Seeing sparks/fire in the bottom of unit from the front

They only move the air slightly. They are not like a conventional fan.

They do not rotate.

They do work effectively for mold spores and dust. If yours has not been cleaned in a while remove the front element from above and spray the stainless bars down with an acidic claener like "Formula 409" and wipe them down after rinsing. On the unit itself unplug it and remove the front and rear grill br pressing a small tab at the bottom of the grille and push upwars. Be careful with front grille as there is an ionizing wire there towards the inside of the unit. If the unit has come from someone else, with an emery board and gentle pressure just make one pass witht he wire gently between board and your finger. drawing towards the spring loaded end. Do the same to the two wires inside the unit housing if present, Witht he rear grille removed, remove the bulb and wipe it down with a cleaner if needed- it should be clear. as it is a UV bulb.

Dust out hte base area with a small paintbrush and remove as much dust as you can from it. If need be a slighly damp rag cna also be used.

With the front of the Ionic breeze unit facing you, there are 2 conductive rubber strips that also need to be wiped down with a lsightly damp rag. They should be removing some black dust. Also wipe down the inside of the front being mindful of the two stainless wires.

Let unit dry off and reassemble.

With left knob turned to left- no light should appear. Turn knob to the right and the UV tube should light and the Boost button should light up blue when pressed once- and green when pressed a second time and then off if pressed a third time. It will only light when the left knob is turned to right.

The right knob adjusts "Low," "Medium" and "High" intensity of the high voltage applied to elements.

Alow unit to dry before powering it on.

A working system should raise the hairs on the back of you hand or give you some other sensation of moving air

To stop the crackling sound, you need to remove all of the dust particles from the wire in the back. Sometimes when the unit is extremely dirty you can see sparks emanating from the wire, this is what causes the crackling sound. The unit has a built in cleaner you can lift up and down to perform this task, located on the top, but this doesn't work extremely well.

I usually take a can of compressed air and blow as much of the dust I can off the wire and all surrounding internal areas as I can. To do this, approach the unit from the front, and turn the blade door slightly so the wire can be seen. This along with a thorough cleaning of the blades should eliminate the crackling noise. Of course, make sure the device is unplugged before performing any cleaning.

When you cleaned everything did you also turn the whole unit upside down and gently shake to remove trapped dirt in the bottom of the unit. As for taking this unit apart to clean throughly there is no need. Just use some q-tips with 91% Isopropal alcohol not Rubbing alcohol to get to the small areas. Pay close attention to the small arrow shaped metal contact near the bottom of the unit. Make sure it is wiped clean and everything is completely dry. Plug unit back into power and the red button should turn green.

Sharper Image was giving customers a small rebate for the product since it was proven to be ineffective for cleaning the air by Consumer Reports as well data by the EPA.

This has caused a mess for Sharper Image that they went into bankruptcy as a result of it. The Consumer Products Safety Commission is going to be making a decision on ionizers at the end of year since there are hazards in the air from using the devices. It could be that ionizers are no longer sold in the US next year.

The industry should have been regulated and unfortunately the government never did anything about it until Sharper Image and Consumer Reports went to court on it.

After cleaning the unit, replace the grid into the unit. Hold upside down for at least 30 seconds to reset.

I have a sharper image ionic breeze hybrid gp that ran fine for years unitl it recently started sparking / arcing at the base of the grid blades and always in the same spot. I cleaned it several times but the sparking always came back and the unit went into either "drying grid" or "attention required" mode. The solution I found was to stand the removable grid in 2 inches of Pine-Sol cleaner 50/50 diluted with water for 24 hours then brush again with the cleaning brush and hot water. Presto! No more sparking.

I had the same problem with my GP. It has worked great for four years and only recently seemed to get stuck in this drying cycle. I cleaned the grid many times, cleaned the wires, cleaned the whole unit as much as I could to no avail. The trick: You need to clean the two metal prongs and surrounding area that insert into the bottom of the grid, when you inserrt the grid. they are sharp like nails, so take care. Use an alcohol based cleaners and clean the prong and around each base. This fixed the problem for me and she's back up and running well.

"A blinking light indicates when the blades should be wiped clean with a damp cloth." I actually had a "handyman" contract last year to visit an elderly gentleman once a month and clean all 9 of his Ionic Breeze GP air purifiers. Before I did that for him, they would make hissing noises and he really didn't like that. Here's how to clean the operative compnents of these machines: First, unplug the machine and place on a work surface, such as a table or kitchen counter. Second, remove the metal blade insert from the top by gripping the release tab and lifting it up and out. Also remove the front and back grilles by pressing on the plastic tab at the bottom and lifting up on them. Third, use a damp rag or paper towel to wipe the three metal blades clean. Do not immerse this assembly in water, because it has to be completely dry when re-installing it in the machine. Fourth, use a small piece of damp paper towel to VERY GENTLY wipe clean the two thin wires inside the unit. These are located behind the two rubbery flat blades just inside the unit and can be accessed from the front side. You won't damage these rubbery flat blades by pushing your hand gently between them, but be VERY CAREFUL when wiping the wires clean. (This step is important, as the wires must be clean.) Fifth, using another bit of damp paper towel, carefully clean the wire attached to the inside of the front grille. Dry this off with a dry bit of paper towel, then clean any accumulated dirt off the front & back grilles. Check the metal contact near the bottom of the front grille (attached to the wire) to verify that it's clean and will make good electrical contact. Sixth, pick the unit up and turn it upside-down & right-side up about 6 to 8 times. The two wires inside have plastic beads on them that slide up and down the wires. This brushes any bits of leftover dust or lint off of the wires. (Again, these wires must be VERY clean.) Seventh, replace the front and back plastic grilles by placing them in their slots and sliding them down to snap into place. Verify that the assembly with the three metal blades is COMPLETELY dry, using a hair dryer if necessary to dry off damp areas, then slide it back into place from the top of the machine. Now the cleaning process is done, so plug the unit in and turn it on to test operation. If it makes ANY noise, then some component is not completely cleaned off, or still has a presence of moisture, which must be completely dried off before the machine is ready for operation. Hope this helps! ;)

"A blinking light indicates when the blades should be wiped clean with a damp cloth." I actually had a "handyman" contract last year to visit an elderly gentleman once a month and clean all 9 of his Ionic Breeze GP air purifiers. Before I did that for him, they would make hissing noises and he really didn't like that. Here's how to clean the operative compnents of these machines: First, unplug the machine and place on a work surface, such as a table or kitchen counter. Second, remove the metal blade insert from the top by gripping the release tab and lifting it up and out. Also remove the front and back grilles by pressing on the plastic tab at the bottom and lifting up on them. Third, use a damp rag or paper towel to wipe the three metal blades clean. Do not immerse this assembly in water, because it has to be completely dry when re-installing it in the machine. Fourth, use a small piece of damp paper towel to VERY GENTLY wipe clean the two thin wires inside the unit. These are located behind the two rubbery flat blades just inside the unit and can be accessed from the front side. You won't damage these rubbery flat blades by pushing your hand gently between them, but be VERY CAREFUL when wiping the wires clean. (This step is important, as the wires must be clean.) Fifth, using another bit of damp paper towel, carefully clean the wire attached to the inside of the front grille. Dry this off with a dry bit of paper towel, then clean any accumulated dirt off the front & back grilles. Check the metal contact near the bottom of the front grille (attached to the wire) to verify that it's clean and will make good electrical contact. Sixth, pick the unit up and turn it upside-down & right-side up about 6 to 8 times. The two wires inside have plastic beads on them that slide up and down the wires. This brushes any bits of leftover dust or lint off of the wires. (Again, these wires must be VERY clean.) Seventh, replace the front and back plastic grilles by placing them in their slots and sliding them down to snap into place. Verify that the assembly with the three metal blades is COMPLETELY dry, using a hair dryer if necessary to dry off damp areas, then slide it back into place from the top of the machine. Now the cleaning process is done, so plug the unit in and turn it on to test operation. If it makes ANY noise, then some component is not completely cleaned off, or still has a presence of moisture, which must be completely dried off before the machine is ready for operation. Hope this helps! ;)

"A blinking light indicates when the blades should be wiped clean with a damp cloth." I actually had a "handyman" contract last year to visit an elderly gentleman once a month and clean all 9 of his Ionic Breeze GP air purifiers. Before I did that for him, they would make hissing noises and he really didn't like that. Here's how to clean the operative compnents of these machines: First, unplug the machine and place on a work surface, such as a table or kitchen counter. Second, remove the metal blade insert from the top by gripping the release tab and lifting it up and out. Also remove the front and back grilles by pressing on the plastic tab at the bottom and lifting up on them. Third, use a damp rag or paper towel to wipe the three metal blades clean. Do not immerse this assembly in water, because it has to be completely dry when re-installing it in the machine. Fourth, use a small piece of damp paper towel to VERY GENTLY wipe clean the two thin wires inside the unit. These are located behind the two rubbery flat blades just inside the unit and can be accessed from the front side. You won't damage these rubbery flat blades by pushing your hand gently between them, but be VERY CAREFUL when wiping the wires clean. (This step is important, as the wires must be clean.) Fifth, using another bit of damp paper towel, carefully clean the wire attached to the inside of the front grille. Dry this off with a dry bit of paper towel, then clean any accumulated dirt off the front & back grilles. Check the metal contact near the bottom of the front grille (attached to the wire) to verify that it's clean and will make good electrical contact. Sixth, pick the unit up and turn it upside-down & right-side up about 6 to 8 times. The two wires inside have plastic beads on them that slide up and down the wires. This brushes any bits of leftover dust or lint off of the wires. (Again, these wires must be VERY clean.) Seventh, replace the front and back plastic grilles by placing them in their slots and sliding them down to snap into place. Verify that the assembly with the three metal blades is COMPLETELY dry, using a hair dryer if necessary to dry off damp areas, then slide it back into place from the top of the machine. Now the cleaning process is done, so plug the unit in and turn it on to test operation. If it makes ANY noise, then some component is not completely cleaned off, or still has a presence of moisture, which must be completely dried off before the machine is ready for operation. Hope this helps! ;)