VEVOR Water Distiller, 1.1 Gal Distilled Water Machine, 750W Pure Water Distilling w/BPA Free Plastic Container, Water Distillation Kit w/Button, Countertop Distilled Water Maker for Home, White

1. DO NOT run these things until they're empty. The "breaker" on the front isn't the greatest, but nice to have if you get distracted once in a blue moon.2. I have Alexa set to turn this off after 3 Hours 45 Minutes - perfect every time with ~3/4" water remaining; you can just set an alarm otherwise or a wall timer... just try to keep it under 4 hours. Be sure the TIMER is rated 15 Amps.3. Do not allow the two electrical plugs in back to get wet AND plug them into the unit - they will corrode if they're making contact. Allow everything to dry completely before plugging them back into the main unit. If they get wet - dry thoroughly first.For cleaning:---------------Each time the machine is used, minerals will get baked onto the stainless of the main unit. DO NOT try and scrub this off, you'll be wasting your time and possibly eroding the thin stainless shell. Instead, use the enclosed Citric Acid (Which you can buy a much larger jar at WalMart for ~$7 or here for $20 per 5lb bag!)How/When:---------------With a clean device, run a full gallon of water - empty the jug into what ever storage you've planned. Leave 1/2" to 3/4" of water! Approx 3 1/2 hours or so. Rinse the unit and refill when it cools a bit. Never put COLD water into a HOT ANYTHING. It never ends well.Run a second gallon (there will be a little residue stuck from the first one. It has no effect on the process or the water distilled.) With the remaining 3/4" of water, sprinkle in about 1/2 TSP of Citric Acid (included with the purchase) and run it for half an hour WITH the water jug set up. Once water begins to come out of the unit and into the jug it's okay to shut it off. Clean out the unit with a little dish soap and rinse thoroughly. Soap and/or Citric will leave a taste -- make sure it's rinsed well! You will want to take the top half, "fill" it with water from the sink, allow some to fill the condenser coil and then turn it over and empty it into the sink - water will come out of the nozzle. I usually rinse this a couple times any time I use Citric to avoid potential "taste" of the citric acid from getting into the distilled water. (Imagine the "taste" of concentrated lemon peel... that's basically how citric acid is made if it's not man-made.)Run another two gallons like before, but this time, for cleaning, fill the unit to the water line and then add the Citric. The Citric water will only "clean" what it can touch - so now we're cleaning it to the water line. Again, once water begins to come out of the unit it's okay to shut it off - I have Alexa doing cleanings for 30 minutes which works splendidly.(You can do 2 gallons and then a complete cleaning every time - it uses and wastes more water this way, thus the directions above, but if you want "clean, clean" it shouldn't hurt the machine any.)* NOTE: This hot, citric acid water is like bleach for cleaning - without the bleach! If you have hard-water which stains your sinks/toilets/etc. slowly/safely pour the used Citric Water into the toilet and allow it to soak for a while -- it can visibly help! If you allow it to cool a little, clean your stainless appliances with it!* Citric Acid is potentially corrosive. Avoid getting it in the AC outlets of the machine as it can pit the copper.* Water in general is dangerous when dealing with electricity. For more thorough safety, be sure to unplug the unit from the wall before doing ANY of the above. (or use a smart outlet which in effect does the same thing.)* The unit itself is leak-proof if setup and maintained properly. There is a large rubber "seal" on the top half which you will want to wipe down when cleaning the machine and look for defects/tears. When putting the top onto the unit - do so with a GENTLE force. The WEIGHT of the top is usually enough force. If this seal gets damaged, leaking is easily expected when the "full tank" comes to a boil.* DO NOT leave Citric water in the tank for ANY extended period of time. Once it has done its job, let it cool a little and dispose of it. It may not have an "eroding" effect on Stainless, but my thoughts are "why take the chance?" Some of the reviews showing "burn holes" in Stainless make me assume large quantities of Citric being left for long periods of time or the machine being allowed to run EMPTY making the metal become brittle over time - but that's just an educated guess. (Trust me, I'm an engineer! :) No really, I am!)* Finally, you'll want to replace the carbon filter around every 20-30 gallons or so (you'll likely "taste" when it's time to do so) There's filters on amazon that claim $10 for 100 (1.5") and $18 for 48 (3") which should work with this unit (the 1.5" ones will probably last "half" as long, but should "fit" nicer in the distiller.)WARNING: If you CRAM the filter into the nozzle too tightly, I'd imagine the unit WILL leak as the water will not be able to get through the filter fast enough and thus overflow the same way a coffee maker will. There's plenty of space inside - no need to conserve!Finally, if you're weary, place the Unit as well as the Jug on a cookie sheet. (I've left my jug on it there as there's always going to be chance for minor spills, condensation or what-not.) It won't hold an entire gallon, but if the unit has been running 30+ minutes and you come back to check on it --- if there IS a problem, you'll SEE it and be able to stop it *before* creating a mess.I believe I've covered most of the common gripes and potential problems I read here before purchasing my first unit. We go through numerous gallons of water daily (multiple humidifiers, CPAP, etc.) and though I've only had my unit a bit over a month, it'll be close to paying for itself by the end of month #2 which is when I'll be buying a second one.You may also want to consider the extended warranty. For the cost of the unit and the warranty amount, it doesn't take very long for them to "earn their keep." A bottle of Wally-World brand Distilled runs about $1.60/gal here. That's up to $6.40/day in my household during the winter season. That's a LOT of plastic jugs heading off to the landfill I didn't want to sponsor. I'm only running the machine while I'm home (due to the negative reviews - tainted trust? though it's easing over time) so I'm down to $3.20/day store-bought and the remainder from this unit and weaning little by little. Even if the unit only lasted a year and even if I didn't have the extended warranty, that's EASILY 100 plastic jugs I didn't bury and $160 I didn't spend on doing so... minus the cost of the unit... you see the savings!"Oh, why don't you recycle the plastic jugs?" As noted... I'm an engineer. I know things... and people.At least here in NE Ohio, a good chunk of "recycle" trucks take your extra efforts from you and you feel good about yourself trying to "save the planet" and they head straight to the landfill. You PAID EXTRA to be able to recycle (in most cases.) Our landfill is only 7 minutes away from my house and I go there for manual deposits when I need to. I have personally watched recycle trucks enter the dump site. There's no sort building at our landfill... where' did everyone THINK it would go!? :) "Beam me up, Scotty??"

Vevor has improved this distiller greatly, while keeping the price reasonable. It is a simple machine, with upgraded parts.I bought the 2021 version and had problems with the silicone gasket (it aged badly and tore) and 120v input plug (melted the connection). It is my opinion that some of the wires were undersized. Both issues have been addressed and the unit I have now (March 2025) has been problem-free. I use it for all my drinking and cooking water. I bought the extended warranty (again), but I don't think I'll need it with the 2025 unit.It takes 3 to 4 Kwh of electricity to make a gallon of distilled water, so you have to factor that. If it takes more, you need to blow the dust out of the heat exchange fins in the top unit. A gallon of distilled water at my local grocer is $1.50 and I have to carry it home, so 3 to 5x more than the cost of the electricity to make it. In the winter there is no waste because we need the heat.After the unit has cooled, I fill the bottom of the pot with 10% white vinegar/water and let it soak. Our filtered city water leaves a terrifying deposit over the heating coils, but the soak gets rid of it after a couple of hours and a few swirls with dish-brush. The older it gets, the easier it is to clean.

I researched several of the distillation appliances on amazon, and this one seemed to provide the best value. Know that you will have to periodically clean this with citric acid (once a month, more or less, assuming you use this every day, and depending on how hard your water is ...) and you will also have to replace the charcoal filter packets. Also about once a month. Neither is expensive, but it takes time and effort. I have not even turned the unit on yet, and had several questions for the seller. Fortunately there are some good user videos on amazon that have the answers. For example, the small white crystals supplied in a plastic jar marked "detergent" is apparently citric acid! Also, the instructions say you need to clean with citric acid BEFORE the first use, and later in the same document, to "boil with detergent" before first use. Confusing, to say the least. What they mean is to take those white crystals and follow the instructions for cleaning with citric acid. PUT THE COVER ON WHEN YOU DO THIS! Even though the "detergent" jar says you can't use the cover when you clean it. Also, nobody says this, even in the videos, but I would NOT put the charcoal filter packet in place when I clean the unit with citric acid. Why? Because then you will leave citric acid on the charcoal, and that will be mixed with the distilled water every time you use the appliance. That's no good! Like I said, the instructions, or lack thereof, are VERY CONFUSING! Finally, there is a "plastic bottle cover" referenced in the parts list, and included in the box, which you might believe means the screw-on plastic cap, but I think actually means the separate metal nozzle that is not shown or described anywhere in the instructions or pictures. But if you look on the amazon item page, you will see it clearly, sitting on top of the collection jug. It is used to direct the distilled water into the jug during distillation. The videos, especially the one title "Quick Guide" make all of this clear. OK. Now I will go clean the unit for the first time, and then distill the water. Then I'll update my review. (by the way, I bought a simple 12 hour timer to shut the unit off BEFORE the water is all gone, as suggested by other reviewers, and thus, won't boil deposits onto the tank as it runs dry, which should make it MUCH easier to clean over time).UPDATE: I've now cleaned the unit, and used it twice. It works as expected. I use a mechanical timer I bought on amazon to shut it off after 3.5 hours, and that distills about 90% of the water when you fill it up. What's left is full of deposits, and after letting it cool off (wait at LEAST an hour!) you can take off the top and throw out the "sludge". I decided to also wipe the interior down with a very mild abrasive sponge (not steel wool, but one of those sponges that has a scrubbing surface on one side) to clean off the deposits after each use, since that should make monthly cleaning a snap. Maybe I won't even have to clean once a month, since it looks pretty good after the wipe-down. So, the bottom line is this appliance works really well. It cleans up easily. And the instructions are terrible, but you can get around that by reading this review and watching a couple of the videos on the amazon page for this item. I've asked folks in China why they have such bad instructions, and the answer I got was "we have someone in-house that does that". I've even offered to edit what they produce (not for this item, but for others), and they decline. I have no idea why, when good instructions makes an item SO MUCH easier to use! Hence four and not five stars, for bad instructions.