Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Straight out of the box, beautifully quiet on Low, and that setting works well, putting out > 1 gal/24 hrs at 35% RH. Then after a week or two it started clicking and generating motor noise. If I can I prefer to fix things rather than go through the return hassle. (Same thing I did with both my old Hunter humidifiers years ago when they started making noises.) Removing the cover from the motor/control unit (5 screws), I found some errant wires, not routed properly and not tied properly. The fan was hitting one. Tying them properly removed the clicking, but the new motor noise was still there. Watching it run, it was clear that the motor+ fan was seriously unbalanced. First I gave the fan a couple of gentle whacks with a tack hammer to seat it properly on the shaft, removing some of the imbalance. Still noisy, however, and clearly caused by the motor rotor not being centered in the magnets. I removed the motor from its plastic housing (2 screws) and slightly loosened the two machine screws that hold the motor together. With the motor running on slow, I gently tapped the upper bearing housing different ways to get the thing centered and quiet. Then slowly tightened the two screws, alternating sides, making sure not to disturb the improved centering. Put the motor back in its plastic housing and screw it in. Then the outer case, making sure to route the wires properly outside the fan enclosure (5 screws). All done. About 30 minutes. Although still a little out of balance, it's now just about totally silent (better than new in fact). But if I hadn't been a fix-it fella, I would have returned it. In my experience the majority of these machines have poor motor quality control leading to noise. PS Others were right about the stupidly bright LEDs. Little pieces of duct tape (2 layers) work well to dim the lights.