I ran my S9 dry.

[jabman]

Last night I checked my humidifier on my S9 it was bone dry .I filled it two weeks ago (I think) and never bothered to check it, so I have no idea how long it ran without water in the tank. I am wondering if this can wreck my machine, it seems to be working good.

[mcdad]

Ok,

You need to make sure an empty the tube every morning....

Now to check to see if it is still working...

1. Take the tube out.
2. Close the lid and start your S9 with the humidifier.
3. Let it run for one minute.
4. Turn it off.
5. Open the humidifier lid.
6. Place you hand just above the hot plate and check for heat. (Make sure not to touch it)

If you can feel the warmth from the plate you should be fine.

If not you probably have a problem.

[Sheriff Buford]

my humidifier is bone dry every morning. I have my knob set pretty highat night. The water canister is real warm in the morning, but everything works. I see no problemo'

Sheriff

[greg-g]

I was discussing problems of mask condensation with ResMed technical services and was advised there was no problem in running the S9 with a dry tank. This allows you to you use the climate tube without humidification.

[dave21]

I usually find I can go 2 nights, at a push 3 nights without filling the H5i. I don't fill it up to maximum though, I fill it to the line under Maximum so I don't go to over fill it as I found that was more susceptible to rainout in the tube when filled to maximum.

Thanks
Dave

[chief900]

Hi,

I don't think its good to leave it so long between fills. Maybe its ok for the machine, but in the interests of hygene and health you should change that water regularly.

Cheers

[dave21]

I do actually change the water daily, but in a test I conducted a couple of times i found I could go 2-3 nights without refilling.

Thanks
Dave

[jabman]

I was changing it every 2 days but I got comfortable with it an forgot but have went back to changing it every 2 days. It is working fine so thats a good thing.

[billbolton]

I am wondering if this can wreck my machine....[/color]

No, it can't wreck the machine. The S9 humidifier doesn't get anywhere near hot enough, even on maximum settings, to cause any problems if you run it without water in the water chamber.

The heating applied to the tub plate is relatively modest, as it only need to encourage additional water molecules to evaporate into the air flow stream.

Cheers,

Bill

[tony72]

if you fill it pass maximum,will that make the pap cut off and display check hose?

[feeling_better]

Normally, running out of water would not cause any harm to the machines, as some others have pointed out here. Even the mild heating gets continuously cooled by the stream of air gong through.

However two nights ago I had an a significant experience worth mentioning. I was using Respironics Auto with built in humidifier [I am a 2+ year user, with AHI now below 1.0 often]. Usually I add water every 3 days, and less often if the heater is off, that is, in the passover humidifier mode. I have been using it in the passover mode for about a week (the ambient humidity was high enough to be comfortable), and was less concerned about running out of water. That early morning I woke up with some discomfort, and some coughing, and I had symptoms of asthma! I am not asthmatic (might have had an incident or two 60 years ago.).

It did not occur to me the cause of this might be my cpap. Later when I was about to add water, I discovered I was running totally empty. Here is my guess of the cause of my discomfort: Normally any dust (and pollen) particles that are not caught by the filter will end up in the humidifier water. But when it runs dry all the accumulated dust will eventually gets blown into your breath. Since I had not emptied the tanks for a while during refills, there must have some accumulated stuff. So I am now strongly of the opinion it is not a good idea to run out of water in the humidifier while in use.

And if you are the type who worries about BPA from the humidifier plastic (search for that in other threads in this forum), yes, when the humidifier is run empty and the heater is on, the warmed up state of the plastic would emit more bpa.

[billbolton]

yes, when the humidifier is run empty and the heater is on, the warmed up state of the plastic would emit more bpa.

The whole of a heated humidifier gets as warm as it ever gets (at any particular setting) whether it has water in it or nor

Cheers,

Bill

[topdragster]

Dang I let my humidifier go dry then refilled it. I had the weirdest taste in my mouth after refilling. After some time I realized what the problem was. During the summer I have been using my humidy in pass over mode and from reading threads on this forum had begun using cold bottled water from the fridge to combat the summer heat. I realized I had filled my humidy with koolaid flavored water after about 2 minutes of mys9 coming on. Ive since switched to grey goose water additive.

[topdragster]

If some of you are questioning the use of grey goose, just consider it winterization.