Yh Lh Vicks 1.5 Gal Vaporizer
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Yh Lh Vicks 1.5 Gal Vaporizer
Customer Review: Great relief
Summary: 4 Stars
My kid could not breath in nights because of severe cough and congestion. So I brought this along with Vicks vapo-liquid as I thought that would be better option over KAZ.That night she slept very well and I used it for a week, that also reduced her cough.It throws good amount of moisture in room and vicks vapours clears the blocked nostrils for easy breathing.I will recommend this product.You might need to add salt as per your water hardness for better steaming.Customer Review: Inexpensive and Got the Job Done
Summary: 5 Stars
Rather than buying an expensive unit that is heavy and hard to rinse out, my husband picked this up at the drugstore. I ordered one for my Mom's house as well. It provides warm steam which can lead to mold, but if you use it when you child has a bad cold/cough to help them breathe, it is very helpful. We used the Vicks liquid to clear his airways and felt it worked to help reduce his coughing due to stuffed airways.Customer Review: It's the 21st century, and the manufacturing quality of vaporizers is going down
Summary: 3 Stars
I got this Vicks vaporizer at the big, neighborhood, drugstore chain. I was annoyed that this was the biggest one they offered -- I think I had just thrown away a 2.5 gallon which had lasted many years.
However, just searching Amazon, and this is the biggest [old-fashioned vaporizer] they offer, also. What's with that?
I like vaporizers because they are almost silent and bacteria growth is not a concern.
The old, big vaporizer died of an electrical short, obvious when it started making burning-plastic smells. Did not wait for it to catch fire before throwing it out. It could put out a good quantity of steam for almost 8 hours without spitting.
The Vicks vaporizer has a few months of usage, so far. When it was new, by adding a few pinches of salt, I could get a good amount of steam output from the vaporizer without spitting. However, the water would only last about 4 hours, not enough to last the night. Lose a star for having too small a tank.
The Vicks is unable to generate the same amount of steam without spitting, compared to when it was new. And when the tank is less than 3/4 full, it's output is way down compared to when it was new. I assume the steam duct is clogging up with debris, or something, and the electrical elements are deteriorating already, even though I use Brita-filtered water. Lose a star for short lifespan.
I recommend getting a digital hygrometer (the other half of some digital thermometers) for about $20. I regulate the humidity in my apartment to between 45% and 50% by putting an appliance timer on the vaporizer, and having it turn on and off every hour or two, as required. (Higher percentages lead to mold, mildew, and "sick-house," and lower percentages should be used if condensation -- especially around windows -- threatens structural problems.) I monitor "dew-point forecasts" to roughly predict how I might need to adjust the timer -- if the dewpoint outside will be getting lower, you'll need more vapor supplementation to maintain the same indoor humdity. And when the little vaporizer isn't enough to keep up with really dry air, I supplement with a huge, noisy, evaporative humidifier, the Holmes HM3500 8-Gallon Console Humidifier. A small fan or ceiling fan helps to spread the vapor around a bit, and forced air heating suddenly becomes a joy when you can put your humidifier in front of its air intake to easily distribute the vapor throughout the house. Of course, then you'll need a few more hygrometers scattered around. No, but seriously, if you don't have a hygrometer, how can you know what effect the vaporizer is having?
Lose a star because regulating humidity becomes a project (you have to love it), and the Vicks doesn't have even a rudimentary humidity regulator (humidistat).
When the dewpoint gets really low, I leave the [relatively quiet] Vicks on continuously. Then, I supplement with the [relatively noisy] HM3500. The HM3500 turns on and off as its adjustable humidistat increases the humidity up to a regulated point.
I give the Vicks one star because it's been usable for a few months so far, and another star for operating quietly when it isn't spitting. How about a 3rd star for Amazon's price -- I'm sure I paid a lot more at the drug store.
In summary, if you're concerned about keeping your nasal passages from drying out, and you don't want the acoustic punishment or germ-culturing of the other types of humidifiers, I recommend this Vicks vaporizer, since there doesn't seem to be a better vaporizer available today. Faint praise...
Oh yeh: The electrical head of the vaporizer has a plastic tab sticking out of it, which makes it a nuisance to insert and remove from the tank. I think it's a child-safety feature; if children aren't a hazard around your vaporizer, feel free to break off the tab with a pliers. And the "nightlight" glows only strong enough to keep from tripping over the vaporizer -- not enough to see anything else.
Thanks; best luck.
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1/2/09
The vaporizer was spitting. If it were spitting clean water, I'd let it go since it's also putting out extra steam, but it's spitting salty water and making a mess.
When that happens, no matter what the water level is, I pour out half the water in the tank, which disposes of half the dissolved salt. Of course, that's easiest to do when the tank isn't full up. After removing half the salty water, refill the tank back to the Max line with fresh water.
No more spitting, which will last until the [natural] salts start to build up again.
Best luck.
Customer Review: Life saver for my babies colds!
Summary: 5 Stars
Running this vaporizer through the night is the only thing that helps my baby sleep when she's congested. I'd recommend it any parent with a congested child.Customer Review: Maybe worth it if you love cleaning
Summary: 2 Stars
We bought this at some local place because we wanted something right now and this was cheap (I think under $14 after taxes). It worked great at first, but it seemed to struggle after just a few days. We were disappointed but I tried to clean it to see if that would help since I saw black floaties in the tank and figured it may be deposits. Well it was, but you can't access the heating area so you have to let it sit and soak and if big chunks come loose, you have to shake it for like 5 min. to get them out. It took nearly 48 hours between soaking rinsing out big chunks of deposits and resoaking until I finally got it cleaned out enough that it worked like it originally did. Three days on and two days of cleaning are nowhere near what I would call worth it. Yes I know I've got hard water and we used filtered water afterward, but then you have to mess with trying to get the salt right so it actually produces any steam. It still needed cleaning about every other week and still took just as long to do it. Just not worth the effort.
Also, little child safety tab thing is way annoying, and if you have deposits built up toward your scheduled cleaning day the shut-off doesn't work right. Sometimes it won't turn off, sometimes the unit won't turn on.
1 star for the steam it makes right after cleaning, 1 star for the price we got.