How to Take Apart a Honeywell Air Purifier?

Honeywell air purifiers are among the top-rated air purifiers in the market, and the devices live up to the hype. These efficient purifiers perform pretty well, and proper maintenance, especially cleaning, is a way to keep their performance high. So, how do you take apart a Honeywell air purifier?

A Honeywell air purifier has an outer mesh that you take off to access the filters. You must set the filters aside in a safe location before removing other parts of the device. To reach the unit’s fan and other wires, you’d have to remove the screws holding the inner mesh. 

This article describes how you take apart an air purifier and how to open a Honeywell air purifier. I also explore reassembling Honeywell air purifiers and whether it’s hard to reassemble one.

How Do You Take Apart an Air Purifier?

An air purifier or air cleaner is a device that filters airborne contaminants from an indoor space and recirculates cleaner air. Pollutants include particulates like dust, cigarette smoke, pollen, pet dander, and gasses like VOCs (volatile organic compounds). You may see dust when it settles on surfaces and when the sun’s rays hit just right, but there’s more.

Every cubic foot of air has around three million dust particles suspended in it. That’s a lot of unchecked particles that can enter your lungs at any time. Thankfully, there are air purifiers that help improve indoor air quality.

Air purifiers vary based on their filtration mechanism. Mechanical air purifiers use filters and a blade fan to pull in air and remove pollutants. Filter types include a pre-filter, HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air), and carbon filters (activated carbon or charcoal). 

Other filtration mechanisms include the use of UV rays (UVGI), electrostatic precipitation, photocatalytic oxidation (PCO), etc. Whatever the filtration mechanism an air purifier uses, the device needs maintenance. This often involves changing or cleaning overloaded filters.

You cannot clean the filters or pollutant-collecting components without reaching them directly. So, taking apart an air purifier is necessary. If you can handle some repairs, you’ll also need to take the unit apart to reach the motor or malfunctioning indicators.

Screwdrivers, pliers, a vacuum cleaner, and a cleaning towel are some tools you need to take apart an air purifier. Since each model has a unique design, there’s no universal way to take apart air purifiers. Instead, you’d have to follow the manufacturer’s manual for steps about reaching and cleaning the filters.

 Regardless, most purifiers have a front grill you can remove and screws joining other parts of the “shell.” Here’s how you can take them apart:

  • Turn the air purifier off and unplug it from the power source.
  • Remove the front grill by following the manufacturer’s instructions – there’s often a pull tab.
  • If the grill has fasteners, unscrew them.
  • Loosen each screw evenly and take out one at a time.
  • Apply the same care to the screws holding the housing or case together and split the halves.
  • Depending on the fan’s attachment, you can either unscrew its attachment to the motor shaft or twist the locking ring and pry it off.
  • The motor and switch may have a covering, and you can access the motor by taking off the screws that hold it in place.
  • You can now access the internal components to fix whatever the issue is.

Care and safety are paramount when taking apart an air purifier. Take care not to pull any part of the casing too strongly, to avoid breaking or bending it. Also, don’t rough handle the fan when removing it.

Wear gloves and safety goggles where necessary, and clean the required parts as you go. Finally, do not attempt to dismantle an air purifier for repairs if you don’t have the skills to handle it. You may end up causing irreparable damage to an internal component. 

How Do You Open Honeywell Air Purifiers?

A Honeywell air purifier is an excellent addition for a home riddled with dust, pollen, pet dander, smoke, and other foul odors. The unit’s three filters help trap pollutants, including particles and odors.

Pre-filters trap larger particles that enter the unit via the grill. The next layer of filters is the HEPA and activated carbon filters. They may be separate or combined in a 2-in-1 setup, with the HEPA portion in front and the carbon layer behind.

Some Honeywell models include a 4th filter layer: an electronic ionizer for charging pollutants and trapping them on a collector plate. Depending on the filter’s nature, you may have to wash it, replace it, or clean it with a vacuum cleaner. This is the main reason for opening a Honeywell air purifier—cleaning.

Opening a Honeywell air purifier is a pretty straightforward process requiring zero expertise, and here’s what to do:

  • Turn off the air purifier by pressing the “Off” button.
  • Unplug the unit from the power source and move it to your cleaning station. It should be an open area that gives access to all air purifier parts.
  • If your device has a locking mechanism, twist it counterclockwise to unlock it and remove the grill or front part.
  • You can now remove one filter layer at a time, applying the proper handling and cleaning methods.

How to Clean a Honeywell Air Purifier

Cleaning your air purifier is good, but it is crucial to understand how often you should do it. If you don’t clean it enough, you risk breathing contaminated air and facing the resultant health consequences. On the other hand, cleaning it too much may also be expensive (filter replacements), and you may damage the device.

Generally, cleaning involves changing or washing the filters, brushing off dust and debris where necessary, and wiping down the surfaces. The different filters in the air purifier require different cleaning methods and frequencies, as shown below:

Pre-filters: These are washable, and you should clean them once per month. Shake off the dust or brush it off before washing. A light washing or simply running them under water should get the dirt off. 

Some pre-filters are also replaceable, so read the instructions manual to proceed.

HEPA filters: They come in two primary forms – replaceable and permanent. Permanent HEPA filters last up to two or three years, which is ideal for Honeywell purifiers that have 3½ years life expectancy. Lightly vacuuming these permanent filters is all you need to keep them clean. Never wash a permanent filter with water to avoid damaging it.

On the other hand, replaceable filters need changing every three months or six months, depending on your frequency of use. If you run your air purifier for 12 hours a day, then a six-month replacement period is good enough. However, running the unit 24/7 means, you’ll have to go the three-month route.

Activated carbon filters: These filters trap the foul odors within a space. You can brush any dust residue off them. They require changes every six months or so, but you should follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for its care.

As you pull out the filters to wash or replace, remember to wipe the surfaces (outside and inside) with a soft cleaning towel. Avoid using detergent, soap, and bleach as cleaning agents for the filters. Chemical agents might react with the filters, damaging and rendering them useless.

Is It Hard to Reassemble Honeywell Air Purifiers?

Maintaining your Honeywell air purifier is vital to preserving it at an optimum condition. If you don’t maintain your air purifier, it won’t clean the air properly, which defeats the purpose of having one. So, opening it up for cleaning is good, but it’s just as crucial to reassemble it correctly.

It’s easy to reassemble since the cleaner doesn’t have a complicated design. Instead, you simply put the pieces back together in the same order you removed them:

  • Replace each filter level or layer: from activated carbon to pre-filter.
  • Ensure the filters are leveled and none is sticking out of place. You can follow the directional arrows to avoid any errors.
  • If there’s a Velcro layer beneath the front grill, reattach it and ensure it’s snug.
  • Replace the grill or screw the case closed.
  • Tighten all screws, ensuring that there are no loose openings.
  • Plug the unit in and power it on for a test.
  • Watch how the fans turn and listen to how it works.
  • If no weird sounds or substances are coming out of the vent, then it’s in excellent working condition.
  • If something about the sound or look seems strange, repeat the reassemble, carefully checking for errors.

Taking apart and reassembling Honeywell air purifiers is necessary for cleaning and repairs. However, it would be best to exercise caution when handling these devices. A minor mishap may render it unusable, and you don’t want to see your money go to waste.

These air purifiers may have warranties covering damages, so read the specifics and fine print before opening an air purifier unit. Finally, do not attempt to open or reassemble a Honeywell air purifier if you have zero “handy” skills. You and the air purifier would be better off if you left the task to someone better equipped.

A working, highly efficient purifier cleans and maintains excellent indoor air quality. Do what it takes to ensure your purifier stays working for you and your householders’ benefits.