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WickedLoki wrote:Your humidifier *may* not pick anything up from the distilled water that you use. How long does it take you to use up a container of distilled water? Is the air that goes through your humidifier germ and virus free and does it go through so fast that nothing is left behind?

It may not go through fast enough to leave anything behind, but it is the same air I breath all day long when I am in my house. It hasn't killed me yet. When I was much younger, I was told "you have to eat a certain amount of dirt in your life time". When I was growing up, the common thought was we needed to be exposed to a certain amount of germs to help us build up immunities. We do not live in a sterile world.

The point is that your humidifier is not "clean" just because you use distilled water. Actually the distilled water is more to prevent calcium carbonate build up in the humidifier.

WickedLoki wrote:The point is that your humidifier is not "clean" just because you use distilled water. Actually the distilled water is more to prevent calcium carbonate build up in the humidifier.

Whatever floats your boat Wicked. Do you re-wash your utensils when you eat your meals? You give them a wash when you have finished using then, throw them into your utensil drawer and there they sit until you next pick one up to use.......... hmmmmm. I rarely wash my humidifier, ditto my hose, clean my headgear when it starts to smell like dirty hair, wash my pillows when they get gunky or stinky or I have the sniffles. When I was new to this therapy, I washed every thing needlessly.......... then I began to think that I breath this air and use other stuff without being such a darn germaphobe . I am still here almost 7 years later, rarely get sick and have a very relaxed attitude with cleaning my gear.

I always wash using 7th Generation liquid. Pillows every day, mask and tank every week, hose every month. Way over the top for hygiene I know - but about right to keep everything smelling good IMHO.

Please don't waste your money on a SoClean or whatever they are calling it these days, though.

Admittedly I'm a newbie but it seems like over cleaning could wear out the parts faster. I think it makes sense to allow your hose, mask and water tank to fully dry after every night to prevent mold.

Over-cleaning IS rough on parts.
Recommendation for excessive cleaning causes early replacement.
Why else would the manufacturers push it?
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

I usually run hot water through the hose after a hotel stay, especially if there is too much air freshener being used there, and sometimes put in a new air filter,too, post-hotel. I switch out the water tub daily with a dry one, usually, and rinse the nasal pillows almost daily with light soap, and a good boiling after 6 months to a year. Never tried to clean the head gear, and i use clasps and sometimes staples to extend the usefulness of the headgear.

have an 'away' hose and a 'home' hose...

I cleaned frequently when I started CPAP years ago, but I always noticed a strong dusty smell whenever I took my CPAP on vacation. No amount of cleaning the mask, tubing, humidifier or changing filters would help. I ended up buying a new CPAP imagining built up dust, grunge or even mold inside my machine. After 3 months, I took my new CPAP on vacation. I noticed the same strong dusty musty smell when I went to sleep that night at the hotel. I never notice a musty smell in my home. I am not a great housekeeper, but I keep my nightstand and CPAP mask and tubing clean. I thought about buying the SoClean until I realized it only cleans the hose and mask - not the internal workings of the CPAP itself.

PROBLEM SOLVED! The last time my mom was in the hospital, they put an inline bacteria filter on her bipap. I decided to try it and bought one for about $2 on ebay. (It was $10 to $35 at the CPAP supply stores.) WHAT A DIFFERENCE! After about a month, the in-line filter was dark grey on the side nearest the CPAP and white on the side attached to the hose and mask. The inline filter obviously caught dust the manufacturer filter did not catch. I just got back from traveling out of town. For the first time, no musty smell. I also notice that I have far less sinus congestion, infections or colds, so it must be catching bacteria and maybe even viruses.

My new routine is to clean or change my hose every couple months. I flick dust off the manufacturer filter when I think about it and replace it when it looks dirty. My mask leaks a little air when it gets oily, so I wash it when I think about it which is usually when it makes air leak noise. I don't bother with distilled water. I just wipe out the chamber when I add more water and clean the humidifier chamber with a little vinegar solution to disinfect once or twice a month. The vinegar dissolves the cloudy calcium deposits. I change the inline in-line bacteria filter every 4-6 weeks.

g.bianchi wrote:I cleaned frequently when I started CPAP years ago, but I always noticed a strong dusty smell whenever I took my CPAP on vacation. No amount of cleaning the mask, tubing, humidifier or changing filters would help. I ended up buying a new CPAP imagining built up dust, grunge or even mold inside my machine. After 3 months, I took my new CPAP on vacation. I noticed the same strong dusty musty smell when I went to sleep that night at the hotel. I never notice a musty smell in my home. I am not a great housekeeper, but I keep my nightstand and CPAP mask and tubing clean. I thought about buying the SoClean until I realized it only cleans the hose and mask - not the internal workings of the CPAP itself.

PROBLEM SOLVED! The last time my mom was in the hospital, they put an inline bacteria filter on her bipap. I decided to try it and bought one for about $2 on ebay. (It was $10 to $35 at the CPAP supply stores.) WHAT A DIFFERENCE! After about a month, the in-line filter was dark grey on the side nearest the CPAP and white on the side attached to the hose and mask. The inline filter obviously caught dust the manufacturer filter did not catch. I just got back from traveling out of town. For the first time, no musty smell. I also notice that I have far less sinus congestion, infections or colds, so it must be catching bacteria and maybe even viruses.

My new routine is to clean or change my hose every couple months. I flick dust off the manufacturer filter when I think about it and replace it when it looks dirty. My mask leaks a little air when it gets oily, so I wash it when I think about it which is usually when it makes air leak noise. I don't bother with distilled water. I just wipe out the chamber when I add more water and clean the humidifier chamber with a little vinegar solution to disinfect once or twice a month. The vinegar dissolves the cloudy calcium deposits. I change the inline in-line bacteria filter every 4-6 weeks.

In my opinion, you're wasting waaaaay more time and money than you would by just using distilled water in your tank to begin with.
I've always used distilled (with a couple of brief exceptions when I used filtered water) and never experienced what you describe.


Den

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Mine is almost due to be cleaned, last week I had to go into the kitchen and get a spoon to find the start button a mudslide covered it up. Jim

g.bianchi wrote:I cleaned frequently when I started CPAP years ago, but I always noticed a strong dusty smell whenever I took my CPAP on vacation. No amount of cleaning the mask, tubing, humidifier or changing filters would help. I ended up buying a new CPAP imagining built up dust, grunge or even mold inside my machine. After 3 months, I took my new CPAP on vacation. I noticed the same strong dusty musty smell when I went to sleep that night at the hotel. I never notice a musty smell in my home. I am not a great housekeeper, but I keep my nightstand and CPAP mask and tubing clean. I thought about buying the SoClean until I realized it only cleans the hose and mask - not the internal workings of the CPAP itself.

PROBLEM SOLVED! The last time my mom was in the hospital, they put an inline bacteria filter on her bipap. I decided to try it and bought one for about $2 on ebay. (It was $10 to $35 at the CPAP supply stores.) WHAT A DIFFERENCE! After about a month, the in-line filter was dark grey on the side nearest the CPAP and white on the side attached to the hose and mask. The inline filter obviously caught dust the manufacturer filter did not catch. I just got back from traveling out of town. For the first time, no musty smell. I also notice that I have far less sinus congestion, infections or colds, so it must be catching bacteria and maybe even viruses.

My new routine is to clean or change my hose every couple months. I flick dust off the manufacturer filter when I think about it and replace it when it looks dirty. My mask leaks a little air when it gets oily, so I wash it when I think about it which is usually when it makes air leak noise. I don't bother with distilled water. I just wipe out the chamber when I add more water and clean the humidifier chamber with a little vinegar solution to disinfect once or twice a month. The vinegar dissolves the cloudy calcium deposits. I change the inline in-line bacteria filter every 4-6 weeks.

Sounds like dirty air in the house....just remember, you are breathing this air without filters during the day. Yuk!

Julie wrote: There is absolutely no justification or need because all that happens is that filtered room air (that you breath unfiltered all day) goes through the machine into the hose and then into you or out the vent. And never, ever goes backwards.

My understanding was that the machine is sending air to the mask via the hose when I breathe in, but when I breathe out, some of my air goes back to the machine (via the hose).

Otherwise, how the machine would get some stats on the breathing patterns, flow etc, if it's not getting any "inputs" back?

tedtomato wrote:

Julie wrote: There is absolutely no justification or need because all that happens is that filtered room air (that you breath unfiltered all day) goes through the machine into the hose and then into you or out the vent. And never, ever goes backwards.

My understanding was that the machine is sending air to the mask via the hose when I breathe in, but when I breathe out, some of my air goes back to the machine (via the hose).

Otherwise, how the machine would get some stats on the breathing patterns, flow etc, if it's not getting any "inputs" back?

You can't blow that hard to get it back TO the machine.
But, the machine sensors monitor the motions of a relatively solid column of air moving ever so slightly and monitoring for changes in loss of (or too much) movement in whatever degrees as it scores the various "events".


Den

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