As an old time auto mechanic, I was told early on to never use compressed air to clean a filter, even blowing backwards. Seems the pieces of dirt in the filter will poke holes in the filter media when pushed through with air pressure, defeating the purpose of the filter. Now the filter has all these microscopic holes that let dirt through. It is best practice to lightly tap on the filter to loosen any dirt. At the shop, we use an ordinary 75 watt droplight to check air filters. It you can’t see light through the filter, it is time for a new filter.
Here is a photo showing my used filter with 35 hours remaining compared to a new filter. It passes the light test but barely.
I think your explanation misses the basic point of what the filter is doing.
This is not a filter that protects downstream machinery from particulate abrasion, nor is it a fitter that is sanitizing the air like a HEPA room filter would do. So what is its job?
The purpose of this filter is to prevent a cloud of dust from behind the vacuum and, to an extent, to prevent broadcasting the finer particulate onto tabletops or aggravating allergies.
Of course, a cleaner filter will do a better job of vacuuming by passing more air and allowing higher suction. And, a cleaner filter will probably have less backside residue to re-broadcast. So it is a matter of what is “acceptable”.
Washing the face of the filter will remove front-side particulate and open up the filter for better suction (airflow.) Washing the backside will remove anything ready to be projected out the backside.
But the concern about creating microscopic holes that may let a small amount of microscopic material re-deposit back where it started (most likely the carpet) is to worry about the negligible. This is not a room HEPA filter scouring the room of COVID-19 viruses.
And, finally, I think perspective is warranted about replacing these filters. The cost is negligible…whether it is $2 or $10 a filter, it works out to pennies an hour for a device that replaces a $20 to $50 an hour housekeeper. My view is that replacing the filter every week–or frequently–is a small cost in proportion to the work the vacuum is doing. (Something akin to begrudging the cost of replacing oil on a car with disregard to the value and purpose of the oil…to mix metaphors.)
So you replace the filter every week or two or whenever. The cost remains small. So why not just do it? At $5 or $10 a filter this works out to about 15 minutes of housekeeper’s time. Or, do you also wash out your big vacuum filters to save their $10 cost? (Oh, right, none of us robot vacuum people have vacuumed the house in years:)
Also I took the old Wyze main brush out and made sure the new brush fit. Again, other than the color, the main brush in the kit is identical to the Wyze main brush.
Now that it has been determined the side brush and main brush are the same, on to the filter. Here is a photo of the old Wyze HEPA filter above the new HEPA filter in the kit
I ordered the exact same thing. It arrived yesterday, I installed one of each part and did a cleaning today. The air that came out of the exhaust smelled fresh and clean.
When I compared these filters to the Wyze one yesterday, I noticed that these don’t have the felt looking seal around the inside edge. They are of lower quality, overall. I won’t be using these filters for as many cleanings as the Wyze ones, but, it was still a pretty good deal for $20. At least until Wyze has theirs available.
Same here. According to the app, I have about 10 hours of life left in my original filter. No replacements are available on the Wyze website, and the responses I received after reaching out to their “support” team made me wonder if they even knew they had a vacuum on the market.
You have a product with consumables that need to be replaced periodically, but don’t offer replacements? This is very disappointing, Wyze. The very least you could do here is to refer your customers to a third-party source that you have verified are compatible, and that won’t void the warranty.
Finally got around to replacing the HEPA filter. Someone here said the Wyze filter had a foam seal and the replacement filter on Amazon does not. I put on my high power glasses and could not see a foam gasket on the spare Wyze HEPA filter.
Photo left to right) of the old dirty Wyze HEPA filter, the new clean Wyze HEPA filter that was a spare in the box, and two new replacement filters.
I agree! They are coming out with all this new products which is fine BUT take care of the products you have!! Very disappointed in the Wyze company for terrible customer service!!!
