Austin Air HealthMate - Black

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Price: $538.99 $533.99   

Product Feature

• 60 sq. ft. true HEPA medical filter medium - long, 5-year filter life.
• Meets HEPA standards, trapping 99.97% of all particulates larger than 0.3 microns.
• Nearly 15 lbs of solid activated carbon and zeolite for odor and gas removal.
• 3 Speeds - 400cfm on high setting: cleans a room area of up to 1500 ft.

Product Description

Ideal for sufferers of hay fever, mild allergies, mild asthma, and mild chemical sensitivities. The HealthMate 400 has proven reliability for removal of house dust, smoke, pollen, dust mites, bacteria, mold spores, cigarette smoke, pet dander and pet allergens. The HealthMate 400's massive power provides 15 second relief by creating a clean air pocket in a 6-foot radius from the unit. Within 15 minutes 1,500 square feet is cleaned. The HM 400 cleans its 1,500 sq. ft. range 4 times each hour. The unit is guaranteed for 5 years.

Austin Air HealthMate - Black Review

4 stars for the air cleaner, 1 star for out-of-warranty repairs. I have owned 2 Austin units since 1996, the full size HM400 and the 'Jr' HM200. They do a pretty fair job of filtration, although there are better units that have come on the market since these came out. The filters do not last 5 years, more like 3 before they start to lose effectivness. That was still pretty good, until some of the better competition started to arrive. (I bought 2 competitors units, and they work better at filtering the air, and are about the same in filter costs, but I kept the Austins for use in other rooms.)

Overall, I was satisfied with these, until they needed out-of-warranty repair. The Austin HM 200 needed shipment to the factory just before the 5 year warranty was up, and was repaired under warranty, so I wasn't aware of potential out-of-warranty problems. I recently replaced the filter on the larger Austin HM400, when I noticed the blower started running more slowly, and varying the speed a lot while running, even almost coming to a stop. I called Austin, and they said I would have to use the "... repair and return service for units that are outside of the five year warranty. It would be $45 for parts, $45 for labor and the shipping to and from our Buffalo offices would also be the customers expense." I could not see wasting the energy resources or money to ship this back to Buffalo from California, so I had a local HVAC service diagnose the problem. (tough diagnosis - their is a metal case, a filter, a 3 speed switch, and electric motor, and a small black box on the motor called a run capacitor.) It turned out to be a $6.00 motor control capacitor, ("usual point of failure on fans and blowers - last 5-10 years on average" according to the shop) which they suggested I order from Austin as being the 'easiest route'. I was surprised to get the same response from Austin:

"Unfortunately we do not sell the individual mechanical components of our units. We do offer a repair and return service for units that are outside of the five year warranty. It would be $45 for parts, $45 for labor and the shipping to and from our Buffalo offices would also be the customers expense." This would mean about $150 to replace a $6 part on a 15 year old unit wich is basically only a fan/motor/switch and a filter in a metal box. If they replaced the motor, wires, switch and provided a new warranty for that price, it would be worth it.

I will find the part elsewhere. As I said, this is a very reasonable air purifier, but there are better at the same or slightly higher price points. The biggest downside for potential purchasers, however, is that about the time you are due for the first filter (allegedly 5 years), your warranty will be up. This means a cost of ~$200 for a filter replacement, and $150+ shipping round trip when something goes wrong - 70% of the cost of a new unit with a warranty. Something to keep in mind before purchase or ordering replacement filters on an older unit.

UPDATE 2/6/2011

After more research on the suspected broken part, I found it on-line, as well as from a local supplier that would sell retail (CarbonBrush.com) and ordered an exact replacement for the suspected damaged part, a small black box with 2 wires, bolted on the motor called a 'motor run capacitor'. I ordered the exact part from the numbers on the side of the black box "6uf +/- 5%,350vAC CBB61, UL number E183963". Available with a long wait for $6 on line from various overseas suppliers, ordering it locally was $10 - $18 after California tax and shipping (prompt shipping by the company - ordered late Thursday night, delivered prioritymail Saturday morning).

I also needed a 2 pack of crimp style spade connectors - "22-18 Insulated female 0.25". At this point I could have taken the parts and Austin to any HVAV or sewing/vacuum cleaner repair shop for installation, but it was so simple a job that I felt I had enough basic wiring skill to do it myself. If you don't know anything about electricity, just take everything to a shop like above. But if you have ever changed out a wall switch at your house, then you probably have enough knowledge and skill to do this at home.

I did it myself, and the Austin again runs just fine, no noise or motor speed changes. It took 15 minutes, and total cost under $20, not counting about 8 hours of my time researching the possible problem, and identifying a part source. (Incidently, in my research I found that this is the same part that fails on ceiling fans, with the same symptoms, and replacement parts and procedures are the same.)

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