No condensation -> Holy Grail or Reality?

[Shaare]

Greetings,

First post, newbie, hello world.

I've been using my machine for 26 days and didn't have one day where I found the magic combination of temperature / humidity that gave me a full night's sleep without waking up to wipe my nose and the N20 device.
Either I set the humidity at 2 and wake up like I swallowed sand, or at three and wake up once to wipe it dry. Auto is too hot, I tried temp of 21 and 24.

If anyone would like to share their success story, I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Antoine

[chunkyfrog]

Welcome to the forum.
Sometimes it takes longer than you expect.

[zoocrewphoto]

Welcome to the forum. It really is trial and error as everybody is different, and the humidity in your area will be different as well.

There is also the possibility that the condensation is from your breathing rather than the humidifier. And you may also need a hose cozy or heated hose.

I use a full face mask, so I can't help with your specific mask. I do find that my settings tend to work for me at home and on the road, except when I stay somewhere colder, such as my sister's house or an RV in colder weather. Then I had to turn up the temp so that I don't get rainout in the hose.

[nicholasjh1]

I set humidity to 8 and heat to 27.2222 or 81 degrees fahrenheit . if you switch to fahrenheit you may have more control over the heat, not sure how the machine works with celcius. Obviously humidity is low where I am, but point being you may be better off with higher humidity and higher heat.

[Pugsy]

Hose temp and humidity delivered can be independent of each other if you switch to manual settings.
All the warmer air does is let the air retain the moisture better. Warmer air will hold more water than cooler air.

People can have moisture in the mask even without a humidifier being used at all. Our exhale breath contains moisture and if the ambient room temp is cool enough the moisture in our own exhaled breath can condense in the mask...even without a humidifier adding in more moisture.
So reducing the humidity setting doesn't always stop the condensation and often our nasal mucosa don't like that option anyway.

See this thread posts number 2 and 3 for various options in dealing with condensation in the mask or hose.
viewtopic/t94035/Pugsys-Pointers-3Deali ... -road.html

[D.H.]

The heated hose that is compatible with your unit is the "ClimateLineAir™ Heated Tube."

[jnk...]

Reality and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment, so I can't comment on that aspect of your question.

But, yes, the Holy Grail does form some condensation whenever it is cooler than the humidity-laden ambient air in my basement.

Please don't tell anyone I have it, though. TIA.

[c_doe]

How do you know if condensation is building up in the mask or hose?

Had some problems the last few nights, where I had the feeling that the air I breath in isn't as fresh and as much as it could be and thought maybe it's due to condensation...

[Pugsy]

How do you know if condensation is building up in the mask or hose?

Had some problems the last few nights, where I had the feeling that the air I breath in isn't as fresh and as much as it could be and thought maybe it's due to condensation...

Condensation in the mask or hose will either cause a lot of noise/racket when the water moves around or you get a cold shower out the vent holes or you get to snort water up your nose. Pretty hard to miss condensation anywhere.

[Sleepy in GV]

I live in a cold climate and like my bedroom cool. It was likely around 50 degrees in the winter. I too am new to Cpap and had a lot of condensation as soon as winter hit. I had to raise the ambient room temperature and I bought the cozy headgear cover from pad a cheek with a mask liner. My humility was set to auto on my machine and I have a heated hose. I couldn’t use the liner (it caused my mask to leak more). But the headgear cover helped. I think it’s official name is “side strap pad”. Here’s a picture of it: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d676 ... 0/file.jpg

Since we didn’t want our heat running all night whole house, we bought an oil heater for the bedroom that plugs into an outlet, it is set close to my side of the bed. I was mostly able to eliminate all my condensation. I do notice that my heated hose is quite warm to the touch, so it has to help a lot.

I also searched “condensation” on this forum and read a lot about it. Many posts say to raise hose and lower the machine. My machine won’t allow condensation to drain back into the machine, so I had to just utelize the other tools and they took care of the problem.

Good luck!

[D.H.]

. . . My machine won’t allow condensation to drain back into the machine, so I had to just utilize the other tools and they took care of the problem.
. . .

Wow! What mechanism is on your machine to prevent this? As long as the air can flow through the hose, the condensation can also flow through the hose. I don't see how it can be trapped without also trapping the air! Besides, if this somehow is the case, it sounds like very bad design!

[Pugsy]

Wow! What mechanism is on your machine to prevent this? As long as the air can flow through the hose, the condensation can also flow through the hose. I don't see how it can be trapped without also trapping the air! Besides, if this somehow is the case, it sounds like very bad design!

It's the way the hose gets attached to the humidifier opening on the back of the machine. It can be altered or adjusted so that it will drain better but it's still not a vertical drop which of course would be the most conducive for draining.
I have had the same problem with it and with condensation in the hose. Even holding the hose totally vertical won't let it drain enough to clear out enough water to get it to shut up with the noise. Been there and done that at 4 AM...not fun.

[Sleepy in GV]

. . .

[/quote]

Wow! What mechanism is on your machine to prevent this? As long as the air can flow through the hose, the condensation can also flow through the hose. I don't see how it can be trapped without also trapping the air! Besides, if this somehow is the case, it sounds like very bad design!
[/quote]

It is just the design, the hose is behind the Cpap, not on top, so it is horizontal where it attached to the machine. I mean, if there was a hose on the other end with a little pressure, I’m sure it would drain back into the humidifier, but gravity alone won’t do it. All my condensation was from my own breath in the mask anyway hitting the cold air of the room, I think. The heated tube stays so warm I don’t think there’s condensation in the hose.

[Okie bipap]

The only time I have had condensation in the hose was shortly after I started treatment. We were staying at a hotel and had not yet purchased a hose boss to use when traveling. The room was rather cool, and the hose dipped down quite a bit as it spanned the distance from the bed side table and the bed. Moisture condensed and collected in the low spot and made a lot of noise. It woke me and my wife both up. Now, when we travel we use a hose boss to keep the hose from dipping down and collecting water.

[sphinxman]

I am a brand new user. Can you post a link to sleepyhead for me please.