Side Cover Cleaning for AS10 and AS11?

[cpapmoma1]

Hi,
This is the son of cpapmoma1 (she has some difficulty typing). She has been managing her cpap equipment/settings for about 10 years with help from this forum.

She bought side covers for her AS10 and AS11 machines and washed them with soapy water not realizing there were foam filters inside. I managed to open them both (not easy and cracked a few tabs on the AS11 side cover) and realized that foam filters were present and full of slightly soapy water.

The questions are:

Why are there filters in these side covers given that there are none in the water tanks?

Would it be safe to remove these filters before reassembling the side covers?

Hoping for some feedback from Pale Rider, Pugsy, or anyone with experience with this issue.

Mom says thanks to all the members who have contributed over the years.

[jdm5]

Sounds like the filter for the air intake - it filters the air that goes through the machine that you breath.

If that’s the case the filters are very inexpensive and available at cpap.com or wherever (amazon has them too).

You should change them periodically, depending on quality of air in your home. Monthly / every few months is probably fine.

[Dog Slobber]

I don't have sidecovers on my ResMed. But, I believe the foam you're talking about is for sound abatement, and not filters.

There really is no need to wash the side-cover, and I don't thing washing it with water is a problem. I would dry it as thouroughly as possiple, and then run it for a bit to blow out the remaining water.

BTW, many who don't use humidity, don't even use the side-cover. They turn the humidity to zero and just use a tank. Many claim it's quieter.

[cpapmoma1]

I don't have sidecovers on my ResMed. But, I believe the foam you're talking about is for sound abatement, and not filters.

There really is no need to wash the side-cover, and I don't thing washing it with water is a problem. I would dry it as thoroughly as possible, and then run it for a bit to blow out the remaining water.

BTW, many who don't use humidity, don't even use the side-cover. They turn the humidity to zero and just use a tank. Many claim it's quieter.

Many thanks to jdm5 and Dog Slobber for their input. Sorry I lead down the wrong path by calling the pieces "filters" instead of foam. These are for noise abatement, not filtering air as DS said

The AS10 cover was well-dried, re-assembled,, tested and working good as new. The AS11 foam takes longer to dry but hoping for a good result there also. The plan is to use the AS10 in the hospital with no water because - you know- "stuff happens" there

always learning from the forum
cpapmoma1 Just me

[palerider]

I just leave the tank empty and turn off humidity, it's quieter with the tank vs the side cover.

[cpapmoma1]

Palerider -Many thanks for the tips. I do sometimes have to vary humidity as I live in Florida where the weather changes sometimes
every 15 minutes. Having a quiet machine has never been a priority for me. When I take off my hearing aids, I could sleep thru a hurricane and I have
Thanks again for helping us all to breathe
cpapmoma1