Ionic breeze 3.0 repair

My Ionic Breeze GP began losing power occasionally but I could shake it and get it to turn back on. It got worse and worse until it would not turn on anymore.

The problem on mine is the micro switch that detects whether the collector plates are inserted or not, so it is part of the safety mechanism. There is a about a one-inch cylindrical piece of plastic on the front of the collector plate handle. This cylinder goes through a hole and pushes on the micro switch (actually a plastic cover over the micro switch).

On mine, it appears that arcing inside the switch caused it to get hot, deforming the plastic a little bit and apparently ruining the inside of the switch.

The following URLs describe the switch, but I have not found a retailer that carries it:
http://www.dicgroup.com/pdf/SM/SM5-01N.pdf
http://www.dicgroup.com/e-pro01-sm.html

Another of the same model switch is used in the back of the unit to detect whether the rear cover is on (over the UV bulb).

If I cannot find a replacement, I am thinking of either bypassing the bad switch entirely or swapping the switch from the back. Either way would defeat a safety feature so it's probably not to be recommended, but I consider the sacrificing the switch for the back cover to be introducing only limited risk, so I might take that route if I have to.

The rear grill has an electrical contact on it. If the grill is not seated properly, electrical contact is lost and the unit will not run.

Here's how to remove and reseat the rear grill:

1. Turn off the unit.

2. Unplug the unit.

3. Remove the collection grid.

4. At the bottom of the rear grill is a blue tab. Pull it toward you and lift the grill up and off.

6. Put the grill back on so that the locking tabs go into their slots.

5. Slide the grill down to lock the tabs in place. Verify the blue tab is latched.

6. Put the collection grid back in.

7. Plug the unit back in and turn it On.

If that doesn't work, it is possible the contact in the rear grill is still not touching correctly. Use the steps above to remove the rear grill. Then locate the metal strip on the inside lower portion of the grill. Clean it and clean the metal pin it is supposed to touch on the chassis. If the contact is tarnished, use an emery board to shine it up. Also shine up the pin. Then VERY gently lift the contact a little so that is sticks out further. Replace the rear grill. Insert the collection grid. Turn the unit On.

The unit will not power on if the grills are not attached correctly. Pull on them to see if one of the sides did not seat right. The grills can appear to be fully attached even when they aren't.

Sharper Image will replace it if you call them. Unfortunately, most all of them end up with this problem at some point.

We are on our third one and its been relegated to the dogs room.

I fixed it! I cleaned the contacts mention previous PLUS around the wires and beads at the bottom. It works again. The front grill comes off and gives ample access to the beads and contacts. I also blew the whole thing out with compressed air. Good Luck!

If you purchased the replacement and service guarantee you will receive your money back from NEW ( the warranty company) The info is on the Sharper Image Web page. My unit quit and I received a check for the full amount very quickly last month.

can you give me the number to call to get it fixed thank you all :)

cleaning contacts and reseating did not work

I thought I read that the Sharper Imaage went out of business. Their supposed web site now looks sort of ametuerish and crude. What's happenin'?
.
I'll take that as the warranties all died.

return it under warranty why go through the hassele of trying to fix it will only be out for about 2-4 weeks.