Melted plastic smell won't go away

[dh37]

UPDATE: Called Apria. Not sure if the smell issue was enough, but because it's giving me the "Heating system error. Therapy may run without heating." error, they let me do an exchange. 20 min drive. Would like to say "Yay, problem solved," but this reddit thread makes it seem like this might be a more general problem with the Airsense 11: https://www.reddit.com/r/CPAP/comments/ ... y_may_run/

Got a new Resmed (Airsense 11) about a month ago. Old 10 was still chugging along fine, but I was able to get a "free" new one form insurance because the 10 hit the 5-year mark. (Usual deal: it's a rent to own, and I own it in 12 or 18 months or whatever).

A few days ago the water got low in the humifier tank; the smell woke me up. There was still water in the tank (very, very little, but it wasn't bone try). Filled the tank up, didn't see any melted plastic or other damage. The smell wasn't noxious enough to matter for one night, I figured...it almost had a "sweet" component to it, like melted plastic mixed with a little honey, and I could breath and fall asleep OK.

Unfortunately, it's been a couple nights of this, and the smell is still there. It's definitely coming from the unit, in the broad sense (i.e., not the power brick)---it's in the air blown through the mask.

Thing of it is, the smell is NOT coming from the humidifier reservoir, even after it heats up.

I tried blowing a little more air through it by turning autostop off and letting it run off my face for a few minutes. Not enough. Also, I think I might have briefly seen a warning about the heating element system not functioning and hence it wouldn't be used, which is weird.

(1) Could I try to clear the smell out by letting it run for a few hours like that? I think I saw someone did that in an old thread.
(2) I could try replacing all the "spare parts" (humidifier tub, heated hose, full face mask) and see if the smell goes away.
(3) I could contact the equipment provider and say it's malfunctioning and want a new one.

I'm leaning towards (3), and wanted to hear what you folks thought because you seem to know more about this stuff than anyone, maybe more than the docs even (who wouldn't help much in any case).

I'm not panicking because I used my Airsense 10 last night and it performed fine. But of course it needs to be resolved, the sooner the better.

Previous thread: viewtopic.php?p=1448676#p1448652

[Pugsy]

I would do numbers 1 and 2 first and then if the issue isn't resolved I would get with the equipment supplier.
You would need to have tried 1 and 2 anyway to have ammo to fight with the supplier...because that's what they would want done before they would do anything.

It wouldn't be impossible for something inside the machine (like motor) to be failing or overheating.

[Grumpy48]

I've have had an empty and heated water tank that gave off the odor. The odor will stay in the hose as well. Rinse/washe out the tank with a few drops of Dawn dish liquid and hot water. The heated hose I put a few drops of the Dawn dish liquid in it and filled it with hot water and 'sloshed' it back and forth a few times (alternately raise the hose ends up and down). Rinse both with cold water and let dry (hang the hose over something to let the excess water drip out). Let it dry for a the day in a warm place. The hose may have some residual water inside, but that's OK. This usually clears out the odor and leaves a pleasant slight scent of the Dawn dish liquid.

[dh37]

Thanks for the suggestions. Running extra air through it now.

[dh37]

Hmm...touched the touch screen, and it says "Heating system error. Therapy may run without heating." I'll probably call the equipment provider.

[chunkyfrog]

Two machines in a row?
I would check the power source--either the brick or the outlet.
Something is not right.

[jlsmithseven]

This recently happened to me a few times when I forgot to fill up the water. The error you're getting is a result of the hose not fitting on correctly or something. My error went away when I tried a different hose or reset it and gave it time to cool down. I also bought new hoses and water basins because the burning plastic smell would just not go away.

[ozij]

Two machines in a row?
I would check the power source--either the brick or the outlet.
Something is not right.

That was my first reading too.
But the I saw the thread was edited just before chunky's repsonse, hours after the previous discussion.

I'm guessing the first paragraph is the edit, and the OP didn't even have time to check the the new machine.

UPDATE: Called Apria. Not sure if the smell issue was enough, but because it's giving me the "Heating system error. Therapy may run without heating." error, they let me do an exchange. 20 min drive. Would like to say "Yay, problem solved," but this reddit thread makes it seem like this might be a more general problem with the Airsense 11: https://www.reddit.com/r/CPAP/comments/ ... y_may_run/

@dh37 : Unless you're editing for typo's, please add the changes after the post, and use the word "Edited" to make things clearer to us.