An Odd Aroma

[imfletch]

Okay, here is something different. Has anyone ever noticed an odd smell? It almost smells like "hot electrical." I notice it when I fiest mask up lately (didn't smell this until last week or so) but it must be something in my mind because I sometimes get the same sensation during the day at work, in the car or at my home PC.
Any thoughts.

[Stormynights]

Okay, here is something different. Has anyone ever noticed an odd smell? It almost smells like "hot electrical." I notice it when I fiest mask up lately (didn't smell this until last week or so) but it must be something in my mind because I sometimes get the same sensation during the day at work, in the car or at my home PC.
Any thoughts.

My first machine was from a DME that I was renting out of pocket. It had a horrible smell that I complained about a lot. No one had an answer and I didn't know how to describe it. Last week I smelled that smell again. My husband left his machine on all day and the water tank was dry. I am now convinced that the machine I was renting had been run dry for a long period of time. I don't have a clue if any of this applies to your situation at all. (I didn't rent that machine long.)

[Todzo]

Okay, here is something different. Has anyone ever noticed an odd smell? It almost smells like "hot electrical." I notice it when I fiest mask up lately (didn't smell this until last week or so) but it must be something in my mind because I sometimes get the same sensation during the day at work, in the car or at my home PC.
Any thoughts.

I have never experienced this be keep hearing about it here.

It could be that some part on the circuit board is getting hot (smell is hot plastic).

It could be that arcing is occurring in the motor (ozone smell - perhaps with hot plastic mixed in).

[knightlite]

I would go to a backup machine until you can be sure the machine isn't the problem . Your nose might be trying to tell you something, don't ignore it . I worked in electrical field for 45 years , when we smelled that burnt electrical smell , we got right on it and ventilated the area . Breathing that can be very hard on the lungs.
Could be the heater, motor or wiring . Use a backup mask and hose on your backup machine to isolate the smell. Could be something near your intake air of your machine , move your machine to a small stand alone site near your bedside. Most people have it near ,phones ,clock radios, heaters, battery backups, laptops , electric blankets. Get it away from all of those things see if any of those are getting hot cases.
Look for warm plugs and wall outlets when you have everything running for awhile . Trailer outlets sometimes get hot more than house outlets because they do some shady things and their lower quality. None should even get warm .
UPS(BATTERY BACKUP) devices are extremely dangerous , They get real hot and start to melt. Had to throw a hot one in the yard a few years ago to keep it from burning my house down . Got rid of the rest of them .
Come to find out a lot of people I knew had similar experiences.
Electrical heaters stress wiring in bedrooms , they can melt the insulation off the wires in the walls and on the outlets.
Laptops will set a bed on fire especially if the cooling vents get blocked by blankets.
Get someone else with a fresh nose to help search, move everything in your bedroom and look at all extensions etc. stay safe , good luck.

[archangle]

Has the tank run dry or run way down lately? If you evaporate all the water out the the tank, whatever residue remains behind tends to scorch and stink. If you add water in, sometimes the scorched smell remains. Empt the water, clean the tank really well and try again.

Some of people seem to also develop "phantom" smells after CPAP. Or at least clear out their sinuses and smell real smells they never noticed before.

[RoRo]

Sometimes a new hose can have that electrical smell. Have you gotten a new hose?

[chunkyfrog]

Also check all electrical cords. An extension cord may be too long and thin for the load it is carrying.
A cord may also have suffered a visit from a small creature with the munchies.

[DannyPh]

A few times I have detected a foreign smell when I mask up but it was not like burning electrical. Mine was more like a sweet smell and I finally decided mine was from the new Medicine I had just started taking. ( Vitamin c supplement ) If you are smelling it at work then How could it be Cpap related ? Just a Thought.

[VVV]

smells like "hot electrical."

Well, it is pretty hot in Pensacola and these days we always have electrical stuff around us.

[chunkyfrog]

I think Danny may be onto something, since you are smelling it in various places.
How long since your last physical? Aside from food, a drug, or an infection, the only thing that
comes to mind is if there is something wrong in your nose or brain.
Doctors may even check for brain cancer, as weird things can happen then, but it could be something else.

[John from Brookston]

I get a whiff of something occasionally that I describe as smelling like a foundry, acrid and a little sulfurous. I smell it at home, I smell at work, too. I figure it's a reaction to the many meds I'm on. Either that or I *REALLY* need to change my deodorant...
Don't smell it through the hose, though, thank goodness!

[imfletch]

Ok...solved the mystery.
The smell was coming from the ResMed "heated hose."
I reached around the back of the unit...twisted the hose so the machine reverted to just providing levels of humidification and NOT heating the hose. *poof* the smell went away.
A few days later, I turned the hose back on and the smell was instantly back! Not sure if it was off-gassing or what. As far as smelling it when the mask was not on (in other places during the day) it must have just been a "phantom memory" of the stench.