On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 23:45:37 GMT, "George E. Cawthon"
wrote:

mm wrote:
IIRC vinegar dissolves water deposits. Is that right?
And is wine vinegar as good as white vinegar? Apparently I used the
bottle of white stuff.**

My humidifier that goes into the heating duct wasn't working, and all
that seems wrong is that the inlet screen is clogged. I couldn't get
the whole thing apart, so I have a little bigger part soaking in wine
vinegar! Is that as good as white vinegar?

**(I don't know how since I barely cook. Must have been to dissolve
something else.)


The main ingredient of any vinegar is acetic acid
and white vinegar is just dilute acetic acid so it
is cheaper that the fermented product (wine or
apple cider vinegar).
Depending on your deposits, vinegar may work
poorly or very slowly. Try using CLR, if the
vinegar doesn't do the job.

CLR sounds like a good idea. But the vinegar did work. The copper
screen which showed no signs of moving, fell part way out after 24
hours of soaking in the vinegar. And the screen holes were clear.

And it's installed and working now.

I bought this about 22 years ago, very small (so it fits) and cheap,
and I think it didn't cost more than 20 dollars 22 years ago, mayyyybe
30. Now it is 97 at the maker's site and something like 79 somewhere
else, all plus postage. That seems to me a lot more than the rate of
inflation, (but I really don't know.)

They used to sell repair kits too, including I think the part I
cleaned, but no more. Or did I just buy a whole new one when they
were still cheap? Anyhow, this cleaning should work well for a few
more years. The life of the rubber diaphagm, that pushes on the metal
lever that closes the valve, is the limiting factor. It looks fine
now, what I can see of it. It's pretty thick. And maybe I can even
replace it if I have to. I threw away a big office swivel, tilt desk
chair, last week, and I took these thick elastic rubber straps off the
bottom. I have had the chair for 30 years, and it was worn at the end
of the arms when I got it. So it was 10 or 20 years old then. And
yet the elastic was still fine after 40 or 50 years. I saved it. Not
sure if it is wide enough to make a new diaphragm, but it also means
the humidifier might have 30 more years left in the rubber parts.

Thanks all.