Mold in CPAP Humidifier Tank

[Hives at night]

Ive woke up in the middle of the night with horrible hives and swelling. I thought allergies to the cpap so I bleached the tank which i haven't cleaned since i got it about a year ago. The hives went away for 3 days with me rinsing the hose and mask in hot water every other night.. so I woke up this morning with hives again and read through your thread. Learned that bleach doesn't kill mold but vinegar does.. I took all the parts I could take off the machine and soaked them as well including a very dirty filter that I didn't know i had till now. I really need to find the manual online because of-course the drs' didn't give me one..Then I read about bed bugs... could they be inside the accual machine and it there a way to clean it out? I am at my wits end with the hives. I think i am no longer going to use water in the cpap.

[nobody]

I've had pink mold growing in my tank. I bought a small soft toothbrush and used that with some hot water and dr. bronners unscented liquid soap to scrub the whole thing and rinse well. Now I make sure to change the water more often and give it a good dry with a towel and let it sit in the air to dry out...I dunno about once every week.

[nobody]

Ive woke up in the middle of the night with horrible hives and swelling. I thought allergies to the cpap so I bleached the tank which i haven't cleaned since i got it about a year ago. The hives went away for 3 days with me rinsing the hose and mask in hot water every other night.. so I woke up this morning with hives again and read through your thread. Learned that bleach doesn't kill mold but vinegar does.. I took all the parts I could take off the machine and soaked them as well including a very dirty filter that I didn't know i had till now. I really need to find the manual online because of-course the drs' didn't give me one..Then I read about bed bugs... could they be inside the accual machine and it there a way to clean it out? I am at my wits end with the hives. I think i am no longer going to use water in the cpap.

Where are these hives? I think some people can be allergic to the material the mask cushion is made from. You might need to put a covering on the mask cushion. You also might want to just replace the entire tank at this point. Then make sure to dump it out and let it air dry every morning. You should also clean your mask every morning (or night before bed) as well.

[KimberlyM]

For those who own a Resmed humidifier, there is a Youtube video on how to open it to clean it. I haven't tried it yet, but saw a thread here about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scg8Nc9LkRo

Has anyone tried it?

[jonnybee]

My ResMed S9 came with the "dishwasher safe" model...the one that comes completely apart...has a black gasket. Once a week I take it apart and wash it thoroughly with soap and water. Never have seen a hint of mold. If you use an S9 and don't have the tank like mine, I'd highly suggest you spend the bucks to get one. Makes mold a non-issue.

[klutzo]

I live in hot, humid Florida, and when following the DMEs instructions to clean my tank only once a week, I ended up having to toss it due to pink mold. I was also told not to use the machine to dry my headgear, but to let it air dry, which it never does in this climate, and that resulted in my having to toss a headgear due to brown mold in the small tubing.

Now, I empty the tank every morning, spray it well with white vinegar, and soak it in Dawn dish detergent (the only brand my DME said was safe) while I clean my nasal pillows by spraying them with vinegar, washing them with Dawn, and then blowing them out with water pressure.

Then I use the machine to dry itself with the humidifier turned off and empty, and when it's dry (about 20 mins.), I remove the tank again, open it, and leave it resting at a 45 degree angle on my dish rack, so it is draining downward and exposed to sun and light all day. I don't put distilled water in it or put it back in the machine until I go to bed.

Even with all that, I have found a tiny bit of pink mold on one of the rubbery round things inside the tank, so I now remove them to clean them even better, about once a week. Some of the spaces in the newer design are impossible to get into. It was designed so it would not spill and ruin people's nightstands like the previous design was doing, but my nightstand was already ruined by it, and the previous design never got mold, even when I left it in the dark all week and just added more water. I wish I could still get the old tanks.

If you rinse well, there is no residual white vinegar smell.

klutzo

[gardner123]

I have used a CPAP for 7-8 years and have suffered from recurring sinus infections. In Oct. 2010, I underwent a 2nd sinus surgery after having been on antibiotics for 8 of the previous 12 months. Neither my family physician or ENT/surgeon could explain the chronic infections. Neither questioned my use of CPAP. I break down the water chamber every morning and allow it to air dry and hang the hose and headgear over the shower curtain rod to dry. Every Saturday, I clean all parts in hot dishwater. Every Saturday the water chamber has pink mold or mildew. This morning, on a medical program, there was a warning about pink mildew in the shower and yeast infections. After just finishing another 30 round of a particularly harsh antibiotic, my doc has referred me back to the surgeon.
I now have a direction to steer the Docs, who up to this point have been clueless.

[nobody]

I don't think the dishwasher is necessary. After the pink mold and it smelling of an old foot, I now wash mine by hand every couple days. I drain the water, rinse it with hot water, put a couple drops of dr. bronners soap in and scrub with a soft toothbrush, making sure to get in all the cracks. I rinse it well with hot water and dry with a clean cotton towel. The pink mold and old foot smell have not returned since I've been doing this. Maybe that would work better than the method you're doing? I don't think mine would be completely dry if I just drained the water and let it sit for the day. You could have residual moisture in there that's letting the slime grow.

[Notme]

Do you all use ditilled water in the tank ? and still get pink mold ?

[nobody]

You can still get the pink mold even with distilled water, yes. It's not going to stay pure with air blowing on it and who knows what residuals in the tank. That's why you've got to clean the tank. It's a PITA but needs to be done, sorry to say

[archangle]

I think the dishwasher is going to clean better than anything you're likely to do by hand. However, a hand scrubbing followed by dishwashing may help.

It can also help to get two tanks, switch out, clean one, and let it sit dry for a week or so until you switch out again.

[nobody]

I think dishwashing may ruin the silicone seal, and I'm not sure the dishwasher is as great as all that. Plenty of times it's left a film of food stuck on my dishes so if there's slime in a humidifier tray I wouldn't entirely trust it to remove it.

[chunkyfrog]

I've gotten pink mold a couple of times with Wally world distilled water, but never with our home-made distilled water. --yet!

[archangle]

I think dishwashing may ruin the silicone seal, and I'm not sure the dishwasher is as great as all that. Plenty of times it's left a film of food stuck on my dishes so if there's slime in a humidifier tray I wouldn't entirely trust it to remove it.

I've been dishwashing water tanks every week for 7 years now with no seal problems. Try it, if you have seal problems, buy a new tank, they're pretty cheap. My tanks are always squeaky clean. I don't wash it in the same load with dishes, of course.

[nobody]

I tried it once and didn't like the film it left on the silicone. Besides I think my method is working just fine.