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Purifier - VOC level explained/help

  • 19 September 2021
  • 8 replies
  • 21071 views

Userlevel 1

Hi, our purifier is in the nursery which has a furniture set producing voc constantly. The room is about 12 m2. The air quality always show fair and goes down very slowly. The purifier has been on for 24 hrs now and the voc level went from mid fair to lower fair only. I was wondering how long does it take for the machine to purify the air? The room is isolated- door and windows are close. 
Thanks

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Best answer by Stuart 14 October 2021, 11:55

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8 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

Hi @sonay

This is quite a unique question, hopefully I can provide some information to help answer it. 

I think it would be beneficial to highlight what VOCs are and where it comes from. 

Volatile Organic Compounds otherwise known as VOCs are odours that may be potentially harmful. These including cooking, burning fuels, perfumes and cleaning products. 

As the room is sealed, is it possible that there are other environmental conditions adding to this level. I.E, cleaning products used in the room or ventilation into the room?  

In terms of the amount of time it should take to purifier the room, I believe this article will offer further guidance - ‘What size room will the machine purify?’. Rather than overall time, we look at the overall space the Purifiers will be effective within. 

As your machine has been running for 24 hours without seeing a large decline, could I ask you to check that the machine sensor(s) are clean. Please following the advice under our Cleaning the sensor and cleaning the machine as per the instructions found in the App under 'Using your machine' and 'Cleaning your machine'.

If the above doesn’t help solve this, could you please confirm your machines exact model and I will look to see if I can get a more accurate information to provide. 

Thanks, 

Stuart

(Edited by moderator – Added hyperlink to ‘What size room will the machine purify?’)

Userlevel 1

Hi @Stuart 

Thanks for providing the information above. 

As you advised, I cleaned the sensors as per instructions. However it still takes around 24 hrs for machine to clean the air in the room. 

As mentioned, the room is sealed and there is no other sources can produce VOC in the room.

We have Dyson Purifier Hot + Cold Formaldehyde. 
 

I would appreciate if you could provide some more information.

 

Thanks

Sonay

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

Hi @sonay 

No problem. Not ideal that it hasn’t resolved what you’re seeing however. 

So that I can do further troubleshooting on my side, could I please ask you to check the following?

  1. That your Mobile meets the ‘App and Device compatibility’ criteria. 
  2. If not already, can you update to the latest version of the Dyson Link App - ‘Release 5.1.21340

If all of the above is as expected and you are still having the issue, could you please drop me a Private message (PM) with the following: 

  1. The Mobile device type and software you have.
  2. A confirmation of the Apps software version.
  3. The serial number of your machine.
  4. A screenshot of the indoor air quality graph.

In the meantime, I have reached out to our Category team explaining what you’ve encountered and hope to have an answer from them soon. 

Many thanks, 

Stuart

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

Hi @sonay 

Thank you for sending me a Private message (PM). I’ve responded providing the email address to send the screenshot across to. 

I’ve got a developer on hand that is waiting to look at this and a call booked later today with the Category team. I should have an answer for you soon. 

Many thanks,

Stuart 

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

Hi @sonay 

Thank you for sending me a Private message (PM). I’ve responded providing the email address to send the screenshot across to. 

I’ve got a developer on hand that is waiting to look at this and a call booked later today with the Category team. I should have an answer for you soon. 

Many thanks,

Stuart 

Hi @sonay

Screenshots received. Thank you.

I’ve been speaking to the development and category teams this afternoon, we have a couple of areas we want to look into. The most important of which is understanding the decay rate of the VOC level on your graph. If this data is being reported from the machine accurately and a confirmation that the algorithm used to display and record this. This is in light of nothing in the room adding to the VOC in the environment.

This discussion is still ongoing and I hope to have a reply at some point tomorrow (This subject requires input from a couple of key team members, who are based around the globe).

Thank you for your patience as we investigate. 

Best,

Stuart 

Userlevel 7
Badge +13

Hi @sonay 

Thanks for your patience whilst I looking into this;

The development and category team have provided me with a couple of answers, which I think resolves the query you have.

Whilst VOC is produced from the likes of cooking, burning fuels, perfumes and cleaning products. The sources that product VOC omit a gas, which is detected by our Purifiers and are drawn into the machine passing through the filtration system to remove it from the environment. This gas decays at a steady rate as the air in the room is passed through the machine and clean air is expelled.

This process can be affected by what is called ‘Off gassing’. This is where a source is producing the gas at a rate higher or the same that equals the machines purification. I must stress that this is extremely rare and if the former were the case, the machine would read this as Severe/Purple. However, as it has taken a couple of days to clean, I suspect what has occurred is that a source introduced into the space is/has omitting the VOC gas at a continuous rate that the machine has detected under it under the Fair/Yellow reading on your graph. This reading indicated that the machine has detecting a moderate level of the type of pollutant. As the machine has been successful in reducing this VOC reading and bring it down to the Good/Green. Detecting a very low level of the type of pollutant, I would suggest that something within the space has now stopped producing the gas.

The ’Explanation of the pollutant levels and colours on the graph’ should help understand what the readings on your graph indicate. 

The importantly thing now is to locate what in the home is producing the gas. This can be done through trial and error. Changing cleaning material, moving the purifier to a different location in the room and/or checking for points when outside air can enter the room are only a few suggestions.

In terms of the machine, as Dyson Purifiers are designed to ‘In maximum setting. Tested for air projection, purification coverage in an 81m³ room', I would suggest running your machine in AUTO mode. Using AUTO mode means the on-board sensors will intelligently adjust the settings of the machine according to the air quality. The airflow speed will increase until the target air quality. This is a pre-set reading within the Good/Green.

Many thanks,

Stuart

Userlevel 1

Hi Stuart, many thanks for looking into this. 
Your answer makes complete sense to me! It is ashame that Dyson purifiers cannot deal with off gassing promptly and takes time to clean the air but hopefully there will be technology developed for this in the future. 
 

Thanks again!
Sonay 

@sonay 

hi!

it’s also good to note that the source of the VOC may still be in the room, hence the Dyson reducing the amount, but it still being in the air in trace amounts.

glues and other chemicals we use on furniture (including formaldehyde/etc), carpet, and construction materials can off-gas for years. So the source may still be in your room/house.

note that you can buy products that don’t use these chemicals, but that’s not always an option…I rent for example! So, I have barely any control of what materials go into my home.

But, it’s good the Dyson made you aware of the problem and that it’s at a lower level than it started. It should potentially go down forever (but houses aren’t air tight either unless you bought a certified air tight green home or something) so VOCs can come from outside pollutants through the walls (or from the walls themselves if the construction materials are still off gassing).

our construction and product manufacturers are still light years away from providing safe living environments and products to us here in the US (and other places obviously). It’s a shame really!

but at least these Dyson products are helping us treat the issues inside our own less than perfect homes!

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