Q&A for How to Do an Ozone Shock Treatment on a Vehicle

Because the generator is taking in fresh air to convert to ozone. If its inside the car, then it will eventually start pulling ozone back into the system and won't be able to generate additional ozone.

At a molecular level, it kills everything.

After you turn off the ozone generator, wait until your car has aired out. It won't fully air out for 3-4 days, but you could drive it before then if you want.

It is! However, before it will be truly effective, the area must be thoroughly cleaned and all contaminants removed.

It depends on the odor and how clean the surface was before the ozone machine was used. You have to make sure that you thoroughly clean all areas before running the machine. Also, this depends on what is causing the odor. Sometimes more than one treatment is required to completely remove the odor permanently.

Yes, you would still be able to use it.

The machine CAN be placed in the car. There are a lot of ozone machines that don't even have a place for a hose to be attached from. With that being said, though, ozone machines do use oxygen to convert to ozone. Eventually that will either get low or run out if it's in a car. You can always stop the machine every 30 minutes to an hour to air out the car and get fresh air in there and then run it again. This also depends on how strong your machine is, of course. A 1000mg/h machine isn't going to go through the oxygen as fast as a 10,000mg/h machine will.

Yes. Run the fan on recirculate. This will allow the ozone to penetrate the duct system and to circulate more thoroughly.

Yes! But you will need to thoroughly clean all areas first before you run the ozone machine. The effectiveness really depends on how clean the surface is before you run the machine. Also, ALWAYS run the machine when everything is completely dry. O2 and O3 together make peroxide and that can affect the color of fabric.

Allowing outside air into the car will reduce the effectiveness of the ozonizer. Ozone essentially chemically burns whatever it comes into contact with by oxidizing it. If outside air enters it will create more things for the ozone to oxidize so effectiveness is reduced. Sealing it limits the items the ozone will react with, thereby improving efficiency.

Yes, but it can take about 3 to 4 days to completely go away. Some people are more sensitive to it than others are.

Yes! In order for the ozone to be effective you must thoroughly clean the entire area. For example, if you leave an old moldy Big Mac in the car and you do not remove it and then run the ozone, it's still going to smell. Same for if you spill a liquid, like milk, in the car. If you do not clean it up first, the smell will not go away. This is not a substitute for cleaning.

The best way is to simply let the area air out. It can take 3 to 4 days for it to go away completely, depending on how long the machine was running and the strength of the machine.

Running time of the ozone generator depends on the level of concentration required to eliminate the source odor. For example, a vehicle interior may have a minor, but consistent odor, the proper application of the ozone @5000mg/h output, will only require 7-15 minutes of circulated treatment. Flush the interior, and repeat as necessary. Determining the variable of stronger persistant odors is relative to that amount of time. 2nd example: If you have a mold issue in your home, this may require up to two hours or 10 hours, plus repeated treatments@5000-10000mg/h. There are several serious points of caution and danger related to the usage of the ozone generators. Always use with caution.

Yes. However, It is best to shampoo, and use a commercial strength Shopvac, to clean a fuel affected area, followed by a using a large fan, and a natural air drying period. The purpose being to absorb any fuel from the carpet of the vehicles trunk compartment. This process should occur prior to the use of an ozone generator. Using a respirator with (niosh/p100) or stronger chem filters, would be recommended for those inexperienced in any matters related to fuel, odor and ozone generator remediation. Using caution, and proper preparation prior to any of these process, will increase chances of success.

It should attack anything with an organic base. Aldehydes and glycols tend to be short carbon chain compounds and will break down rather quickly, where plastics for example are longer carbon chain molecules and are tougher to damage with short duration ozone shocks.

The aim is to get rid of as much residual contaminants which are causing the odors. Sometimes this will mean a vacuum of the carpet is all that is needed. If the contaminants are set into the fabric, a shampoo with wet vacuum will be needed. To get an idea, this is a simplified analogy. Imagine the contaminants as layered (like a sandwich) on a microscopic level. The ozone might only get contact to the upper layer. The next layer below would emit the odour after a while. If you are able reduce the layers, the chances of the odour reappearing will be decreased. If you do use shampoo or any wet cleaning agent, make sure it is dry before using the ozone.

Yes, it is a strong oxidizer that is used to sterilize air and water. It also kills mold and mildew.