foggy ozone plate... (question for chemistry enthusiasts ;-) )

Looks like phlogiston. Have you steam-cleaned the screens and replaced the filters with brand-new? Have you run them through the dishwasher? Ammonium hydroxide is generally quite ineffective against phlogiston - try white vinegar, full-strength, right out of the bottle, and a good #4 toothbrush.

A little pharmaceutical hydrogen peroxide might also prove effective.

Good Luck! Rich

ozone-etched glass?

Phlogiston - brought to you by Johnson and Johnson!

You made my day!

--
Barry

I have asthma, and for my birthday my sister got me an "Ionic Breeze" from a Sharper Image store. Ran it for one week, and one parakeet died. I turned it off, did some research, and had her return that ozone-spewing POS. The other parakeet developed some disfigurement of the cere over its beak, but lived for about another year. They were both young birds.

"Triggers a variety of health problems even at very low levels... May cause permanent lung damage after long-term exposure."

"Ozone can irritate lung airways and cause inflammation much like a sunburn. Other symptoms include wheezing, coughing, pain when taking a deep breath, and breathing difficulties during exercise or outdoor activities. People with respiratory problems are most vulnerable, but even healthy people that are active outdoors can be affected when ozone levels are high... Repeated exposure to ozone pollution for several months may cause permanent lung damage... Even at very low levels, ground-level ozone triggers a variety of health problems including aggravated asthma, reduced lung capacity, and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis."

"Ozone (O3) is a highly reactive gas that is a form of oxygen... Ozone reacts chemically ("oxidizes") with internal body tissues that it comes in contact with, such as those in the lung... Ozone acts as a powerful respiratory irritant at the levels frequently found in most of the nation's urban areas during summer months... Long-term, repeated exposure to high levels of ozone may lead to reductions in lung function, inflammation of the lung lining and increased respiratory discomfort..."

"Because ozone is very corrosive, it damages the bronchioles and alveoli in your lungs, air sacs that are important for gas exchange... Repeated exposure to ozone can inflame lung tissues and cause respiratory infections."

Hi Sparkle...very sorry for the lost of your birds. Avian species are more sensitive to many gasses in concentrations that humans don't even detect, including ozone (Remember the canaries that were used in mines). I'm still unshure about what exactly happened to the birds since the Ionic Breeze is NOT an ozone generator by itself. The high voltage electrostatic system employed to catch particules generates a very small amount of ozone by itself. I've saw an Alpine xl-15 like mine in a pet shop 3 years ago (a place about 900 square foot)...the guy still uses the machine without problems on the pet shop's occupants. Because it's a large area.?...i don't know. I must admit nonetheless that he do sell birds, but no parrots there. I have a cat at home, no birds. I would probably be affraid to use the machine in the presence of birds, but could not live without the benefits that ozone gave us at home.

-- Alain(alias:Kilowatt) Montréal Québec PS: 1000 excuses for grammatical errors or omissions, i'm a "pure" french canadian! :-) Come to visit me at:

(If replying also by e-mail, remove "no spam" from the adress.)

(xl-15)

is

same

Sparkle... i forgot to include this link in my last post. Interesting

/part5/chapter9.htm

Please stay on topic, since i don't want to start here a textual war about the indoor use of ozone.

Could that be grease? Try some Industrial Methylated Spirit (IMS, denatured ethanol) for cleaning. Quite good against dirt, but does not dissolve plastic parts. Cheap too.