Fresh Air Express Ionic UV Tower with Germicidal Light

Fresh Air Express

Monterey, CA

BUYER BEWARE!

I purchased 2 Fresh Air Express Ionic UV Towers with Germicidal lights in December 2004. Fresh Air Express website makes several false claims about this product.

1) Totally silent

2) Easy maintenance

3) 3 year warranty

According to the manufacturer's website, these towers are completely silent and would require minimal maintenance weekly. 72 hours after plugging in the towers, they both shutoff and started beeping. Indicator lights on the front indicated they needed cleaning. We removed the grids and wiped them down per the owner's manual. 72 hours later the same scenario. I called Fresh Air Express and was informed that 7 days was a misprint/typo. It was actually 3 days.

After a couple of months of operation, the towers began making a loud zapping noise. They sounded like bug zappers. When the zapping noises start, we have to clean them to stop the noise. The time between cleanings has gotten shorter and shorter over time. After searching the Fresh Air Express website, the FAQ page indicated that when the towers start making noise they need a thorough cleaning. This involves removing the grids and washing them with soap and water and allowing them to dry completely, turning the towers upside down and back to clean the ionic wires and vacuuming out any dust/debris in the towers. Drying the grids completely requires the towers to be shutdown overnight. We have to repeat this process twice a week to maintain silent operation. Emails to Fresh Air Express about this problem have gone unanswered and they longer have a customer service or product support phone number.

2.5 weeks ago one of the towers quit working. These towers are only 19 months old, well within the 3 year warranty period. According to the indicator lights, it has a short. Again, I have emailed both customer service and product support with no responses. At this point it appears that these towers will end up in the trash and we're out $300+.