HELP!

An email from just one of the many Gelbed customers we responded to in distress

My wife pulled our waterbed apart because we are moving and is going to buy another…In the mean time she has emptied the contents  (Gel) down our outside drain and it is blocked real bad  can or will you tell me me how to dissolve this stuff as it hardens and is causing us great distress  1/11/12

Where do you empty it to? It is difficult to pump out gel at best. If you could where would you pump it to? It can clog up the toilet, clog up the septic pump and restrict the flow into the trenches If there is any obstruction in the drains it builds up. Got a number for the plumber? What about outside? It is a slippery mess in the yard for months and months and when it rains it swells up again. Don't tread on it or you can fall. Kids watch out! Watch out anyone else! No, don't dump it near the chook pen? It has been bought to our attention that our Western Australia counterpart spoke to me about a installer emptying a Gel beds. It filtered down that the installer was not allowed to leave until all the gel had been cleaned up. It is all starting to happen, it appears, just as we predicted.

OK, lets put some salt into the gel. Yep!, it's now a liquid again. I am using a pump or I am using a hose to drain. Oh oh!, the hose/pump has stopped. Why? Not all of the gel has dissolved and the remaining thick gel has blocked the hose or the pump is not pumping any longer. So I am stuck with a half a bladder full of gel. Now where do I go? I am moving today Ahhhh!!! I've packed the yellow pages, which box!!

But if you have enough gel dissolved. Great! Pump it or siphon it out. Ok, again where to. Down the toilet? Is it a septic tank? Yep. What about the gel that's gone there? Non-salt liquids have neutralised the liquid back to gel. Oh, that's why the septic tank is full. Or if your plumbing is not in order you may be calling the plumber sooner that you think.

 OK, lets assume that you have all the liquefied gel out. I have siphoned or pumped it out to where? In the yard? Oh there is some rain!
The next day, ?*$#!(^#? Where did this come from? The salt has diluted out of the gel, dear, what a mess!! If the kids fall because of this !!!!!

In the toilet? Why not! The toilet has not flushed properly for a while. Now it doesn't flush at all. The remaining liquefied gel had diluted and gone back to gel. It's blocked. The plumber can't come immediately and I need to go. Dump it in the shower. I will leave it to your imagination.

 Mind you all this is possible. Some of the above we have experienced already. When in our showroom we tell it how it is with gel beds. When confronted with the facts, then why are our waterbed sales so high? It is not that we don't like to sell them. They are a brilliant idea only if you could heat them legally and effectively.

 It is most likely you have not been told everything. Only the positives for sales have been presented. If you are concerned, call us!

Please do remember that if you are in the tropics and don't require a heater, gel beds are a brilliant idea and we will be only to happy to sell one to you.
heater warningon gelbeds

 KEEP OUT THE REACH OF CHILDREN  This gel material expands quickly.

When gel is diluted with water again, salt or destabilizer is leached out and reforms. The quantity in this image represents 15 liters of liquid gel that has reformed after a few hours.

One month later...

In the drier conditions the gel vanished. We had rain and the neutraliser washed out of the gel and the gel reformed.

Water and Electricity don't Mix

Water and electricity a potential lethal cocktail and some companies just put them together and expect you to sleep on it. Yes! It is a Australian product. We are making people aware that these products do exist and you can easily buy them over the net, possibly endangering your life.


Like waterbed heaters other products like pumps, jugs, fridges, blenders are products that have been approved for use with liquids. They are the similar, as they have to comply with electrical authorities standards and will have a Australian approval number.


You will be first to agree that a hair dryer is approved for hair drying but throwing the dryer into water would be a lethal cocktail that can cause loss of life.


As per above it is established that waterbed heaters are approved for waterbeds, not gelbeds. Although gel bed idea is good, the heating of one is not legal for good reason. We have made the public aware that this scam is going on. This has come to a halt but there are heaps for these still out there. We believe that these should be recalled. But changing the bladder over to a waterbed bladder with baffles will cost the customer.

Although deneyed by competitors that there has not been one single person has moved from gel back to a waterbed. This is a lie. We came across one customer who described the gel bed they purchased as “Cold wet cement”, quote. Three months later they changed over. To swap over the bladders was free but not the service call of $100, which still applied.


But irresponsible businesses are determined to sell gel beds have had a changed of focus and are now supplying electric blankets on top of gel beds. Yes!, these electric blankets will probably have a fancy name so your are not aware until you receive the product, but down to the nitty grity they are electric blankets. Beware if considering such a gel bed that if you plug it into a power point then you have 240volts running on top of water or a waterbed heater has been illegally installed. Gel is over 99% water and there could be 400 liters, depending on bed size, under the electric blanket. Whatever method is used, it is still unsafe. Using electric blankets by what ever other fancy name used is potentially dangerous.


Waterbed bladder construction is very good these days and any associated problems are reasonably isolated BUT electric blankets are NOT.

There are may failures as a result of electric blankets and any failure combined with 400 liters of water underneath would be similar to throwing the hair dryer into water.

One of the very reasons waterbeds [and gelbeds] are so comfortable is the fact they contour to the persons unique shape. With many other beds. your body has to contour to the mattress and that can be painful.  As previously explained waterbed heaters cannot be used for gel beds due to circulation issues. So what about electric blankets on top of a waterbed or gelbed. On this page there links to electric blankets going wrong with resulting disasters. I am sure that the electric blanket manufacturers do their best to produce a safe product, but like us, they also are human. We don't want to look for more risks in life and putting electricity with water that can be electrifying. Like waterbed heaters, electric blankets must have official approval. Does the approval cover the use on top of waterbeds or gel beds.

  Please remember that gelbeds are over 99% water in crystal form and there is a lot of water between the crystals as well, so the waterbed bladder containing the gel-water solution can contour to your body. You can look on the internet about using electric blankets on gel beds and you will find that it is not recommended. There are some electric blankets that you can wash but they are not wet when used. Are these elecric blankets safe to use on waterbeds and obviously gelbeds that are similar?.

We we asked "SUNBEAM". This is what Customer Care emailed back:

Thank you for your email. We do not recommend using the electric blankets on a water bed because it could damage the element through the constant movement of the bed. The blanket needs to be on a flat surface at all times.
I hope this information was helpful.  Please feel free to contact us should you require further assistance.
Thanks for choosing Sunbeam

 I am sure that this opinion is universal.

How many accidents are there in electric blankets?

Don't forget that the electric blanket needs to be on all the time or you go cold

Don't forget that a heavy duty cover over a cold bladder can get very wet from the condensation of your persperation, and I mean wet as in dripping.


Don't have electric blankets on when sleeping in bad

http://www.esa.act.gov.au/ESAWebsite/content_actfb/csb_hfs_008_electric_blankets.pdf


Make a mistake by not turning the blanket off {now if there is 400ltrs of water there?]

http://www.fesa.wa.gov.au/internet/upload/-1601923380/docs/Electric_Blanket_Fire.pdf


Faulty electric blankets ( with all that water or gel? )

http://www.current.com.au/2010/05/04/article/Linda-electric-blankets-recalled-due-to-risk-of-fire/FSOVARQPYI.html


Carelessness

http://www.fire.qld.gov.au/communitysafety/home/bedroom.asp


Electric blanket catches fire. Woman in hospital [ now if there is 400 liters or watery gel, then?}

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/25/2992873.htm


Fire in house

http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2010/05/18/electric-blanket-starts-house-fire/


At Dreamlover waterbeds we want to keep our customers not kill them off