As others have noted, I didn't receive the Mophorn labeled distiller, I received a different brand -- Vevor. But it's the same thing, just different branding. I'm using it mainly for my humidifiers but I have also begun to use it when I make tea and also just to drink it. It's taken a while to get rid of the petroleum smell (See Below re: activated charcoal) but now things are working very well. With the availability of distilled water waning and the effectiveness of the Zero Water systems' filters failing miserably, this is about the best alternative I could find for my water hog humidifiers. What I and others have found is that the key to using these machines is purchasing a $10 count down timer. https://www.amazon.com/Century-Mechanical-Countdown-Timer-Grounded/dp/B00MVDTEXS/ref=sr_1_20?crid=3G4OVT3KK3SZ1&keywords=countdown+timer&qid=1645712659&sprefix=countdown+timer%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-20 It makes a world of difference in terms of clean-up because you're not allowing the machine to completely run dry and burn the left over sediment onto the bottom of the pot. And I think/hope that will extend the life of the machine, because the electrical wires on this device are very thin and the additional heat needed to shut it off "automatically" can't be good for those thin wires. (I saw a YouTube video where someone took this totally apart. Some parts were sturdy, but not the electrical wires inside that run from the switches to the heating element.) Fill the pot, set the timer for 4 hours, and relax. I like the fact that this distiller, unlike almost all the other entry level distillers, has a dedicated on/off switch. It eliminates the BIG SPARK that often occurs when you unplug a unit that's running. (NOTE: The Reset switch is NOT an on/off switch. It only engages if you let the machine run til it triggers the shut off mechanism. Then you do need to press the Reset button even if the on/off button is set to on.) In terms of cleaning...you can use a little vinegar in the bottom of the pot with a little water, plug in the bottom part but don't put on the top, and run it for about 5 minutes to remove the build up on the bottom. (I found that taking a wooden spoon and stirring around a microfiber cloth helps a lot in removing stuck on sediment.) Or you can use some citric acid, but you do NOT need 3 tablespoons like it says on the directions. 2 teaspoons is plenty, and do the same as with the vinegar -- heat up the pot for 5 minutes, swish around a microfiber cloth with a wooden spoon and it's clean as a whistle. Then rinse it thoroughly, and you're good to go. (If there are deposits further up the pot you can do the vinegar thing and then just fill up the pot 3/4's of the way, let it sit for 10 minutes or so, rinse, and you're good to go.) I've found I can easily get 5 runs before I have to clean it using the count down timer, but I can see where some folks want to clean it after each use. It's personal preference. At first I didn't bother with the little charcoal filter packet because I wasn't drinking the water and didn't want to be bothered with the expense. But the strong petroleum smell bugged me. I happened to have some aquarium activated carbon on hand so I experimented with putting about 25 grams (compared to the 7 grams that come in those little packets) into cheap 2.5" x 3" organza gift bags. (I use 2 of those bags to make sure no charcoal pops out.) And so far I've found them to be very effective at eliminating the bad odors that I had been noticing. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017VTD8T2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Economically, each after market charcoal packet costs a little more than a dollar for 7 grams of charcoal. An 1134 gram tub of aquarium activated charcoal costs around $13. https://www.amazon.com/MarineLand-Diamond-Premium-Activated-Carbon/dp/B0002566WY/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3MQJ5MWMG4OBS&keywords=aquarium+activated+charcoal&qid=1645900118&sprefix=aquarium+activated%2Caps%2C94&sr=8-5 And the organza gift bags cost $8.00 for 100 bags. So doing the math...you can make around 50 packets for around $20, vs $1.25 each for the pre-made packets (less than half). And you're getting more than 3 times the amount of high quality activated charcoal per packet, so they should last much longer and be more effective. The only minor drawback is that you have to really clean the charcoal well before you put it into the little bags. I also snip the strings off the bags after I tie them off. I obviously can't attest to the durability of this product but I hope that with the timer and the relatively low TDS in my water (150ppm) it will last at least a year. If it does it will definitely have paid for itself. I wish things lasted longer but the reality is these things just aren't built to last. But for the price I'll be satisfied. Final Notes: The way these distillers are designed you're limited to the kind of jug you can use to catch the distilled water. Vevor makes another model that is 3" taller and has adjustable temperature as well as an on/off switch. It uses a silicone tube that goes into the jug and that could possibly accommodate a wider variety of jugs, like an Anchor Hocking glass jug, for example. I've ordered that model directly from Vevor's site and it should be here in a couple of days. I'm going to try that out to see if I like it better. I'll update after I've had time to use it. Also, to sort of simulate the height of that taller distiller, I put this one on 2 phones books, raising it about 3". I then took an empty/sanitized Arnold Palmer gallon jug of half iced tea/half lemonade and used that instead of the blue jug that came with the distiller to catch all the water. (This particular jug worked well because the spout is at the front, like the jug that came with the distiller. Other jugs, like gallons of milk or vinegar, have the spout more towards the middle, and they don't work -- the opening can't get close enough to the spout.) The Arnold Palmer jug is also very sturdy and thick, which should mean it'll be very durable. I had a piece of silicone tubing that came with a different distiller and I cut about 2" and stuck it on the little down spout. It works perfectly with the Arnold Palmer jug; no dribbles anywhere because it sits down an inch or so inside the opening of the jug. I also like how the lid on the Arnold Palmer jug fits tightly and securely; the one on the blue jug leaks all over the place. I now just use the original jug to fill up the distiller (because it's slightly more than a gallon) so that when I run it for 4 hours, it fills the gallon Arnold Palmer jug and still leaves some water on the bottom so there's no burnt-on sediment. It's a win all around. (The Arnold Palmer jug also had a real lemony smell at first, compared to the petroleum distillate smell of the original blue jug. But I sanitized it in bleach water and now it has no smell at all. So for under $3 I got a gallon of 50/50 iced tea/lemonade PLUS a very useful long term container for the distiller.)
