Cold/Cool versus Warm air from CPAP humidifier

[patrick_a]

Fill your humidifier w/water, modify the housing by drilling a hole in it for an inlet (freezing air), and don't blame me if you get frostbite.


ref http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6233/ ... d=YJiZT25T

[skitzydog]

I made an ice chamber that the air blows from the lower side and up through the ice cubes and out the top. As the ice melts it drains down through the bottom to be dumped out in the morning. The larger the ice cubes the longer they last. I always have ice left over in the morning.

[AIM814B]

I've only been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea for less than a year. I ASK the same question. tleatham asked this in 2007 and NOone has come up with this @*$%, I'm currently doing the rig that tleatham. My pyrometer and different cooling systems are good results. TIME. TIME. TIME. I CAN get cooling down below minus 0 Celsius/no Rain out. Check out Rhino Chill /// Not trying to promote anything but trying to fix me.

HOPE

[Ontario CPAP]

A couple of technical issues to keep in mind when reducing the air temperature.

1. Cold air holds less water vapour than warm air. Putting ice in the humidifier may actually remove moisture from the air as condensation and desposit the condensed water in the hose and humdifier itself. This will be the case as long as the ice keeps the air below the room's dew point (typically 14 to 18C.). Once the ice melts and the air warms up above the dew point, the humidier will return to adding vapour to the air. To put this another way, if you devise a system to chill the air in the hose to below the dew point of the room, the air going through the mask will be drier than the room itself. Basically you've created a dehumidifier.

2. Cold air is denser than warm air. The mask and cpap machine designers need to account for air density in establishing pressure drop and mask vent characteristics. By significantly increasing the air density by cooling it, the actual pressure at the mask may not be what the machine thinks it is. This is probably a bias for a few cmH2O so is probably not a big deal in the big scheme of things, but folks should be aware they may be getting a different effective CPAP pressure than what the machine displays.

3. As a consideration, it mat be easier to chill the air before it enters the machine and turn off the humidifier altogether, especially if the desired air temperature is below the room's dew point. Condensate will be collected upstream of the machine, and rainout will not (in fact can not) occur.

[CavemanSean]

Was going to make a post about this & ran a search before I did.... lucky I actually did, here's what I've been doing for the past YEAR and it works GREAT for me....

1: You'll need to get yourself a Polarcare Unit


2: A 1.5 / 2 foot piece of PCV Pipe (I've tried Copper as it cool's much more effectively but the smell of copper just annoyed the crap outta me!!)

now what I do is I have that 1.5 / 2 foot piece of PVC wrapped in a 3x5 inteli-flow pad (this 'chills' the pipe) and that pipe is fed right into a modified piece by the inlet (its right up against the filters but makes a nice air-tight seal!) on the back of my cpap machine. so the air coming into the machine is always nice and cool.

works like a charm

[chunkyfrog]

More ideas?
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=mr+ ... &FORM=IGRE

[Guest]

Put the humidifed full of distilled water in the freezer in the AM when you get up each day. This will help to get to sleep. Take a mild sleeping pill 25 milligram 1 to 1/2 hour before bed to stay asleep.
Good luck I feel your pain.

[ackeele]

I just got my C-PAP yesterday. I didn't get any sleep at all last night. I could not stand the warm air. It's like trying to breath air that has already been breathed by someone else and I'm trying to breath their exhaled air! Yuck! I turned off the heat (I think)...turned the dial all the way counter clockwise. I will have to experiment more, but I will have to ditch the mask and c-pap altogether just so I can get at least a little sleep.

[tomyhawke]

i know this sounds crazy, but i was an pump and engine mechanic. pumps including air pumps are able to function in a freezing environment.

i have a mini frig and it sits by my bed. at first i just put the cpap machine in the freezer with the hose and the electric hanging out. but then i drilled a hole in the freezer door for the hose and that worked great, so that's what i'm doing. so far so good.
tomyhawke

[Drowsy Dancer]

i know this sounds crazy, but i was an pump and engine mechanic. pumps including air pumps are able to function in a freezing environment.

i have a mini frig and it sits by my bed. at first i just put the cpap machine in the freezer with the hose and the electric hanging out. but then i drilled a hole in the freezer door for the hose and that worked great, so that's what i'm doing. so far so good.
tomyhawke

When you say "so far," how long does that mean?

[Sclark08]

I suffered with that when first got my sp with h51 ? Humidifier. My DME and dr left the setting so I could change them since air temp humidity in room etc all have a bearing on how humidifier works, I find if I set temp to 65 and humidity level to 4 it's perfect for me most nights. No two nights are ever the same.

[debhosenose]

I am having the same problem. I have asthma and the warm air is suffocating me...I have had my unit for about 2 weeks now...with my asthma, I love the cold air...my window is open and I am breathing this warm (feels like stale) air and I wake up almost choking because I need cold......HELP!?!

[miss paper]

I HATE the heat on my face at night. I have switched to the Wisp mask (only covers the end of my nose and is very comfortable. I also purchased an additional water reservoir for my CPAP. I put distilled water in and freeze it. The heat of the machine slowly melts the ice overnight and I never wake up with sweat under my mask or rainout (UGH). I have two reservoirs so that I can rotate them. When I told my sleep specialist, he laughed and said he was going to try that with his.

[Rod C.]

I am with you on this issue. I cannot sleep with the mask because I feel like I'm suffocating and with the warm humidity, it triggers my asthma. I have tried putting ice cubes in the tank and that helps me to fall asleep, but within 2 hours when the ice melts....it's back to the warm air and the mask comes off!! So I just stop using my bipap machine and now I'm always tired and walk around with huge circles and bags under my eyes. I look about 10 years older than I am. If anyone knows of a machine that lets out cool/cold air, that would definitely help.

[Kyo003]

Has no one tried putting their hose in a bucket of ice like was mentioned on the first page?

If want reusability and less water to pour out every morning, use some of the higher grade ice packs.