Poll: How Often Do You Clean Your Tank?

[RogerSC]

Used to rinse it with soap and water every day. At this point, I'm washing and drying it once a week.

[quietmorning]

I empty the water tank every day and let it dry, I wash it once a week with my mask, tube and cozies. I soak it in Control III once a month along with everything else.

[nanwilson]

Every 3 or 4 months.....after all it has distilled water in it and there's nothing in there to harm me. When I do wash it, I make sure I have rinsed it in distilled water, dry it and refill with distilled.

[Pachyderm's Nose]

I haven't cleaned mine in the 7 months I've used it but I might, someday, maybe, but then, maybe not.

[newsnore]

I ticked other, because, on the present humidity setting, I last about 3 - 4 nights on one tank, and then I empty the leftover contents, rinse it well out and refill. I do it this way seeing we have good filtered (not distilled) water. So far this seems to work well - tank looks as shiny clean as it did when new. I don't just refill the tank without emptying it first, because any particles that possibly could get through our water filter system would just build up over time and stain the tank.

[Otter]

I've had mine almost 2 years and I've never cleaned it. I do, however, use only distilled water, and I'm using the "hypoallergenic" filters. I also run an air cleaner in the room that works so well there is very little left for the filters on my machine to catch.

Most days, I slosh the water around after I get up, dump it, and use the "warm up" cycle on my machine to dry the tank. That may count as cleaning, but I checked "never" because I've never actually washed the thing, soaked it in acid, boiled it, applied a disinfectant, etc. The tank looks brand new, and I've had no problems. I'm sure some microorganisms get into the tank, but without significant sources of food or light, they can't multiply.

[chunkyfrog]

I generally take care of that chore when it appears to be on the brink of harboring sentient life.

[tooter]

I hardly ever clean mine. Once a month or so I rinse it out with dw detergent. Other than that I keep refilling it with distilled water. I rarely clean my trumpet mouthpiece either...hey..it's my germs.

[Jeannh]

denture cleaner tablets

used to do this with my kids' retainers! Good idea!

[Monstrosity]

I clean it daily. I'm worried about mold & bacteria.

[knightlite]

Spores are in the air passing over the water when running the machine. So lets see it is usually dark in there and there's bacteria in your breath so at sometime its going to grow some bugs . Its only when you get a lot of bad bugs that it effects your health . I live in very warm humid climate in Florida we see a lot of mold and mildew everywhere so I clean and disinfect my mask, hose and liner every 4 days . The tank is every 2 weeks . I use dawn on everything then its sits in a rinse with a capful of bleach to a gallon of water for 10 minutes. Every month I will rinse with vinegar 1 cup to 4 parts water/ then another rinse with hot water I hang the hose ,dry the mask with paper towels , hang out the liner to air dry , this all in the morning so when I get home it is ready to be assembled before I'm ready for bed . I have a backup pad a cheek liner in case that one isn't quite dry .
I do use distilled water in my tank but that won't stop any growth .
Soap is not a disinfectant it may remove oils and such- that's why I use dawn . I am not out to get the mask and hose to last for years, 10 to 12 months is fine for me . I believe it lasts much longer. Cushions need to be changed when too many leaks are out of control . .
It is your health -your choice .

[knightlite]

"Strange tho, how many people have NEVER washed their tank after years of use, and so far, I haven't heard of anyone who died."

Usually dead people don't post too much! Any legionnaires out there?

Maybe congress will send a grant to do a study on this. LOL

[cdru]

Any legionnaires out there?

Has there every been a confirmed case of someone catching legionnaires disease from a CPAP humidifier? All the humidifiers I've seen don't mist the water, instead relying on air passing over the water, increasing the rate of evaporation. And I thought that if the humidity was only created by evaporation, legionnaires and other waterborne bacteria-related issues are not a problem.

For the record, my SleepStyle tank is a PITA to "properly" clean. It gets dumped periodically and rinsed out, but never cleaned. If/when it looks to be a problem, it gets replaced, usually 2-3 times a year.

[knightlite]

Any legionnaires out there?

Has there every been a confirmed case of someone catching legionnaires disease from a CPAP humidifier? All the humidifiers I've seen don't mist the water, instead relying on air passing over the water, increasing the rate of evaporation. And I thought that if the humidity was only created by evaporation, legionnaires and other waterborne bacteria-related issues are not a problem.

For the record, my SleepStyle tank is a PITA to "properly" clean. It gets dumped periodically and rinsed out, but never cleaned. If/when it looks to be a problem, it gets replaced, usually 2-3 times a year.

"Between 8,000 and 18,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized yearly with Legionnaires' disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the number of infections may be higher because many cases are not diagnosed or reported. "
I think it is much higher and you do breathe in the water from the xpap whether you call it mist or not is a Bill Clinton definition debate. Must people pass on from lung failure in the end no matter what starts it . Xpap is a young form of therapy with limited funding, nobody should wait for some study about this to protect your health . You must agree somewhat as you are replacing the tank often .
I'm more interested to see if I should move on to a more effective regimen than defending my current cleaning habits. I hope that it doesn't morph into a big problem for xpap users. Hopefully these open forums may be credited with that. Most people have a cleaning regimen of some sort.

[archangle]

Unless you have legionella floating around in the air in your house, it won't get into your water tank to begin with. It doesn't spontaneously generate from nowhere.

If you're using distilled water, there is very little in the water for bacteria to feed off of. In order to reproduce, most bacteria needs some form of food. For instance, it can't make protein unless there is usable nitrogen compounds in the water. Even "nitrogen fixing" bacteria can't fix nitrogen unless there is some form of food it can use as an energy source.

Some small amount of nutrients will come into the tank with the dust that makes it past the filters, but it's small.

However, a clean tank is a good thing.