I recently started using an AirCurve 10 at night about 3 months ago. I made a mistake... Up until now, I would clean all components at night right before bed but neglected to empty the water tank in the unit during the day, so the tank sat in the unit during the day. Nothing really had a chance to dry out (I won’t do that again, I know now it was a mistake).
Yesterday, I found bits of slimy, pinkish substance in the corners of the humidifier tank (mold, bacteria, not sure). A family colleague who is an epidemiologist thought it is likely Serratia marcescens bacteria, but can be certain.
I scrubbed the tank with a small brush and soaked it in vinegar then soap/water, soaked all the other components in vinegar water, and left them to dry. When I scrubbed the tank with a small brush + vinegar, all the discoloration appeared to disappear, along with all the biofilm or whatever that was. I’m going to clean the components again. I understand if it’s mold, all of it may not be eliminated.
When I go online, I read that some people say you should toss the whole unit if there’s even a suspicion of mold because of spores and hard-to-clean areas of the unit, etc. Is this overkill?
What would you suggest? Epidemiologist family colleague didn't seem horribly concerned but said of course the risk isn't zero.
Should I replace the tank? All the components? The whole unit? Do nothing except clean it better from here out?
I was uncertain about the internal unit where things could not be visualized (like the blower unit inside the machine). The tank was sitting connected to the machine full of water, but everything else at least looked fine from what I could visualize. There’s no way to see the inner parts of the machine.
Pictures attached.
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- IMG-1883-smaller.jpg (796.52 KiB) Viewed 9592 times
