Rainbow hepa filter question

[tekjunkie28]

I have a 6 month old rainbow E2 black. I bought it brand new and It's a really good machine but I felt like it was loosin suction. I know the first few times I used the machine I went too long with not water changes and some dust got into the fan. By a little I mean a VERY minute amount. I also have had the unit get too full of soap suds that was left in the carpet by the previous owners here. So I checked the hepa and it's got slight discoloration. Almost an off white but you really can't notice it unless you look st the exhaust side of the filter. I had some closets that I refinished with drywall and painted. I cleaned those rooms with my shop vac before I used my rainbow. I can't be for certain that the shop vac got up all the dust but I don't have anything else them the rainbow to use.

I found out that if I removed the black foam from the exit side that it feels like it has slightly more suction. That black foam is pretty dense. Just try to take it out and blow through it. You really can't. I know that the previous Rainbows had no hepa and people love them. I can called a few distributors and they all said they don't see a reason why you can't just remove the hepa other then louder exhaust. One even said he had his removed and never used it.

 

[pr-21]

I like my SE PE better than my E2 Black. It has much better airflow and my guess is no hepa filter. It is also easier to clean the water basin in my opinion. On my E2 I have found the same thing you did. Without it there is much better airflow. I thought the only reason Rexair put the hepa filter on was to catch non wettable items, which I never pick up with either of my Rainbows. If you spill something like flour etc, use a dust pan first and then a bagged vacuum for the rest. If you pick up all the flour, then change the bag afterwards. Works for me.

I will say this, my house always smells fresh and clean after using my Rainbows. I do also use the genuine scents in the water basin.

PS You might try running your Rainbow on low speed like an air cleaner for 12 hours or so if you have tipped your Rainbow with water in it. It should help.


PR-21
Bud

 

[tekjunkie28]

The hepa filter is completely dry. Every distributor I've talked to said that the only reason it's on there is for non wettables. Even just removing the black foam inside the hepa filter gave it better suction I feel. I'm assuming the reason they say never run it without hepa installed is that there's no safety between the fan and tiny fingures. Plus there's no way to exhaust the air without it just blowing around the compartment. I just want to know by someone who has left there's off or from a person who's worked on these about their opinion.

I have thought about taking the hepa and gutting it and putting the frame back in. That way the air would exhaust and I could use the blower feature which sometimes I do for my electrionics.

Bud, do you run your E2 without the hepa?


I just don't want to damage my unit. I really like it but I would rather have good airflow and I just feel like the air flow isn't as good. They should give us a piece that we can buy that bypasses the hepa if we wanted.

 

[man114]

I don't see any reason it would hurt anything, it's mostly there for non wettables so they can get the asthma and allergy certification. It shouldn't have any real effect otherwise if you remove it but be aware non wettables would just blow back out.

 

[tekjunkie28]

How good does the water really filter?

Does the increased airflow reduce contact time and does that even matter in this case?

Is the hepa filter a requirement of AHAM and allergies center?

I'm just wondering if they have engineered it to filter better with water with the hepa.

 

[pr-21]

Shae,

I don't use mine without the hepa filter, but with that said, I don't use the E2 Black much. I am using my Rainbow SE PE, which does not have a hepa filter, which is not a problem for me as I do not pick up non wettable items with my Rainbows anyway.

The other thing is the genuine Rainbow scents are much more noticable when using the SE PE than when I use the E 2. I find I have to put much more scent in the E2 just to even come close to the nice fragrance smell coming out of the SE PE.

My understanding is the Hepa filter was their so Rainbow could get it classified as an air cleaner as well as a vacuum. Therefore the 2 speeds. You could not possibly vacuum your floors with it set to the low speed at all.



Sincerely,

PR-21
Bud

 

[tekjunkie28]

I would take out that black foam if you want and see about how much airflow your black edition has. I've noticed that the black foam on the hepa is extremely restrictive. It's only slightly louder without it but it definitely feels like more air flow is flowing out. I can't even blow through that foam.

I it yesterday without the hepa and done some testing. The hepa really doesn't seem to block all that much airflow once you take into account that the hose is almost as restrictive.

I'd definitely would like to see a larger hose be made in the future.

 

[mark40511]

I have a gold 2 speed

I'm trying to figure out what "black foam" you're talking about. It sounds like you're saying the black foam is inside the hepa filter? Are they designing their hepa filters differently now than they used to?

I bought an extra hepa filter from crucial vac that is still unopened because the current hepa is still perfectly good. I see no black foam at all.

 

[tekjunkie28]

Mark the black foam is there to disperse the air coming out to minimize it blowing something over or around. It's on the OEM hepa filters. Also the generic HEPA filters are very very different the the OEM. The OEM are of much much higher quality and different paper, so much do that it's best to just not use a generic filter and just trash it. These filters are able to be washed but almost 100% of the times it's better to replace.

 

[mark40511]

The hepa that came

with my brand new rainbow looked exactly like the generic ones. I can't tell the difference. This must be an updated OEM design or something.

 

[dysonman1]

I have one of each model Rexair ever made, from 1936 through the current machine. I ran an authorized rainbow service center for more than 22 years. Rexair used an exhaust filter for the first 10 years of manufacturing. They found that customers would not clean it at the recommended intervals, so they simply removed it. When you take into consideration that the rainbow was never supposed to use water at all, it makes sense why the machine had one. Plus having an exhaust filter kind of went against the salesman's claim of constant airflow. In 1997, the rainbow received a terrible review from consumer reports for exhausting the hard water minerals in the water used for testing even if there was no dirt in the water. This is because the rainbow evaporates water as it runs. I am going to say this again so everyone understands: The rainbow evaporates water as it runs. The rate of evaporation is approximately 3 cups per hour. If the water is dirty, the rainbow evaporates dirty water. In the home of a typical consumer, where cleaning too long with one filling of water is common, the HEPA filter prevents the rainbow from exhausting dust.

 

[tekjunkie28]

I almost believe that statement about the rainbow evaporating minerals but it absolutely does not unless there is more going on with water agitation that we cannot see and I don't believe it is.

That statement with CR was their testing methodology. They used powder in the test. I NEVER have heard that it was water minerals. Can you link me an article. I would be very interested it read it more thoroughly.

The HEPA filter is a requirement for the allergy certification afaik.


Now back to why I think the Rainbow doesn't evaporate minerals. I've only seen ultrasonic humidifiers release minerals. That's also a health hazard and also goes against all the thousands of people say the rainbows reduce dust. I have spent many many years with aquariums and reef tanks. Minerals do Not evaporate out of them so why would the rainbow evaporate minerals? Theres gallons upon gallons of water evaporating out of the salt water tanks and yet none of them evaporate minerals. In fact when water evaporates out of them you have to put RODI water back in. Absolutely mother Evaps out and most of my tanks systems put the agitation of a rainbow to severe shame.

 

[tekjunkie28]

My fault Mark. The E2 black is the one with the foam. It's on the filters exit where you attach the hose for blower mode

 

[mark40511]

The minerals are news to me too

I mean, I've heard about the awful CR reports where they used talc powder of some sort I believe, which we all know is a no no for the rainbow (or frankly, ANY vacuum). But evaporating minerals from hard water? I once made the mistake of using tap water in an ultrasonic humidifier once and there was WHITE DUST EVERYWHERE! I never made that mistake again.

 

[tekjunkie28]

If the minerals is true then the rainbow fans would be coated in white flaky film of calcium and iron around here. The inside of the units would be coated in a white film and people would have complained about lung issues more. Mineral dust is a health hazard.

The rainbow can in no way add to the humidity of any room in a measurable way on the low speed setting. On the high speed setting it may add a small amount if the room is air tight and I'll bet that only 1% of rainbow owners have a room that tight.


I think a water vac is excellent at trapping dirt. Water is the universal solvent. But if you really want to rid your home of dust the air seal it. Then the rainbow becomes an even more amazing machine. I may just start a new thread here about dust and dirt and the myths and facts sometime. It's really an eye opener as to just how these machines maybe come even more highly recommended down the road.