Rust In Vicks Ultrasonic Humidifier. (Kaz)

R1ch13 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 05:00 PM

Hey guys.

My ultrasonic humidifier sat out of use for a while with water in the reservoir and now one of the metal parts inside it has rusted.

It is not the element that creates the fog that has rusted, its a little sort of hooked part in the centre of the reservoir...

Going by Skylsdale's fantastic Dis-biotopic displays thread I assume rust shan't be any problem/ cause harm to the frogs.

I managed to wipe a lot of it away however.

Any ideas if this may become an issue?

Cheers

Richie

R1ch13 · #2 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 05:10 PM

P.S this is the exact same as what is sold as the "Kaz" humidifier in the US.

WVFROGGER23 · #3 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 06:31 PM

I have the same one set up but no rust. I'm no expert but I would say that its not going to be much of an issue. Rust is just oxidized metal. If you are cleaning it off regularly I wouldn't see it being a problem. I would say that the water droplets put off by the sonic waves would be too small to carry any type of metals in with them and if it did it would be a very small amount. Just keep it clean.

R1ch13 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 06:40 PM

Cheers mate, I was thinking along the same lines.

I'm going to open it up when I have a minute and see if removing this "rod" would cause any problems.

I don't think it has a function other than to keep things together a lot sturdier.

Richie

edwing206 · #5 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 07:31 PM

If it's sturdy you want then try some gorilla glue or duct tape.

Good luck.

sulley · #6 (**permalink**) 01-08-2010, 11:08 PM

try soaking the rod in baking soda and water,,, then just use a wire brush to clean and should be as good as new

R1ch13 · #7 (**permalink**) 01-09-2010, 12:34 AM

Thanks for the idea sulley,

I didnt have any baking soda but I did clean if off with a wire brush and now it looks just like it did in the beginning.

It was never caked with rust, just a tiny bit.

Does anybody foresee any problems using this humidifier?

I was thinking if I use RO water to fill the reservoir and put in a couple of drops of aquarium water conditioner it would sort out any rust/metal related issues?

I think I'm being a overly paranoid... but better safe than sorry.

Richie

edwing206 · #8 (**permalink**) 01-09-2010, 12:36 AM

I just looked up how to remove rust naturally. Salt with lime juice. Read the article, it sounds like a great alternative to chemicals.
Spring Cleaning 101 – The Natural Way To Remove Rust | The Good Human

R1ch13 · #9 (**permalink**) 01-09-2010, 12:41 AM

Cheers bud

Thats great info, If only I had lime juice

hahaha

Appreciate it.

Richie

Swords · #10 (**permalink**) 01-09-2010, 10:59 PM

Hey Rich I used a Vicks ultrasonic humdifier for six or eight years when I grew highland Nepenthes (pitcher plants) and a Reli-on brand for my lowland Nepenthes for about 10 years. Both worked just fine for me in all those years. I always used either R/O or distilled in it though to keep the parts nice.

Be sure to wipe all metal parts everything down with rubbing alcohol every so often to dissolve any buildup. Clean it out totally every 3 months or so cos a dirty old humidifier is probably a good place to vector viruses and things into the terrarium if allowed to get really filthy. And they do get filthy even though you're putting nothing but clean water in somehow they still get scummy. If you can find opaque hose for running the fog output to the plants go for it because the clear tubes grow algae which eventually chokes the output tube.

I believe the part which you say rusted is the water level sensor.