GermGuardian Genuine UV-C Air Purifier Replacement Bulb AC4100, AC4175 & AC4150 Air Purifiers, LB4100

I’ve had this air purifier for two or three years and had never changed the filters, but I only use it when my son visits because he has asthma. Before his visit last weekend I decided to buy new filters and that’s when I learned that there is also a bulb to change. I have the original instruction manual that came with the air purifier. So I purchased everything from germguardianoutlet.com, and I used my instruction manual to remove the bulb that was in there and put in the new one. The only thing that I couldn’t accomplish was screwing the screw back in… It was like it was threadbare and it wouldn’t grab- it just rotated around and around completely loosely. So I left it off because the cover was staying put just fine . My son arrived and went to sleep and when he woke up he opened his bedroom door and said that his room smelled entirely of burning plastic, completely toxic. Once that door was open the whole house smelled. We unplugged the unit and opened it up and we saw what you see pictured here. It’s completely blackened! They do not offer returns so there is nothing I can do. From what I understand this bulb claims to remove bacteria from the air… But so does a few squirts of Lysol so that is what I will be doing from now on. I will never put a bulb in this unit again and furthermore, I’m kind of afraid of the air purifier itself now… Please be careful!