Review on Aprilaire 4839 Humidifier Maintenance Kit - Water Panel Model No. 35 Replacement filter for Models 600, 600A, 600M by Mike Marks

The central air conditioning/heating system in my home is equipped with an Aprilair 400 humidifier. The water did turn green, and the introduction of a built-in antimicrobial filter along with the occasional spray of tea tree oil (a powerful antiseptic) helped alleviate this to some degree. I still wanted to convert the 400 into a 600 that uses running water. This particular maintenance kit helped me with that. The previous reviewer detailed several steps for the conversion, but I'd just like to add that the included funnel snaps into the humidifier body and fits perfectly. It has a 1/2" extension for a drain pipe (I used a clear pipe from HD to direct the water to the sump). Overall, this kit fits into the 400 case with no issues and I didn't have to modify the 400 humidistat. My initial experience with the rebuilt humidifier was positive. I had to keep the humidity in my house above 40% during the winter so my newborn baby could breathe easily at night. I could see the humidifier leaking water each time the oven was activated to maintain a relatively high humidity level. But a few months later, the plant was finding it more difficult to maintain that level, barely being able to maintain around 40%. I attribute this to wear and tear on the humidifier water plate that came with it. It looks like the slab (made of layers of aluminum grids fused together) has some sort of debris that helped keep the evaporating water out. These deposits wear away over time, making it much more difficult for the plates to maintain proper water-air interaction. I had to go back to the original #45 panel designed for the Aprilair 400 series as it has many layers of paper that can be soaked in water. The humidifier can then easily increase the humidity to the desired level. So I'm deducting one star for the behavior of the complete panel #35 - it strikes me as odd that it "wears out" so quickly.