HARMONICA BUG BLASTER - PORTABLE HARMONICA SANITIZER & DISINFECTOR
Hello Harp Techs, I just received an email from Professor Antaki informing me that his March order had finally arrived from China. This means all backorders will be shipped out. If you had not already done so, place your order for the Ozone Sanitizer now and be confident your harmonica will be bug free!
https://www.turboharp.com/harmonica-bug-blaster
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Good thinking Gracehopper!
As if listening to us play our harmonica was not punishing enough, give my condolences to your wife.
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
The harp still played just fine and dandy after a session in the CPAP cleaner. The wife is quite happy since I've been using the damn sleeping snorkel religiously for several years now. No more snoring!
I will say she is very tolerant of harmonica practice, until I get up to the 8 9 10 holes and start blow bending. I'm a lucky man!
TomE
Indeed you are my friend
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
Hi Kinya and TomE. I'd like to know what, all these months later, either of you, or any other Forum participants, think of harmonica UV/ozone cleaners, especially in the COVID age. I've been thinking about picking up either the TurboHarp Bug Blaster or the Seydel Disinfection Bag, for a number of reasons that include (a) sanitizing harps that I might give away or sell to others, and (b) helping out the kids when the grandkids accidentally swap the Suzuki Airwaves I've given to each of them and the kids worry about the grandkids trading germs. I guess that basic inquiry is: Have any of you determined that these things actually work? And if so, how effectively? Having during my working years had clients that included municipal drinking water and sewage districts, I know how UV/ozone treatments are used on water, but water might be a bit different than harmonicas. (As an aside, I have a hunch that the current crop of harmonica cleaning bags may originally have been marketed for sanitizing home appliances only a tad less intimate than harmonicas, but whatever works.) Thanks!
In my 35 years as a wastewater and drinking water operator, I have learned that many people conflate UV with Ozone.
UV is to Ozone as Sports Car is to Dump Truck.
UltraViolet Light (UV) does not kill bugs. UV neuters bugs so that they cannot reproduce.
Since it is LIGHT, UV only affects those things that it directly touches -- it does not reach nooks, crannies, or the "bottom side".
If you put an unassembled harmonica into a UV chamber, only the top, side, and end surfaces will be affected.
If you look directly into the UV source, you will be blinded - either temporarily or permanately, depending upon strenght of the light source and the lengthe of time that you look into it.
Ozone is a gas (O3) that is toxic to bugs (including humans!!!) by taking the place of oxygen (O2) during respiration.
As a gas, Ozone permeates into nooks, crannies, and crevices.
Ozone is effective, therefore, on an unassembled harmonica.
Breathing Ozone is hazardous to your health, especially to those with respeatory problems -- which is why CPAP cleaning machines that utilize Ozone technology advise that you not be in the same room as the machine while it is in operation, and that you wait for its venting cycle to complete before opening the machine.
Neither UV nor Ozone provide a scrubbing action to remove foreign materials, such as spit, phlem, food particles, or chewing tobacco.
UV WILL NOT penetrate clumps of foreign materials.
Ozone MAY penetrate TINY clumps of foreign materials.
That's well more than 2 cents worth...
Evets
Evets: Your two cents worth is priceless. Many thanks.
I second that Mr. Evets.
As an alternative, for my benchwork, I use my desktop Ozone unit. Immediately after removing harmonicas from this unit you will be able to briefly smell the Ozone, not so on the portable unit.
https://www.turboharp.com/ozone-harmonica-sanitizer
Your Harpsmith, Kinya
As a sleep apnea sufferer (it was actually my wife who really sufferred) I have CPAP gear and a CPAP ozone cleaner hooked up to it all.
Today's experiment - I put a harp into the ozone cleaner along with the CPAP mask. Why not, ya? We'll see what happens.... It was playing ok when it went in there.