Ultrasonic humidifier -- eight bucks!

New-Surplus from American Science & Surplus, item #37146

I bought one of these for about $50 at a truck-stop near Needles some
years ago. Even with air-conditioning the single-digit humidity you
often encounter when crossing the desert can play hell with your throat
and eyes. The old-fashioned solution is to carry a spray-bottle of
water, give yourself a spritz now & then. Truth is, while a spritz of
water felt nice it didn't do much to raise the humidity... especially
when some dingus keeps opening the window, convinced the 120 degree OAT
was 'cooler' than the 87 degree air coming out of the air-conditioner.

The humidifier is about as big as a large coffee mug, plugs into 12vdc
and only draws 4 watts. It will vaporize about three ounces of water
per hour, which ain't much but can make a big difference in an enclosed
space. The gadget holds about six ounces of water and the vaporization
rate is adjustable. The kit comes with a wall wart to run it off
110vac, plus a couple of spare water filters.

The filters are needed because an ultrasonic vaporizer vaporizes not
only the water but anything in it, which is then deposited in your
lungs, all over the cab of the truck and so on. Best Bet: ALWAYS use
distilled water. Or at least, deionized & filtered water.

If you do any flying at all above 8500' -- especially if you take a
whiff of oh-two now & then, an ultrasonic humidifier does a lot to
increase the comfort factor.

I was surprised to see this item selling as surplus and wondered if it
was from a defective batch. Twelve-volt ultrasonic humidifieers are
sold under several brand-names with prices ranging from under $20 to
over $50, reflecting how well it is kitted, but all appear to be from
the same Chinese source. The one being offered as surplus wears the
'TRACKER' brand-name, distributed by Barjan, the outfit that caters to
truck-stops in the Midwest.

So I asked around. And got a neat lesson in word-of-mouth advertising.

Ultrasonic humidifiers do in fact vaporize anything contained in the
water. Use dirty, contaminated water, you're liable to come down with
a sore throat, red-eye, sinus infections -- even pneumonia, depending
on who spits in your humidifier when filling the cup. This has
resulted in the Conventional Wisdom (at least amongst truckers) that
ultrasonic humidifiers are bad, bad things, responsible for everything
from baldness to AIDS.

Communist plot. (They're all made in China, you know.)

It's that Al Kinda feller; those guys that wrap a tea-towel around
their heads? They probably dip them filters in something.

ummm... okay, thanks for the info.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to their sat-phones, mobile wireless, in-cab computers and
thousand-watt CB linears, truckers as a group are remarkably well
connected in the communications sense. News of the Ultrasonic
Humidifier Plot became common knowledge (among truckers) almost
overnight and sales of the unit dropped to zero, apparently causing
Barjan to stop stocking the unit, dumping them onto American Science &
Surplus who is now selling them below wholesale.

And from which I just ordered two more. (cough, cough)

-R.S.Hoover

wrote:

Ultrasonic humidifiers do in fact vaporize anything contained in the
water. Use dirty, contaminated water, you're liable to come down with
a sore throat, red-eye, sinus infections -- even pneumonia, depending
on who spits in your humidifier when filling the cup. This has
resulted in the Conventional Wisdom (at least amongst truckers) that
ultrasonic humidifiers are bad, bad things, responsible for everything
from baldness to AIDS.

Communist plot. (They're all made in China, you know.)

It's that Al Kinda feller; those guys that wrap a tea-towel around
their heads? They probably dip them filters in something.

ummm... okay, thanks for the info.

-R.S.Hoover

And what happens if you fill one with Scotch? ;o)

Tony

Put a drop of chlorine into the container and don't worry about gremlins
from the water floating inside your cab.

wrote in message
oups.com...
New-Surplus from American Science & Surplus, item #37146

I bought one of these for about $50 at a truck-stop near Needles some
years ago. Even with air-conditioning the single-digit humidity you
often encounter when crossing the desert can play hell with your throat
and eyes. The old-fashioned solution is to carry a spray-bottle of
water, give yourself a spritz now & then. Truth is, while a spritz of
water felt nice it didn't do much to raise the humidity... especially
when some dingus keeps opening the window, convinced the 120 degree OAT
was 'cooler' than the 87 degree air coming out of the air-conditioner.

The humidifier is about as big as a large coffee mug, plugs into 12vdc
and only draws 4 watts. It will vaporize about three ounces of water
per hour, which ain't much but can make a big difference in an enclosed
space. The gadget holds about six ounces of water and the vaporization
rate is adjustable. The kit comes with a wall wart to run it off
110vac, plus a couple of spare water filters.

The filters are needed because an ultrasonic vaporizer vaporizes not
only the water but anything in it, which is then deposited in your
lungs, all over the cab of the truck and so on. Best Bet: ALWAYS use
distilled water. Or at least, deionized & filtered water.

If you do any flying at all above 8500' -- especially if you take a
whiff of oh-two now & then, an ultrasonic humidifier does a lot to
increase the comfort factor.

I was surprised to see this item selling as surplus and wondered if it
was from a defective batch. Twelve-volt ultrasonic humidifieers are
sold under several brand-names with prices ranging from under $20 to
over $50, reflecting how well it is kitted, but all appear to be from
the same Chinese source. The one being offered as surplus wears the
'TRACKER' brand-name, distributed by Barjan, the outfit that caters to
truck-stops in the Midwest.

So I asked around. And got a neat lesson in word-of-mouth advertising.

Ultrasonic humidifiers do in fact vaporize anything contained in the
water. Use dirty, contaminated water, you're liable to come down with
a sore throat, red-eye, sinus infections -- even pneumonia, depending
on who spits in your humidifier when filling the cup. This has
resulted in the Conventional Wisdom (at least amongst truckers) that
ultrasonic humidifiers are bad, bad things, responsible for everything
from baldness to AIDS.

Communist plot. (They're all made in China, you know.)

It's that Al Kinda feller; those guys that wrap a tea-towel around
their heads? They probably dip them filters in something.

ummm... okay, thanks for the info.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to their sat-phones, mobile wireless, in-cab computers and
thousand-watt CB linears, truckers as a group are remarkably well
connected in the communications sense. News of the Ultrasonic
Humidifier Plot became common knowledge (among truckers) almost
overnight and sales of the unit dropped to zero, apparently causing
Barjan to stop stocking the unit, dumping them onto American Science &
Surplus who is now selling them below wholesale.

And from which I just ordered two more. (cough, cough)

-R.S.Hoover




--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:24:45 -0400, "Juan Jimenez"
wrote:

Put a drop of chlorine into the container and don't worry about gremlins
from the water floating inside your cab.

It's more than the bugs you gotta worry about. As Veeduber says they
vaporize everything.

I used an ultrasonic humidifier in a house...ONCE! It took days to
clean that house! Every bit of lime, every molecule of solids is spit
out into the air as very find particulate for you to inhale. Talk
about developing a cough. Man, but those things are BAD without a
filter, but they are efficient at vaporizing water. :-)) With a
filter they work very well.


wrote in message
roups.com...

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

"Roger (K8RI)" wrote in message ...
: On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 10:24:45 -0400, "Juan Jimenez"
: wrote:
:
: Put a drop of chlorine into the container and don't worry about gremlins
: from the water floating inside your cab.
:
: It's more than the bugs you gotta worry about. As Veeduber says they
: vaporize everything.
:
: I used an ultrasonic humidifier in a house...ONCE! It took days to
: clean that house! Every bit of lime, every molecule of solids is spit
: out into the air as very find particulate for you to inhale. Talk
: about developing a cough. Man, but those things are BAD without a
: filter, but they are efficient at vaporizing water. :-)) With a
: filter they work very well.
:
:

What other uses do they have. How do they work? Any possibility to use as a US cleaner?