BEMIS / Essick Air 336500 (4/06 manual configuration) review

The BEMIS / Essick Air 336 500 is an evaporative tabletop humidifier documented in an April 2006 owner’s guide. This assessment is tied to guide 1B71540; it is not a promise that every unit marked 336500 has the same capacity or parts. AIRCARE’s support directory still lists the code in its SGL1040 SuperWick compatibility group, but that is a parts cross-reference, not a current humidifier offer. Keep this page as an identification and ownership reference for an existing unit, not a new-purchase recommendation.

Match the model code to the manual

The mirrored text of Essick Air’s Use and Care Manual 1B71540 (4/06) identifies “336 500 Granite/Smoke” as a three-speed, multi-room evaporative humidifier. It lists the DP3 200 and DP3 610 separately as humidifier-and-air-purifier combinations. The same manual assigns the DP3 its #1202 air filter; do not attribute that purifier function to the 336 500. AIRCARE’s current support page places the code under the 1040 Super Wick group, and the current 1040 product page repeats 336500 in its compatible-model list. Neither page establishes a current 336500 sales offer.

The manual number matters. An earlier Essick Air booklet, 586 4160 Rev. 4/04, also covers a 336 500 but describes 1.6-gallon water bottles. The 4/06 guide describes a 1¾-gallon bottle, and Essick’s Home Comfort catalog lists 3.5 gallons total. Those figures should not be combined or assigned to a unit whose documentation is missing. This review uses the 4/06 configuration where specified and keeps the older version conflict visible.

What the documented configuration offers

For an owner with guide 1B71540, the defining combination is a wick-fed, cool evaporative design, two SuperWick #1040 wicks, three fan speeds and an adjustable automatic humidistat. The humidistat is meant to switch the unit on below its setting and off when that setting is reached. The guide provides no numeric setpoint range, so it does not support a precise humidity threshold or a claim that the device can hold a chosen percentage. The maker’s catalog lists a 3.5-gallon total water capacity, five gallons of output per day and coverage up to 1,100 square feet. Those are manufacturer claims for the historical product, not independent performance measurements or guarantees for an open-plan or poorly sealed space.

The 2006 catalog gives dimensions as 19½ × 12 × 13½ inches without identifying the axis order in its extracted line. It also identifies a Granite/Smoke finish and UPC 043129-11279-7. The manual specifies a polarized 120-volt, 15-amp outlet; it does not supply a wattage in the inspected pages. The outlet grille turns to direct airflow, but this evaporative design does not produce an ultrasonic mist plume.

Refilling and cleaning are central tradeoffs

The 4/06 guide describes removable water bottles: fill a bottle to its stated 1¾-gallon capacity, secure its cap, and carry it to the base using both hands. The source does not document a refill-in-place top-fill routine. A two-bottle, 3.5-gallon system reduces the number of trips compared with a small single tank, but it still asks the owner to handle water-filled bottles. If a particular fill orientation is essential, verify it against the manual supplied with the exact machine rather than inferring it from the model code.

Plan on regular wick and base care. The guide recommends weekly cleaning and identifies two replaceable #1040 wicks; it directs owners to rinse the wicks with fresh water rather than soap. It says the detached base can be put in a dishwasher after the upper housing and bottle are removed. That is a useful maintenance detail for this documented version, not permission to put the whole humidifier or its electrical housing in a dishwasher. Follow the manual’s separate scale-removal and disinfecting steps, and unplug the machine before filling, moving or cleaning it.

How it fits an existing owner’s needs

This configuration makes sense to identify if your unit’s guide number is 1B71540 and you want evaporative humidification with a settable humidistat and a dishwasher-safe removable base. It does not meet a warm-mist requirement, and its wick-based design is not filter-free. The documentation supports those controls and care features, but not an app, remote, timer, empty-tank shutoff or a numeric humidity range; treat those details as unknown rather than assumed absent or present. A top-fill-in-place requirement is not supported by the described bottle routine. Bottom-fill orientation is not made explicit in the inspected 4/06 text, so do not rely on it as a verified feature.

If you are shopping now, compare an actually listed configuration rather than treating this support code as a purchasable offer. AIRCARE’s current TABLE-TOP 7D6100 has a separate current product page and its own capacity and controls; it is not established as a direct replacement for the 336 500. The key decision is the operating package—bottle handling, two wicks, an automatic humidistat and dishwasher-safe base—not the shared brand or wick family. No current stock, discontinued status or recall conclusion is made here.

Evidence: AIRCARE support directory; AIRCARE 1040 SuperWick compatibility page; Essick Air Use and Care Manual 1B71540 (4/06), manual text and pages 1–4; and the Home Comfort by Essick Air catalog, page 9. The earlier 586 4160 Rev. 4/04 booklet is cited only to disclose a version-specific capacity difference.