thanks

Thanks for reminding me to turn on the humidifier in my new house.

I wonder how many amps it was pulling there towards the end. 🤔 Cool vids, thanks for the update too!

A scale inhibitor in the water feed line should be a standard part of a steam humidifier install. The money saved in electricity from the reduction in corrosion and improved efficiency means the ~$50 setup likely pays for itself in a couple months. This video shows the best case scenario for corrosion & sediment build up in the canister. After 1 winter using city water that isn't very hard my canister had a an inch of sediment built up on the bottom. The drain valve got clogged and the heating elements were covered in 1/4" of corrosion. A simple fix to this is installing a scale inhibitor in the water feed line. ~$25 for the mount parts & ~$20 for the cartridge. Two months after installing the scale inhibitor my old steam canister has minimal sediment at the bottom and the corrosion on the elements is has nearly all come off. So a $20 cartridge every year to keep your steam humidifier running more efficiently, going several years without needing a new steam canister, and nearly eliminating annual/monthly maintenance. Compared to a ~$100 steam canister every year or 2, needing to clean the canister out every few months, and a higher electricity bill.

Thanks for watching! I think it is interesting to see how your water effects the condition of your canister. The harder your water is the sooner you will need to clean or replace your steam humidifier canister.

Thanks for sharing, as the quality of the water in the heating canister degrades and shows discoloured deposits, does it also cause a stale smell in the steam distributed throughout the house or does this unit flush stale water and refill the unit with fresh water as a course of it working cycle?

@joed1746

Жыл бұрын

It adds new water as needed and if steam is not needed it drains the water after 72 hours.

Need a water softner if you have anything but soft water

Can this Canister be cleaned up by using vinegar or CLR cleaner?

My furnace went out this last Tuesday and I had to make a snap decision on a new one. I also bought the steam humidifier. Your videos helped me understand everything that was not explained to me. Can your dad explain the RH and how to properly adjust the 1-10 dial? How long should I wait to see humidity change? Should the humidity remain constant? I'm trying to get it at 35 and can't seem to do it and was starting to regret my decision. Thank you.

The canister price is up to almost $100/ea now 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️ Used to be around $50/ea Also they now recommend replacing both wire leads for the canister every 3 years

@Honda1k

8 ай бұрын

Half the price works just as well

Hello, Great videos! I've watched several of them and they are very informative. I am learning about whole house humidifiers. I have a couple of questions, The HVAC installer suggested a steam humidifier, however, videos have suggested they are good for larger houses. I have a small 1,500 square foot house. Is this too small for a steam humidifier? Also, how much are the canisters to replace (roughly)? Thanks! Trish

@deftdawg

Жыл бұрын

Depends on the unit, I have a GF-5500 and it has settings for power that can be used to reduce how much power it uses to heat, mine is low setting on 240v, but if that was going to be too much you could run it off 120v too... Keep in mind that it also has a humditstat that you cut into your cold air return duct and you set the target humidity with that, so power level is more about how quickly (power) you are adding water than how much water (humditstat controls how much)

Why would my cannister not even be filling up?

@victork3397

3 ай бұрын

Clogged water line Incoming water shut off Burnt control board Bad water valve Gives you a place to start

@flipside5168

2 ай бұрын

@@victork3397 Thank you. I'll look into this suggestions.