Product review (2 stars): Wicks getting smaller and less effective
Started buying these in 2013 and they worked well...not good as OEM but good enough since these have been much cheaper.  However, an interesting thing I've noticed is that each year the dimensions keep getting smaller.  OEMs fit snug to the walls of the wick cage. This year I have at least a 5/8 inch gap on each side of wick.  For the math challenged, these wicks are at least 1-1/4 inch smaller than the cage they are supposed to fit.  And no, the filter wasn't dry but has been soaked and rinsed for a hour before install.  On a side note, soaking and rinsing the filter a few times mitigates any odd smells that emanate from a fresh wick (due to the headache-inducing anti-microbial chemicals? bleaching agents? et al).  On a second side note, I don't use any commercially bottled "bacteriostat" either, but that explanation is for another time and place.

In any case, the smaller size is one glaring reason why for a given volume of air passing through the wick, less moisture is evaporated into the air than a tighter fitting medium.  Looks like I'll move back to the OEMs for the next batch.