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I know it's recommended to change the sleeve when you change the pad, but can someone tell me how long they will last?

I add water and treatment as soon as the light goes on and the red light has never gone on. Presumably because I don't let the yellow light go on forever or don't let it dry out.

I had 2 pads in there for a good year and when I decided to change them they still looked real good.

A little white deposit on top of the pad but nothing to freak out about and the sleeve looked fine to me.

I even left the sleeve in there. Should I change them regardless?

What would the signs be if it had to be addressed?

Thank you.

I have my clients use distilled water. I never (hardly ever) change the sleeve. No need to if no buildup. The instructions say to do it because they assume people will use tap water which will make a mess out of it. Then you need to change it when you clean all the #%!j off the metal.

Pwg

Er, uh-oh... I've never bothered to put that flimsy clear plastic sleeve over the heater bars in the first place. Instead I simply drape those blue pads directly over the heater bars.

Doesn't appear to be creating any significant buildup of scuzz on the wires. Will this likely become more of a problem over time?

(FWIW, I use only distilled water - plus a capful or so of D-C pad treatment per gallon).

- OneWatt

I’ve noticed after snapping things apart and together enough times, the plastic will eventually have some holes wear through.

As mentioned above, you can reuse a sleeve a few times on a system that isn’t fed tap water. Otherwise, one, maybe two uses at most, taking time to rinse the sleeve clean and dry it whenever I’m reusing the thing. It’s just there to protect the humidifier rod, which isn’t horribly expensive if it needs replacing.

Distilled water + treatment = few problems. Tap water = lots of crud and hard to clean off.

Pwg

Good counsel. So, I've been using distilled H2O (less than $1/gallon, seems worth it) + a capful of pad D-C treatment.

Am still wondering, even using distilled water, if there's a problem over time by not using that clear plastic liner shield under the pads?

It's not that big of a deal with distilled. Optional.

Pwg

Pwg - Thanks. Will carry on - OneWatt