Cleaning unreachable parts inside the machine

Mollyangela · Post by **Mollyangela** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:29 pm

What do you mean, the machine 'keeps infecting you, and you cannot use it?' !!!

I'm new to CPAP therapy. This is my first week. I don't see how microbes can get in the machine, because it simply sucks in air from right outside of the machine, passes through one or two filters and then through the hose into your nose. Just like if you were breathing air w/o the machine-- where are these 'microbes' you talk about coming from??? Maybe you need to clean your house? The table the machine sits upon? I don't know! But this sounds extreme to me--- HOW do you know it keeps on infecting you? Are you ill? Have you been to the dr.? You said your wife is a nurse---does she not know anything either?????

This entire post has shook me up. Because I'm new to this.

Maybe you need to clean your mask or whatever appliance you use that goes on or around your nose! I bought some special CPAP wipes so I can clean my mask every morning. I drool. I'm glad I bought them, though I know I paid wayyy too much for the canister of wipes. Yeah, they got me at the medical supply store! I'm a sucker! But like I said, I'm new to this, and want my experience to be a good solid and safe one. This therapy is important to me, to save my life I feel!

greatunclebill · Post by **greatunclebill** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:44 pm

Mollyangela wrote: ↑
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:29 pm
I bought some special CPAP wipes so I can clean my mask every morning. I drool. I'm glad I bought them, though I know I paid wayyy too much for the canister of wipes. Yeah, they got me at the medical supply store! I'm a sucker! But like I said, I'm new to this, and want my experience to be a good solid and safe one. This therapy is important to me, to save my life I feel!

baby wipes work good and are probably much cheaper. for the best seal baby wipe your face and the cushion every night before use to remove body oils, etc. you could usethem in the morning too for what you do.

ajack · Post by **ajack** » Mon Feb 19, 2018 12:11 am

Trying to clean inside a machine, normally ends in tears. I'd leave it alone.
There is nothing in your machine, that isn't in your bedroom. As long as there isn't mould and mildew growing in your face mask/tube and you would see it on your walls and ceiling, There is nothing that can hurt you.

SleepythymeAg · Post by **SleepythymeAg** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 11:36 am

I have a Resmed airsense 10 and have utilizing the soclean2 for a few weeks now. I had read it will sanitize the reservoir water too, so I purchased the adapting lid and have left it in/on. I recently went to change the intake filter and it was black (see attached). I am thinking it's mold from the elevated moisture of the full reservoir being in the machine all day while not running which gives it the chance to migrate back through the machine to the filter. Could it somehow be charcoal deposits from the soclean? That seems far-fetched to me, but I'm trying to not believe it's black mold. Any thoughts on how to sanitize the inside of the airsense itself to quell all doubts? Anyone else been through this scenario?

HoseCrusher · Post by **HoseCrusher** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:49 pm

Ozone shouldn't cause your filter to turn black unless the filter is coated with something that reacts.

I would be surprised to find any ozone working its way through the machine to the filter. One way to check for this is to put your nose down to the intake area after you ran the SoClean cycle and see if you detect any ozone odor.

I would also be surprised if any humidity from the humidifier makes it upstream to the filter.

Let's see now... black filter... Are you in Hawaii?

Change the filter and check it every couple of days. Wipe the filter area down with a damp bleach cloth just in case it is mold and make sure the whole area is dry before closing things up.

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 7:17 pm

gentryh wrote: ↑
Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:17 pm
Ok, So apparently this is some sort of holy grail, but I have a legit problem, and don't know how else to solve it.

I took my cpap machine camping, in a cabin with a wood burning stove. Slept pretty good actually (never did sleep much while camping). Well I get it home, and the output smells of smoke. (as do my clothes, sleeping bag, hair, etc.)

So I break out and fresh filter, a new hose, new mask, new humidifier tank (which I never put water in), and the output still stinks of smoke. So, I am not running it with fresh air, been about 6 hours now, and the output still smells of smoke.

So, if it not possible to clean past the repairable parts, is my machine garbage now? The smell is so strong, I know it's going to be distracting and prevent me from sleeping. I have terminal insomnia, so using the cpap is only one part of my challenge. I doubt gabapentin is going to help me ignore the stink.

All i've seen is the $300 Ozone machine solution, which apparently is considered snake oil by some. Thinking about putting some type of essential oil or some fragrance by the air intake, not sure if that's a smart move (does anyone do that?)

Any other solutions out there? My machine is a Resmed Airsense 10.

Thanks for checking this old thread.

If you don't like the smell of wood smoke, how could you have survived the whole night in a cabin with a wood fire, you are very lucky to have lived thru the nite.

Jim

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 8:53 pm

SleepythymeAg wrote: ↑
Thu Jun 07, 2018 11:36 am
I have a Resmed airsense 10 and have utilizing the soclean2 for a few weeks now. I had read it will sanitize the reservoir water too, so I purchased the adapting lid and have left it in/on. I recently went to change the intake filter and it was black (see attached). I am thinking it's mold from the elevated moisture of the full reservoir being in the machine all day while not running which gives it the chance to migrate back through the machine to the filter. Could it somehow be charcoal deposits from the soclean? That seems far-fetched to me, but I'm trying to not believe it's black mold. Any thoughts on how to sanitize the inside of the airsense itself to quell all doubts? Anyone else been through this scenario?

We'll leave the "you wasted a bunch of money on a junk machine that's not needed, not recommended, and doesn't actually do anything useful, like clean or 'sanitize'" comments for others.

There's nothing inside the machine for anything to grow on... I've taken a number of previous generation machines apart, and the most I've seen in any of the (except one used by a smoker) was a super light dusting of... dust, on the sound deadening foam. The rest is hard plastics and silicone. No need to take it apart.

Lots of people without the socrap machine leave water in their tanks all day, and don't have any problems.

SleepythymeAg · Post by **SleepythymeAg** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:26 pm

HoseCrusher wrote: ↑
Thu Jun 07, 2018 6:49 pm
I would also be surprised if any humidity from the humidifier makes it upstream to the filter.

There is no stream when it's turned off. It sits off, with a water filled reservoir, for 17 hours per day. Humidity levels are likely quite high throughout the machine.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Thu Jun 07, 2018 10:34 pm

Some things are simply NOT WORTH THINKING ABOUT.
It is a pity that greed motivates unscrupulous scum to frighten people who are in NO DANGER WHATSOEVER--just to trick them out of money that could be spent on numerous USEFUL things.

TASmart · Post by **TASmart** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:43 am

I also want to point out that in the Airsense 10 the air flow is through the filter before flowing through the humidifier. he the air goes through the hose, into your nose, through the lungs then is exhausted through the mask leak into the room air. after being diluted through all of your room air then it gets back to the filter. No way mold in the humidifier tank can make the filter blacken. You have other issues.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:30 pm

Funny; that "filter" looks very much like a scrap of LANDSCAPE FABRIC.
My BS detector just went off . . .

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:46 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:30 pm
Funny; that "filter" looks very much like a scrap of LANDSCAPE FABRIC.
My BS detector just went off . . .

Resmed would make 4 filters out of that piece of scrap.. Jim

prodigyplace · Post by **prodigyplace** » Fri Jun 08, 2018 2:11 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑
Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:30 pm
Funny; that "filter" looks very much like a scrap of LANDSCAPE FABRIC.
My BS detector just went off . . .

Even when dirty from wood smoke, I have never seen a shiny filter from my CPAP machine.
It wasn't that dark either.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:45 am

The texture of my hypoallergenic filters is completely different from that pictured.
Does anybody else have a REGULAR filter for comparison?
The white dots are strange, too. I normally see that contrast between natural and synthetic fibers dyed together.
Like a heather t-shirt.
It is my understanding that these filters are all one fiber type.

palerider · Post by **palerider** » Sun Jun 10, 2018 1:26 pm

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑
Sun Jun 10, 2018 11:45 am
The texture of my hypoallergenic filters is completely different from that pictured.
Does anybody else have a REGULAR filter for comparison?
The white dots are strange, too. I normally see that contrast between natural and synthetic fibers dyed together.
Like a heather t-shirt.
It is my understanding that these filters are all one fiber type.

Here's my regular and hypo filters:

IMG_20180610_141400.jpg

The regular filters are a course, fluffy fiber, the hypos are very smooth

And a dirty hypo, for comparison, (yes, I just changed my filters, I had 'em in my hand, after all

IMG_20180610_142242.jpg

Machine	Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: I don't know if I have the dream station auto, pro, or what. I use DreamMapper app for my iPhone.

Cleaning unreachable parts inside the machine

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