I think some of the home humidifiers use this same technology.

If MaxSmoke doesn’t mind you adding to his article, that’s fine by me if you want to write something up. I can easily update it and give you credit

My model doesn’t have that red led on it as I usually get a cheaper model with out any lights or that remote control switch on the cable. From watching the video I suspect that it is a power indicator. Try setting it on the counter instead of immersing it in water and then turn it on. Since it will not activate outside of water, or another conductor for the switch, the light should turn on but nothing else will happen.

As far as writing an addendum goes, I am not too keen on the idea of stepping into someone else’s review. Since you are asking me to, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal as long as Julie and Judie approve it first. I am just worried about it setting a precedent. On the other hand, I am quite willing to give you permission to take anything I have posted in this thread and add it to the review, as long as you reference me somehow.

That’s great info on the Transducer, just the kinds of things I was wondering about. It was really hard to find alot of hard data on those things, since so few people have ever heard of them. But like alot of neat gizmos, I guess it’s been floating around for awhile and just slipped under the radar of most people.

You know, when I first got the device, I too thought the vibrations came from that golden speaker-looking thing in the center. The reason I changed my mind was when I was editing that video of it. I think you can see it if you frame by frame the video, but if you look closely, the vapor appears to actual come from the black thing first. It doesn’t come out of the center, but right off the black knob. Of course, maybe that’s just an illusion, or maybe the speaker is somehow causing the knob to shake. But either way, that’s why I think the Black thing is part of the speaker.

Of course, if you’ve taken these things apart, then you’re probably right. I just messed around with it for a few hours. Oh, maybe you can write up a short addendum and Julie can post it with my review? No sense just hiding your knowledge in the forum, share it with the world!

BTW, ever noticed a red glow coming from that black thing? For some reason, mine had a tiny LED inside the tip. I wouldn’t have noticed it at all, if it wasn’t for the video. It’s very dim, I wonder what it’s for? You certainly can’t see the light when the device is on, and that’s the only time it turns on.

I have played with these little foggers quite a bit and I can give you some more info about them as well as one minor correction.

That little post on top is not actually the emitter. The emitter is the flat disk in the middle of the unit. That post is the water sensor that turns the unit off if the water level gets too low. I think it uses some kind of ultra low current and it is certainly safe to touch.

If you need to adjust the position of your mister you can do this while it is turned on. While the frequency that it vibrates at is certainly high enough to do nasty things to flesh, it is not very strong so it does so very slowly. Should you accidentally put a finger on or slightly above the disk while it is running, you will certainly know as you will feel a strong buzzing sensation, but you will also have plenty of time to pull away before any noticeable damage is done.

That being said, absolutely DO NOT HOLD YOUR FINGER OVER THE DISK! If you just let it brush you then it is no big deal, but if you do let it jet on one part of your hand long enough it will cause a rather nasty injury. To your muscle tissue it would be less than a mild bruise, but since the signal is transmitted through your body like sonar transmits through water, your nerves have no protection from it. If you have ever managed to bruise a nerve, like banging your funny bone only much harder, then you know what I am talking about. By the time you feel any pain the damage has already been done and it might take a day or two for the bruise on your nerve to heal. NOT FUN!

I can also attest to the fact that they do last an incredibly long time, if treated well. I have had a few fail on me in two different ways. Both of them were entirely my fault. The first is that the water sensor can eventually oxidize if you keep it in water with a dissimilar metal, as the ions will transfer between the two objects. Eventually this will block the signal and prevent the switch from working. At this point you can usually just buff the sensor to fix the problem, but it can be a real pain to get it clean enough and if you don’t take out the other metal object from the water then it will just happen again.

The second thing that can kill one of these is heat. The mist does indeed feel cool because of the effect of evaporation. Actually, the transducer puts quite a bit of energy into the water in order to blast it into mist. As the mist evaporates that energy dissipates, but if the mist is kept in an enclosed area, the heat will build up. If you do something really silly, like put a heat mat under a water fountain in a terrarium, and then put the transducer inside of a small chamber in that fountain, then it will heat up really quick. Twice I managed to kill one of these things in just two days by doing that. Thankfully I caught on the second time around.

The one thing that I really don’t understand about when you cook one of these things with heat is that it doesn’t actually hurt the transducer. Instead it destroys the power supply. If you manage to cook one, and you replace it with an identical one, keep the original and use it as a spare.

The last way that I know that these can fail, and it is something that I have never managed to do, is to wear out the disk that does the actual emitting. If you leave one on for months (or years) straight, it will eventually burn out the disk. However you can get replacement disks for much cheaper than a full unit. My local craft store has replacement disks and special keys that you use to twist off the cover for about $5 each. My local pet store also stocks these misters and can order the disks as well. So check your local craft and pet stores before buying a new unit!

So, now that I have taken up far too much real-estate in your forum, just let me say that I think your idea for a kids toy with a battery and a protective case is a great one. I think that the little corded units should have guards on them anyway, even though the risk is fairly slight. Even more than making a toy out of it, I would LOVE to see a larger more powerful (and unfortunately, more dangerous) unit that I could use in place of a fog machine. Fog machines don’t bother my asthma much, but I have some friends who aren’t so lucky, and I don’t really like those “haze” machines either as the smoke from them is almost as nasty.

One last tip, if you put it in slightly deeper water, they don’t splash at all, and you still get just as much fog from them unless you make the water REALLY deep. Try it out with a tall glass instead of that short tub. Don’t worry about it hurting the glass, the only part that vibrates is the disk, and the vibrations are so small that they don’t transmit to the rest of the base.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/mist_of_dreams

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