Posted on 04/25/2024 12:08:28 AM PDT by EinNYC
I've had an Alen FIT50 air purifier for several years. Lately, it turns itself off when plugged into a given outlet for a few weeks. Plugging it into a different outlet, it starts right back up again and works well for a few weeks. Then it stops again. I've even merely changed it from being plugged into the upper slots, where it stopped working after a few weeks, to the lower slots, where it started working again, in the same outlet. Never saw anything like this before. Does anyone know why this air purifier stops working in a given slot of an outlet and starts right up again when you plug it into a different outlet?
I sprayed a small amount of magnesium oil in the room and apparently some of the fumes were taken up by the air purifier and it seemed to short out the controls. Now the led lights indicating speed don’t work at all, the air cleaner sometimes changes the speed at which it operates. Turning it off or on is a mystery - I just touch unlit buttons until it fires up.
So I think I sprayed something that partially fried the electronics. I find it usually operates at whatever speed it feels like, going several days or weeks at one speed and then found to be operating at another speed sometimes. But, it works.
I read that you can’t operate a humidifier in the same room as an aircleaner for similar reasons - the advice article said one or the other would soon be disabled.
So the theme here is aerosols or vapor may short out or monkey with the electronics.
We had a similar problem with a microwave, a computer, and other electrical devices plugged into electrical outlets in an older house. Eventually, we got an electrician in and he quickly fixed two outlets and a light switch that had deteriorated from age. Oddly, the outlets with the microwave and computer and several other seemingly problematic outlets functioned without trouble after that even though they were not replaced.
As I understand how this could be, a bad socket or sockets on an electrical line can affect the entire line, not just the particular socket or sockets involved. In effect, a short may intermittently drain enough current to cause other appliances and devices on the line to shut down or otherwise malfunction mysteriously even though their sockets and the devices and appliances are fine.
Ask yourself... Is there really such a thing as an ‘air purifier’?
Or is it just a device to sell to bumpkins that don’t know any better?
I have not sprayed any magnesium oil in the room. Maybe some furniture polish, but that was nowhere near the air purifier. Meanwhile, I believe those outlets work for other things. I'll have to try and test them by plugging other things into the same ones the air purifier stopped working in. BTW, I had all the switches and outlets in my entire house replaced last year, so they should not be old or worn out.
I know this air purifier, with its carbon/silver filter, removes a lotta schmutz from the air. I breathe better with it.
https://support.alen.com/hc/en-us/articles/13388457556628-Troubleshooting-BreatheSmart-FIT50
Sounds like the work of a DIY electrician or failed switch or outlet. You need a good electrician.
If you unplug the air purifier and plug it back in to the same outlet, does it start working again?
Also, there are outlet testers available at big box stores that are fairly inexpensive that will indicate if your outlets have power and are wired properly.
An important test. Unplugging the device could be resetting some internal switch or timer.
Doesn’t sound like the outlet. If you don’t have a voltage tester, try plugging something else into the outlet and see if it works. If it does, it’s not the outlet.
Sounds like there is something internally wrong with the air purifier. Perhaps a safety reset built inside?
The documentation on the air purifier should tell you something.
Could be the filter needs cleaning / changing.
Restricted airflow can strain and heat the motor.
Is it a switch controlled outlet? I just replaced everyone in my house after cussing the previous owners for installing them in every outlet in the house.
That’s a good suggestion. After using my microwave oven for a while the controller gets into a bad state, cycling on and off (doesn’t appear heat related). Has done this for years. Unplugging it for a few seconds clears the problem. The air cleaner might have a similar fault.
Also, checking to make sure that the hot/neutral/safety ground in the outlets/power distribution are truly connected properly seems advisable.
30 yr electrician here. So it works when you swap the upper and lower outlets? To me that sounds like a switched outlet. Or, possibly the outlet got burned and is working on one but not the other. I’d just replace the outlet.
Had two electricians look at the situation. All circuits, switches and outlets checked out fine and were wired correctly. One electrician suggested that the crimps from the exterior drop line were poorly crimped, which had been replaced by an out of state electric company after a hurricane tore the drop line off the house.
The actual problem turned out to be decaying insulation on the drop lines, bleeding across each other. Those were the original drop lines from 1960. FPL came out within one hour, replaced the drop lines and this solved the problem. It was a very odd scenario and not common, however a HUGE fire hazard as the 110 circuits were intermittently surging to 220, as I understand it, though I'm not an electrician.
Summary...how old are your drop lines? Are other circuits affected?
A few possibilities come to mind.
I believe there will be an internal sensor that will shut it off if the pressure drop across a filter gets too high. If it is on the edge of shutting off, it might be because the filter is just too dirty but it might also mean that the sensor is flaky. I just found your model at this link and I see that this unit uses a HEPA filter… these are already much higher pressure drop than other types of filters. This by the way is the problem with all HEPA filter units….. there is often no way of knowing when the filters need to be replaced. There will be a pre-filter that is washable but the as for the HEPA filters, they can be cleaned by vacuuming them out but eventually they get to the point where the filter becomes internally clogged so that there is no alternative but to replace them. It’s a pet peeve of mine… the units should give an actual pressure drop reading as opposed to just some lights that give a vague idea as to what is going on with the filters. https://alen.com/collections/breathesmart-fit50 By the way, if you do need to change a filter, these lights likely need to be reset. Could there be something a bit flaky with this ‘reset method’? Having said this, this might be part of an explanation of why it shuts off but probably doesn’t adequately explain why it comes back on when plugging it into another outlet. However, it might be part of the explanation since it represents a control strategy that is purposed to shut the unit off…. Have you tried running the unit with no filters at all? Does it still do this unexpected shutdown thing when run without filters?
By the way, I see in the operating manual that your unit has an ‘ozone safe ionizer’ but it can be turned off and on. Does switching the ionizer on or off affect whether the unit runs or not? It needs to be kept as a possibility that there might be something in the controls for this part of the unit that are acting up. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/780439/Alen-Breathesmart-Fit50.html?page=5#manual
Along those same lines, the manual says that your unit has a feature where it in “Automatic Mode will use the SmartSen-sor Technology to adjust the speed of the unit depending on the amount of particles present in the air.” When it shuts down, is the unit set in automatic or manual speed mode? In automatic mode, there obviously are a bunch more sensors and controls that might have gone flaky…. By the way, on page 9 of the manual, it gives some specific instructions about cleaning the dust sensor that allow this variable speed fan to adjust to the desired speed. [How To Clean The SmartSensor - The SmartSensor uses an infrared light to detect airborne particles. After prolonged periods of use, dust can accumulate on the glass lens and affect the sensitivity of the sensor.] Have you done that?
Another possibility is that the motor might be running hot... there are quite a few reasons for that but depending on the design of your unit, the motor might have accumulated a buildup of dust over the years (even though it is located after the filter where the air should be clean) and now it can’t dissipate the heat and the internal thermal protector is shutting it off. You might want to look at that. I see that your unit has four speeds. Does it behave in the way you’ve described on all speeds?
As a related issue to the filter clogging up and the possibility that the motor is not getting adequate cooling, what is going on may relate directly to the type of fan that is used in this unit. These two types of fans that can get used and they behave differently with regards to power when the flow is reduced due to filter clogging. Specifically, the power will go down if it has a centrifugal fan and the flow was blocked off… it goes up if it has an axial fan and the flow is blocked off. I’m fairly certain that your unit uses an axial fan so a clogged filter will increase the power and make it run hotter…. You obviously can’t change the fan but knowing what type it is might at least tell you whether it is the type that is sensitive to taking more power and hence an increased level of heating that might shut the unit down. Reduced airflow has the secondary impact of heating it up even more since there is less air to cool it… Is there a build up of dust on the fan blades that is reducing the airflow? That obviously will contribute to the problem as well….
Lastly, are your units subject to voltage fluctuations? If it is, this might affect the speed of the fan and its power requirements (remember that power increases as the cube of speed so even a small difference in fan speed can have significant impact on the power). Do you live in an area of lots of wind turbines that might be coming on and off and affecting your voltage? Without getting into the details, it might just be the case that your unit is sensitive to voltage. These are really handy for measuring and to some extent, troubleshooting…. https://www.amazon.ca/P3-P3IP4400-Electricity-Usage-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU?th=1 Plug this into your outlet and then plug the air purifier into it…. You can use this to monitor the voltage and amps and see what happens when you play with things like cleaning the filters, running it on different speeds, running it without any filters at all etc. to see what difference it makes.
By the way, on page 10 of the manual is this note… “I have an issue not listed in this manual. Please visit www.AlenCorp.com and send us a message or call 1-800-630-2396 during busi-ness hours. A customer service representative will respond to your inquiry in a timely manner.” Have you done that? You should only consider that as a last result because there is lots of other troubleshooting and things you can first.... and who needs to be hold for hours and then up talking to someone with an accent that can’t be understood. On the other hand, if there is something that is inherently flaky with your unit, you mind find someone honest enough to tell you that.
Lotta Schmutz, Im pretty sure I dated her.
I usually regularly vacuum the filter, but Passover preparations and working with contractors around my house have thrown me off schedule. I will inspect the filter today. I’ve had this unit for several years with none of this shutting down stuff going on. It’s so weird that simply changing the outlet, even the slot in a double outlet brings instant working again. Thanks for your detailed reply.
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