Free hydrocarbons get stuck on the walls of the bead's tunnels.
Eventually the beads will be plugged to an extent where it'll affect performance.
I don't at all mean to be contrary, but I can't imagine Mark said it doesn't hurt the bead's performance because it does. I think it's a misunderstanding.
It's gradual and minimal at the beginning though. As years pass it obviously decreases the bead's performance even moreso.
I imagine he said "the beads will still work". That's completely true. Just like when the beads turn to crumbles, they still retain their properties, they just don't transfer moisture as well because of their shape and loss of surface area and airspace between beads.
The silica beads have big pores ranging from 10-400 angstroms wide, and they're not uniform. Depending on the size of the hydrocarbons floating around in the humi they may or may not be able to get in there and stick.
HCM beads have pores that are 4 angstroms wide and uniform. That keeps stuff from getting in and sticking. The hydrocarbons just don't fit.
That's why they don't change color.
If the HCM beads ever get grossed up for some reason they can be steam cleaned or boiled back to newness.
Mattster, pm me with your humi dimensions and I'll send ya some HCM beads to replace the HCS beads so you can compare them. I'll trade ya for some coffee!!! w00t!!!
