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Re: Rabbit Air 421 Break-in Odor

A Reader writes:Thanks for your suggestions!

I bought the rabbit 421 and love it!

There's one thing, however, that has been bugging me.

I have noticed a smell coming from it since the day I got it. A sort of sour smell fills my room whenever its on.

I have been running it for just under a week and it hasn't gone away. I talked to the rabbit people and they said turn the ionizer off, but it has been off since day 1, as I don't want to use it around my bird.

Other than that, they said they didn't know what causes it.

Since you have a lot of experience with air purifiers, I wonder if you have noticed this and know what causes it?

Also is it harmful?

Birds are very sensitive to chemicals and I'm scared its some sort of toxic fume, last thing I want to do is endanger him in my quest for clean air.

A Reader.

Ed's Reply

Hey Reader;

There can be an odor without it necessarily being dangerous to you and the bird, but we cannot tell with certainty, and don't want to find out the hard way.

Any smell that lasts more than 72 hours is unacceptable.

I bought a new 421 as a 2009 Christmas gift, and ran it for 3 weeks in December in my living room.

There was no smell whatsoever.

Most of these odor issues with mid-priced Asian machines are the result of manufacturers falling all over themselves trying to satisfy the tidal wave of consumer demand for "bird flu" protection.

Since SARS, there is a hysteria in densely-populated Asian nations - they know what is coming. Here in the US, the "authorities" have struggled to create the same herd-motivating force, with limited success.

I did have an odor problem with a Winix 5300 purchased at the same time. It came from a prefilter which I reworked with alternative materials, now the Winix is odor-free.

What I would do is try to isolate the source.

"Sour" odor doesn't help me much as far as troubleshooting.

Basically, there are three possible sources for a break-in odor.
1. The plastic case outgassing - generally not an issue with the Rabbits.
2. Filter materials smelling due to anti-microbial additives - most likely.
3. Electrical smells from burnt-out motors or shorted wiring - maybe.

I'd disassemble the machine and sniff the filters individually.

Then run the motor without the filters, any odor?

If you can isolate the source, you'll have a better idea of how serious the problem is.

If it is an electrical type smell, I'd call Rabbit for a return immediately.

I personally would work with a filter smell, but if you can demonstrate that it is a filter, I'd call Rabbit and see what they can do. Their numerous filter options might yield one which is acceptable.

I'm pretty sure the folks at Rabbit will work with you to resolve this issue - they are among the industry's best.

Let me know what happens next.

Best wishes,

Ed