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Posted by Zyp on January 11, 2008, 5:11 pm
scorman wrote:
> We have a standard Sears in-duct air cleaner with two slide-in
> "elements"
>
> I installed it and have mainainted it for many years. Heard a
> continous arcing one day. All the plates and wires are intact and the
> unit was cleaned with a pressure washer and allowed to dry.
>
> I get continuous arcing from the element frame to the metal rail that
> it rests on.
> The same element exhibits the same problem independent of front or
> back position.
>
> Upon close examination, one of the white insulators looked
> "burned" ...I broke it apart and note what looks like a black carbon
> filling?
> I was expecting a solid white nylon insulator.
> The removed insulator did not impact the mechanical integrity of the
> unit, so now there is a finite air gap there. The unit still arcs.
>
> An electronics guru told me that over time, these insulators
> "breakdown".
> Anyone ever hear of such a thing?
>
> They are not replaceable parts, but I could probably disassemble the
> element and substitute nylon "insulators".
>
> Any advice other than chucking the entire unit??
> Stew Corman from sunny Endicott
scorman;
Some inferior EAC [electronic air cleaners] use nylon or plastic insulators
where as the more expensive EAC manufacturer's use glass. Glass has a
considerable amount of less breakdown. The washing and not allowing to
thoroughly dry cause's premature failure of the high voltage insulators.
BTW: the voltage these collector cells are exposed to is 8,700 volts DC. A
considerable amount of voltage, especially if your body is the go between.
Be very careful handling these elements. Be sure you ground the element
before removing them from the cabinet. Usually there is a ground / test
button on the front panel for this purpose. [Even though you might shut off
the electricity to the unit prior to removing the cells, they can hold
voltage for a very long time because of their design.]
--
Zyp
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