Air purifier: Formaldehyde filter: non-neutral smell after a few hours of use

  • I bought two of the air purifiers with the formaldehyde filters. Each one, having run in different areas of my house, seem to emit a non-neutral smell consistently now.

  • When I first got them, the filters seemed to have sort of the new-factory smell and I attributed it to the fact that they needed to air out or something. However, now that I’ve been using both constantly, regardless of fan speed, they emit some non-neutral smell when I run them.

  • I really can’t articulate what the smell is, either – something like a factory plastic mixed with a chemical or something - not necessarily horrible smelling, just a little ‘off’ in some way. Enough that my family noticed.

  • I got the 2nd air purifier a week later, ran it in a different section of the house, and the smell became the same as the first purifier, so I don’t think the smell is due to something in the local area being filtered.

  • If I just run the purifier with the fan and the filter removed, it smells like the rest of the air in the room (so I don’t think it’s the motor or chassis adding to a smell).

  • Our home doesn’t have any smoking done in it and humidity levels are in the 40% range.

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Same thing happens to me with this filter. I returned it. I wanted to just return the filter by Wyze said the whole unit had to be returned. I did the same thing you did, running the purifier without the filter and no smell so I knew it was the filter.

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Did your replacement not have the smell?

Why is it not surprising that Wyze sold an air filter that makes a room smell worse. They really need to cut ties with their China supplier.

I am having the same issue. Room smells like when you burn some cooking grease and it gets really uncomfortable.
I wish that WYZE could fix the issue with the filters and send us a new and improve filter to all of us that have this unit.
Please, WYZE help us out on this issue.
Long time user of its products

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Still having issues. I’m not a fan.

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I don’t own an Air Purifier, but I found these recommendations online from another manufacturer, and modded it to tell you to contact Wyze when necessary:

Plastic smell produced during initial usage

The first few times you use your formaldehyde filter, it may produce a plastic smell due to the plastic materials of the appliance. Do not worry, this is normal and will fully disappear within a few days. However, if the appliance produces a burnt smell, we recommend you contact Wyze Customer Service.

The filter produces sour smell

The filter may produce sour smell when it absorbs too much formaldehyde. It is recommended to clean or replace the filter according to the filter cleaning or replacement instructions. Depending on your household needs, you can replace the filter ahead of the indication if the sour smell is too strong and obvious.