Our air purfier woke me up to a sound of crackling noise. Is that normal or could it be a shortage in the machine.

To stop the crackling sound, you need to remove all of the dust particles from the wire in the back. Sometimes when the unit is extremely dirty you can see sparks emanating from the wire, this is what causes the crackling sound. The unit has a built in cleaner you can lift up and down to perform this task, located on the top, but this doesn't work extremely well.

I usually take a can of compressed air and blow as much of the dust I can off the wire and all surrounding internal areas as I can. To do this, approach the unit from the front, and turn the blade door slightly so the wire can be seen. This along with a thorough cleaning of the blades should eliminate the crackling noise. Of course, make sure the device is unplugged before performing any cleaning.

Mine does it too, I finally just tried something else when I was cleaning the blades. I took some alcohol on a qtip and with the blades out of the machine I wiped up and down the line wires that are inside that go from the top to the bottom, and also the little balls that are on the bottom of the wires that slide when you turn your unit upside down. It seems to work, I do it every time I clean the blades. scribner062

Check the plates for cracks and make sure the metal contacts are making a good connection with the metal grid on the plates. Either problem will cause the crackling problem

noise is normal, hissing and crackling all normal, you are magnatizing dirt with high voltage and causing it to stick to another magnetic section in the cleaner, these things operate on voltages in the range of 10,000-40,000vdc

Its just a wear in the ozone plastic its normal after continued use

Check the connections to the air cells (precipitators) and be sure you have a good connection - make sure none of the cell plates are touching each other

Hi jackkikay,

A faint buzzing sound is normal - - that's the high-voltage plasma discharge simulating lightning in a thunderstorm. If the room is dark you should be able to see a faint bluish-purple glow of the metal grid on the plate(s) inside. This should somewhat louder as you increase the setting.

It should not really be so loud that is stands out in the background of normal noises (refrigerator running for example). If the buzz is loud - - like something is shorting-out internally (loud crackling sound), that would signal a different problem - - I'd need more details about what you're observing. Approximate purchase day, specific model, number of plates, general condition of the interior would all be helpful if you deem the buzz to be too loud for normal operation.

If I can be of further assistance, let me know. If this helps or solves the issue, please rate it accordingly.

Thanks in-advance for using Fixya.com,

Jon

To stop the crackling sound, you need to remove all of the dust particles from the wire in the back. Sometimes when the unit is extremely dirty you can see sparks emanating from the wire, this is what causes the crackling sound. The unit has a built in cleaner you can lift up and down to perform this task, located on the top, but this doesn't work extremely well.

I usually take a can of compressed air and blow as much of the dust I can off the wire and all surrounding internal areas as I can. This along with a thorough cleaning of the blades should eliminate the crackling noise. Of course, make sure the device is unplugged before performing any cleaning.

Not sure about the smell though. Mine has started to smell a little strange and I haven't figured out how to fix that problem.

You need to look inside (through the front grill) with the lights turned off, and try to spot the sparking/arcing high-voltage - - what you're likely hearing is a spark where high-voltage is grounding-out due to a fault in the wire insulation or some other insulating structure.

Once you isolate where in the machine it's arcing, you may be able to determine where it is and whether or not it's within your skills to fix it. If it's an XL-15 as indicated by this category, it's no longer in warranty (no longer even supported by the manufacturer, for that matter, so it will be up to you to determine how much you want to work with high-voltage electricity.

If you can find the spark, you might be able to report back here for more detailed advice. Hope this helps.

we are also expierencing the same crackling problem. This machine is only a year old.....

anyone find anyway to resolve the crackling? I have not contacted Brookstone, but it doesn't sound too promising anyway.

These air purifiers are not cheap and they should back up their products.