How can I prevent the mineral buildup in my humidifiers? The water in my area is full of minerals. When I run my humidifiers, after 1 or 2 uses they are full of mineral buildup. Is there anything I ca

You didn't specify the brand or model, but for generic advice, try using a strong solution of white vinegar and water and soak overnight or for several days (if very scaled up).

If you were using hard water in the humidifier, try using a commercial humidifier cleaner such as BestAir products (or similar - there are many to choose from): Amazon com BestAir 3US 6 UltraTreat Ultrasonic Vaporizer Water Scale...
(Make certain it's certified for steam and/or ultrasonic use, if your using that type of humidifier).
Follow directions on box. You will have to let soak for a period of time (hours/days) to allow chemicals to do their thing.

If you are using "soft" conditioned water, just refill with soft water and allow to sit for several hours, then discard and refill. The hardened minerals will re-disolve and will be removed when you flush the unit. For hardened minerals clinging to the sides, etc, just use your fingers to break up, possibly a brush or Dolby pad and break them loose.

(Soft water has just as much minerals as hard water, but in hard water there are mostly calcium based and turn rock hard and in soft water they are sodium based (sodium bicarbonate actually) and have a weak structure).

It's important to keep a humidifier clean of deposits, not just to keep the unit running, but to avoid air quality problems (bacteria will cling to scale buildup, which make excellent breeding grounds for them).

If you use "hard" tap water, clean (at a minimum) once a week. Use white vinegar and water - 50/50 mix. If your using "soft" conditioned water, clean once a month. Same with distilled water.
You could also consider using a small amount of bactericide in the water to prevent bacteria from growing. (Okay for filter type humidifiers, but DO NOT use in ultrasonic or vaporizer type humidifiers). 1/4 cap full should suffice. BestAir 3BT 6 Original BT Humidifier Bacteriostatic Water Treatment 32 oz

It all depends on a couple of factors.

First is the type of humidifier your using. Portable or whole house connected to the furnace. Steam, ultrasonic or filter. Your unit's instructions is the best guide as to how often you need to clean it and this can vary from every day to once a heating season.

My recommendation is to watch and clean the unit as soon as you see scale forming. Then in the future, reduce this to just before you see scale forming.

The second is the type of water you are using. Hard tap water is the worst and usually will require every day for small portable steam or ultrasonic units to once a week for filter models. For central whole house humidifiers, once a month (perhaps as little as every two weeks if your water is really hard, >10 grains hardness). There is no fixed formula for this, the idea is to perform on-going, preventive maintenance.

Soft or conditioned water will contain the same amount of minerals as hard, but the softener has replaced the calcium minerals with sodium minerals. (Sodium bicarbonate actually).The result is the humidifier will still form scale but it much easier to remove. With soft water scale, you can just break up the scale with your fingers and the filters can just be submerged in clean water and the salt scale will re-dissolve.

Third, with distilled water, you may only need to clean any of these units annually. (No minerals to for scale).

With any filter humidifier, consider using a commercial bactericide to prevent the growth of bacteria when the water sits for long periods (>14 days). Not so critical with soft water as the salt will retard the growth of bacteria, but very important with hard or distilled water. Don't use this product in ultrasonic or steam humidifiers as it will be carried into the air along with the water vapor, and can be considered as toxic.

With hard water, use a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water to dissolve the scale buildup. This works best if done on a regular basis. If left go too long, it become impossible to clean properly. You need only use regular water when using soft or distilled water in your humidifier.

are you seating it right after fill ck the micro switch , may be misaligned

You really have an mineral problem. I have pretty much same here. I only use bottle water that comes in gallon size from grocery. Ot is the only way I have found other than constand cleaners or a water softener. Good luck

If your "tap water" is from a well, the humidifier may be clogged with mineral scale. Even if it is not well water, your municipal source may have a high mineral content.

Using a 50/50 solution of White Vinegar and water run through the system will usually clean the mineral scale out. In the future, I would recommend that you use Bottled Distilled Water. You can buy it by the gallon, inexpensively at grocery stores or pharmacies.

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More than likely the problem is minerals in the water. Impeller and ultrasonic designs send these minerals into the air. If the water in your area contains a lot of minerals, you will notice them as dust.

I would suggest that if you're using well water, switch to using bottled spring water or bottled distilled water. But you'll need to flush out your humidifier first. Use a 50/50 solution of White Vinegar and water. Fill the tank about half way and run the humidifier until the tank is almost empty. You may want to do this in a garage, if you have access to one, so that the vinegar odor won't remain in the house. Once this has been accomplished, dump out any of the remaining solution and flush the unit again with bottle spring water or distilled water. That should do the trick

Even if you aren't using well water, since your water supply has a high mineral content. I would strongly encourage you to use bottled spring water or distilled water in the future. By the way, a gallon of Distilled Water cost a lot less than bottled spring water. In my area I can get a gallon of distilled water from CVS Pharmacy or Food Lion for about $1.00.

Good luck. Please let me know if this solved your problem.

Rich

A concern is minerals in the water. Impeller and ultrasonic designs send these minerals into the air. If the water in your area contains a lot of minerals, you will notice them as dust. The EPA does not issue health warnings about minerals in the air, but does recommend using low-mineral water (such as distilled water) in your humidifier. Many ultrasonic models feature a demineralization cartridge that filters minerals out of the water to prevent the dust.

Good Luck

The Problem is minerals in the water. Impeller and ultrasonic designs send these minerals into the air. If the water in your area contains a lot of minerals, you will notice them as dust. The EPA does not issue health warnings about minerals in the air, but does recommend using low-mineral water (such as distilled water) in your humidifier. Many ultrasonic models feature a demineralization cartridge that filters minerals out of the water to prevent the dust.

Good Luck.

As the previous poster said, it's probably a problem with your water.

Are you using tap water or bottled mineral water? If so, there are minerals which get nebulized along with the water, and leaves a white, dusty, residue. I fill my Crane Pig humidifier with DISTILLED water, which is pretty pure. Make sure that the water is DISTILLED ONLY, since some of the water companies distill the water and then add minerals back in (they almost got me here until I noticed the label that said "with minerals added"). The reason this is important is because during the distilling process, the water is boiled, evaporated, and then the vapor is condensed back to liquid. This removes any impurities or dissolved minerals from the water. You can see Wikipedia for more on this topic here.

Additionally, I use both the Crane Demineralization Filter Cartridge (which works for the penguin as well, and gets installed in place of the original water tank cap), and the ProTec PC-1 Humidifier Tank Cleaning Cartridge (which I plop into the water tank) to keep the water both de-mineralized and bacteria free. I got both products at Amazon.com.

With these 3 things, so far I haven't had any white dust residue, and the mist feels fresh and clean.

On a side note, by using distilled water, you also prevent any mineralization from building up on the nebulizer or water level sensor, which can cause the humidifier to eventually stop producing mist...