Winix C545 4 Stage Wifi Air Purifier


Winix C545 4 Stage Wifi Air Purifier

I own one of these, works great. I use the app to schedule runtimes.

Couple things:

  1. PlasmaWave can be turned off via app or on the unit itself.

  2. Works on iphone and android

6 Likes

I have one of these as well. One thing I don’t like is that the LED’s are super bright. There is a night mode where they turn off after some time but the time should be 30 seconds instead of 5 minutes or whatever it is. Filters are inexpensive. Great overall especially for the price.

Costco is selling these new for $99 shipped starting 3/10. For $30 more you get a new unit and an indefinite return policy.

6 Likes

tl;dr: Cheaply made. The control board fried when I had a minor power outage; no other electronics throughout the house were damaged in the slightest.

Bought one (about a year ago?) from W00T because I already had a Winx 9500 which works GREAT The C545 was fine until the day the fan would not spin up, despite the lights showing it had power.

I called WinX and described the problem; the First Thing the tech asked was “Did you have a power outage?” When I confirmed that we did, he advised:

  1. The control board is “delicate” - I guess this means that they want it on a surge protector. I didn’t see this in the manual, but I could have missed it.

  2. They weren’t going to fix it b/c it was refurbished - Sucks to be me for saving money.

None of the other electronics / computers / TV’s / or the Winx 9500 were fried or damaged in any way.

This begs the question: Why the #### is this made so badly that the control board this easily?

8 Likes

There are _ a lot_ of sites selling these as refurbished units. Woot has been selling these refurb C545s for well over a year. The fact that they still have inventory of them lets you know how many they’re sitting on of these. I would expect a high failure rate to be the reason there is such an abundance of inventory. Woot loves reselling Costco refurb products.

These also use uncommon filter sizes compared to the other models they make. Not necessarily a bad thing if you’re willing to stock up on filters while they’re still available.

Last thing worth noting is the plasma feature generates ozone which can be harmful for certain situations. A prime example of this is anyone with birds in the house. Their delicate respiratory system can be gravely harmed by being in the same room as any type of ionizer or ozone generator. It’s pretty much a death sentence for birds to share a household with anything producing this reaction. It’s a shame too because bird owners rely heavily on filters to keep down on bird dander becoming airborne. You can obviously disable the feature, but at that point you’re better off with a larger surface area filter that doesn’t include the other features in it’s price tag.

xmishka also touched on something worth noting. These go on sale from Costco brand new with warranties for $99 all the time. Woot always seems to sell them every time they’re about to go on sale on Costco too. There is definitely correlation there worth noting given the potential for failures outside of the warranty offered by Woot. Another site I visit has Woot buyers stating they had the device and it worked but the WIFI died fast and never came back. One stated his Costco one never had a wifi issue but his woot purchased one does which dismantled the argument that it’s the app and not the device itself.

The biggest reported failures on these products are that the die in power outages or any type of surge due to a weak board and the other main issue is the WIFI feature seems to die over time and may also be related to the weak boards.

1 year warranty on a refurb is a good sign though!

Costco will have this on sale brand new with 2 sets of filters for $99 starting 3/10.

13 Likes

I have one and website says this dies not produce ozone. I have other ozone generators too and winix does NOT produce ozone. Where you get your info from? Plasma wave is like a negative ion fyi

4 Likes

I bought one of these refurbs a year ago, right here on wooot. Mine still works fine. Ive been patiently waiting for a deal so i can get another one. I saw this refurb and got excited for a moment.

But the Costco ad we just received shows they will have on sale for $100 on 3/10, and will also include another filter. So that’s $30 more for a NEW one with a “walk-in” warranty, and an extra filter. I can wait a few days for that.

6 Likes

I have three of these. There are well known issues with wifi, and I’ve experienced them myself (as stv6669) mentioned above). I bought one unit and didn’t have a problem with it. So I poopooed the wifi issues people have reported and got two more. Both of them initially setup just fine, but after a week, they lost wifi connection. When they lose it on their own, you NEVER get them back. I tried to re-pair it with wifi and it was a no-go. I got both of them replaced under warranty (note: takes forever). One is working fine, but my second replaced one again did the same thing. I’ve given up on setting up wifi connectivity for this one… I’m just going to rely on the internal timer and the light to change filters, etc.

As per the filter issue, someone reported that these fit like a glove. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MZ86YRI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have them in the garage, but have not yet installed it.

Will I buy these again? Hell no. I have 2x Coway Airmega 200M, and I’m going to stick with those from now on. Easier to find filters, no issues at all. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this model of Winix. I can’t speak for other models…

6 Likes

Negative ion generators also produce ozone. I don’t have this model, but my purifier comes with a warning about running the negative ion mode for too long for that reason. It’s just the way they work.

From the EPA:

Ozone, a lung irritant, is produced indirectly by ion generators and some other electronic air cleaners and directly by ozone generators. While indirect ozone production is of concern, there is even greater concern with the direct, and purposeful introduction of a lung irritant into indoor air.

6 Likes

Those high ozone output machines that everyone complains about are ok because they tell you to turn it on and then LEAVE. They warn you about the ozone, and how dangerous it is. But these low ozone output machines are much worse because you do NOT leave the room. I checked the manual and it does not even talk about ozone.

3 Likes

I put this next to my router to purify the air thereby increasing the wifi range but it didn’t work. Last time I buy a WIFi air purifier!

11 Likes

Are they any good at absorbing cooking smells ? Looking for something that wouldnt leave my open plan living room smell like the kitchen.

1 Like

That is what the carbon filter is for. Be warned that carbon filters are most effective immediately upon opening them and they lose their effectiveness quickly from that point forward. Many will stop working after only a few weeks. In the end the carbon filter becomes nothing more than an easy to clean filter to prevent the more expensive filters from getting too clogged with large particles.

1 Like

The same one at CostCo includes twice the number of extra filters so may be a better value.

2 Likes

Costco will have this on sale brand new with 2 sets of filters for $99 starting 3/10. So don’t purchase now, wait till Wednesday when the sale starts.

2 Likes

@ThunderThighs

If I was really petty, I’d point out how the product write up should say “From last week.” by stage 2.

:wink:

2 Likes

If you’re always on por#hub no Purifier going to work my friend. Lmao

1 Like

Good thing you’re not petty.

1 Like

No One: …
SuperWooters: (spots punctuation error) :male_detective:
Me: (Gives up Woot! career, applies to Buzzfeed as a “journalist”) :memo:

:rofl: thank you for catching that @Froodyfrog :+1:

3 Likes

Don’t get this if you really want the app “smart” functionality. Their app is very, very flaky and will stop working. They provide zero support. Thankfully I got mine at Costco and returned it.

2 Likes