Systainer air scrubber

[woodbutcherbower]

Really very sorry to hear this. It’s pretty obvious that despite my enthusiasm for the product, I won’t be ordering one. Disgraceful.

 

[bobtskutter]

That's awful customer service.  I'm sorry i made the original post.

Bob

 

[mcfal12]

That's awful customer service.  I'm sorry i made the original post.

Bob

Don’t be. I’m glad you did and the product has potential. The company is the problem here. I posted a Google review. Maybe that will get their attention

 

[Spandex]

They have an active Facebook page, so it might be worth posting there as well as your Google review. I think sometimes social media is more effective because you get to bypass a lazy CS team to get your issue heard.

Edit- actually, I see now that someone has commented on their FB page yesterday, pointing to this thread

 

[mcfal12]

They have an active Facebook page, so it might be worth posting there as well as your Google review. I think sometimes social media is more effective because you get to bypass a lazy CS team to get your issue heard.

Edit- actually, I see now that someone has commented on their FB page yesterday, pointing to this thread

Thanks for the suggestion. I actually make a point to avoid social media at all costs; but might have to make an exception here.

 

[dustarrest]

First off, a huge thanks to [member=76043]bobtskutter[/member] for starting this thread and featuring us, it’s a real honour to see everyone’s interest.

[member=76944]mcfal12[/member] we really appreciate you putting your trust in purchasing the unit from us to give everyone feedback. We have received your review and want to firstly apologize in the delay in coming back to you, and also if you didn’t receive our previous communication. We have sent you an email earlier to clarify on a few of the points you raised, so be glad if you can respond to that and we’ll do our best to get everything resolved for you as quickly as we can.

We’re working closely with the manufacturer regarding the issue you’ve raised and are currently running some tests on the units to see if we can ascertain what the issue may be and if its easily resolvable.

As soon as we have any further information we will be in touch and should you have any further questions or queries please respond via email to us as that will be the quickest way to communicate taking into consideration our different timezones.

 

[mcfal12]

They have an active Facebook page, so it might be worth posting there as well as your Google review. I think sometimes social media is more effective because you get to bypass a lazy CS team to get your issue heard.

Edit- actually, I see now that someone has commented on their FB page yesterday, pointing to this thread

Shout out to the community member who alerted dust arrest to this thread! Your good deed is beyond appreciated

[member=80030]dustarrest[/member]

I’ve checked my email and junk folder and I’ve received now email. Feel free to PM me here and I’d be happy to respond to any questions.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

[member=76944]mcfal12[/member] Any update on this?

Kevin

 

[dustarrest]

We'll let [member=76944]mcfal12[/member]  respond whether he feels we've resolved the case satisfactory for him.  [smile]

The issue [member=76944]mcfal12[/member] experienced was in fact a safety feature in the motor automatically shutting the machine off when the power supply dropped below 110V. This is due to the reliability and stability of the power supply in his area and is not due to a malfunction of the Dustblocker.

It only seems to have only occurred in very limited number of cases and specifically around the NY area. No other cases reported from around the USA or UK that we're currently aware of. If anyone else has had this and not yet reported it, please report this to the manufacturer directly on sales[member=2209]max[/member]-vac.com and they'll look after you well.

MAXVAC are still working on a solution to solve this.

[member=75780]woodbutcherbower[/member] looks like you're located in the UK so won't cause any issues for you.

 

[mcfal12]

I find a particularly interesting that, rather than providing me this information in any communication, dust arrest, took the action of posting this publicly before communicating with me. At no time was there a communication pertaining to this being a known problem and The last they communicated with me was a solution was still being worked on.

And while I’m not an engineer, being the engineers, working on this or overseas, I would caution any findings I suggest the power supply in the New York region. One of the most populous regions in the world is anything but reliable.

In terms of has the issue been resolved; I am still without a working unit and as noted no solution has been provided.

 

[ChuckM]

As a reader, I find it hard to reconcile these two statements:

"We'll let [member=76944]mcfal12[/member]  respond whether he feels we've resolved the case satisfactory for him."
"MAXVAC are still working on a solution to solve this." (Italics mine)

If the second statement is correct, how can the OP feel satisfied?

 

[luvmytoolz]

As a reader, I find it hard to reconcile these two statements:

"We'll let [member=76944]mcfal12[/member]  respond whether he feels we've resolved the case satisfactory for him."
"MAXVAC are still working on a solution to solve this." (Italics mine)

If the second statement is correct, how can the OP feel satisfied?

The part I don't understand is:

"The issue [member=76944]mcfal12[/member] experienced was in fact a safety feature in the motor automatically shutting the machine off when the power supply dropped below 110V. This is due to the reliability and stability of the power supply in his area and is not due to a malfunction of the Dustblocker."

In OZ all electric appliances have to tolerate a nominal AC value that changed from 240v to 230v, with a tolerance of +10v and -6v, which gives a range from 216v to 253v. And if you had an older item designed for 240v, the new standard is even more considerably less. Yet I don't recall having ever heard of issues with simple AC devices not tolerating wild swings. Spikes and surges yes, but not normal sags, etc.

Assuming there is a tolerance assigned to US mains, how is the Dustblocker so sensitive to a drop in voltage? Especially as I'm assuming the motor is the main component drawing power, any electronics or control systems will be converted down anyway, and as we all know, electrical motors are about the dirtiest thing you can run on mains, and are very forgiving with fluctuations.

 

[tsmi243]

As a reader, I find it hard to reconcile these two statements:

"We'll let [member=76944]mcfal12[/member]  respond whether he feels we've resolved the case satisfactory for him."
"MAXVAC are still working on a solution to solve this." (Italics mine)

If the second statement is correct, how can the OP feel satisfied?

The part I don't understand is:

"The issue [member=76944]mcfal12[/member] experienced was in fact a safety feature in the motor automatically shutting the machine off when the power supply dropped below 110V. This is due to the reliability and stability of the power supply in his area and is not due to a malfunction of the Dustblocker."

In OZ all electric appliances have to tolerate a nominal AC value that changed from 240v to 230v, with a tolerance of +10v and -6v, which gives a range from 216v to 253v. And if you had an older item designed for 240v, the new standard is even more considerably less. Yet I don't recall having ever heard of issues with simple AC devices not tolerating wild swings. Spikes and surges yes, but not normal sags, etc.

Assuming there is a tolerance assigned to US mains, how is the Dustblocker so sensitive to a drop in voltage? Especially as I'm assuming the motor is the main component drawing power, any electronics or control systems will be converted down anyway, and as we all know, electrical motors are about the dirtiest thing you can run on mains, and are very forgiving with fluctuations.

It's very similar in the US.  Somewhere around 10% voltage tolerance.  But having "supply power" quirks isn't usually the voltage level itself, it's the quality of the sine wave, or other transient problems.  And usually out in the boonies- NOT in a major city.

But still, I wouldn't get too wrapped up in the exact wording here- this guy's from CS, not engineering.  They clearly don't know what happened, and are trying to reassure everybody that it's not a wide-spread problem.  Until they actually know, what could they possibly say to us?

If the only affected units are in NY, that's odd- but it's not NOTHING.  They can't be certain that it's due to local "fluctuations", but how else would you explain it?  Things like this take time to narrow down.  At least we know they're aware of it, and trying to figure it out.

They definitely owe mcfal12 a phone call though.

 

[Coen]

We'll let [member=76944]mcfal12[/member]  respond whether he feels we've resolved the case satisfactory for him.  [smile]

The issue [member=76944]mcfal12[/member] experienced was in fact a safety feature in the motor automatically shutting the machine off when the power supply dropped below 110V. This is due to the reliability and stability of the power supply in his area and is not due to a malfunction of the Dustblocker.

It only seems to have only occurred in very limited number of cases and specifically around the NY area. No other cases reported from around the USA or UK that we're currently aware of. If anyone else has had this and not yet reported it, please report this to the manufacturer directly on sales[member=2209]max[/member]-vac.com and they'll look after you well.

MAXVAC are still working on a solution to solve this.

[member=75780]woodbutcherbower[/member] looks like you're located in the UK so won't cause any issues for you.

Whoever designs an appliance to cut out at 110V needs some schooling. With the official lower limit of 114V (120V +/- 5%) at the supply point, allowing for only a 4V drop through the consumer unit, wiring and extension cord is ridiculously tight.

In Europe we have 230 +/- 10%

You can notice a shortened lifespan of Halogen lightbulbs between households. My parent usually have around 223 Volts. At my sister's house it's usually 243V. Halogen bulbs don't last as long there, but do burn brighter  [tongue]

 

[woodbutcherbower]

In Europe we have 230 +/- 10%

Same here in the UK. Everything (even delicate, super-high end audio equipment) is designed with this tolerance built-in.

 

[mcfal12]

Even if this is a “safety feature” it would only render the device inoperable while the power fluctuation existed and not in perpetuity. As not by others, NY is a major metropolitan area and has stable power.

I appreciate all the supportive comments and especially [member=57948]ChuckS[/member] [member=75780]woodbutcherbower[/member] [member=8955]Coen[/member] @luvmytoolsz and [member=51752]tsmi243[/member]

I do wish [member=80030]dustarrest[/member] would’ve communicated directly versus trying to misdirect their forum but now they’ve learned that you all are too bright and vigilant to let nonsense pass.

 

[woodbutcherbower]

[member=76944]mcfal12[/member] Any update on this?

 

[Cheese]

Just stumbled upon this thread...very interesting.

[member=76944]mcfal12[/member] ...I can certainly empathize with your frustrations.

As a side note, There is a NEC and ANSI standard that specifies service voltage (measured at point of delivery) to be 120VAC ± 5%. So it can vary from 126V to 114V. They also state that the Range A utilization voltage (measured at terminals of equipment) should be 126V to 108V. They also provide for a Range B utilization voltage of 127V to 104V.

In their own words:
"Range B includes voltages above and below Range A limits that necessarily result from practical design and operating conditions on supply or user systems, or both. Although such conditions are a part of practical operations, they shall be limited in extent, frequency, and duration. When they occur, corrective measures shall be undertaken within a reasonable time to improve voltages to meet Range A requirements.

Insofar as practicable, utilization equipment shall be designed to give acceptable performance in the extremes of the range of utilization voltages, although not necessarily as good performance as in Range A"

Why they would design something crude like a motor to cut out at 110V is head scratching to say the least.  [jawdrop]  Also of interest, the Department of Energy (DoE) specifies a voltage range of 110-120V.

My air scrubber consists of a Jet AFS-1000 turned on its side and mounted on a portable frame. At over 60# and without handles, it's much too heavy/bulky to carry from area to area. I like it...it works well.

However, after reading the article comparing the air scrubbers, I couldn't help but notice how well the simple box fan option compares to the commercial Powermatic products.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[ChuckM]

The box fan system (I have two, one for the shop and one for the house) works great, but there's a key disadvantage: it's noisy. It might not be much a problem in the shop since you should wear proper hearing protection anyway.