water accumulation in hose and mask

[robert57]

Hi
New on cpap, using remstar a flex.2nd night with it and I was woken up by breathing in water. there is accumulation in the tubing and mask. what shouldi do. the humidifier setting is on 3

[rested gal]

Some things that might work:

Turn humidifier heat down.

Buy or make a hose cover.

If those simpler methods don't work, then keeping the main air hose warm (Repti heat cable) or replacing the main air hose with a "Sleepzone heated cpap tube" (Aussie heated hose) are the surest solutions:


LINKS to discussions about the Aussie heated hose - to prevent rainout
viewtopic.php?t=5305

[kteague]

Hello and welcome. Using the humidifier on the lowest setting you are comfortable with is the first step to reducing rainout. Sitting your machine lower than your sleeping level, buying or making a hose cover, and routing your hose overhead can help. It is a rude awakening to suddenly breathe in water, so hopefully applying some of these tips will work for you. There are other steps one can take, but all these you can do tonight.
Kathy
P.S. Old socks with the toes cut out and slid over the hose work as an impromtu hose cover.
P.P.S I see Rested Gal beat me to the punch. She's the link queen so you'll get some good ideas from her.

[plr66]

Depending upon your particular mask configuration, you might also try simply keeping the hose routed under your bed covers. That did the trick for me when I realized that I am quite happy with humidity set to zero or 1, and I've not needed a hose cover. Some masks allow you to either route your hose over the top of your head, or hanging down. I had one horrible night of rainout last Fall when I tried the hose over my head. YMMV.

[araminta]

After I lowered the humidifier to the minimum, and got a hose cover from "Pad a Cheek", the problem of "rainout" (condensation forming in my mask or hose) stopped.

[TerryB]

Rainout is condensation and it may come from the humidifier OR from your own breath (remember huffing on your glasses to get a fog for wiping them off?) In addition to the things mentioned above, consider raising the room temperature enough to prevent surfaces from being cool enough to condense your breath to water.

Good luck,
TerryB

[scotty]

I'm glad someone mentioned the room's temperature. For me, whenever I have rainout it's from when the temperature of the room is in the low 70's or lower and I don't lower the setting of the humidifier accordingly.

It's a balancing act -- if you need to have the humidity so high that you have rainout, then you need to increase the temperature of your bedroom. If you or whoever you share a room with need the room so cold that you have rainout, then you need to decrease your humidity. If you're somewhat flexible, then you can do a little of both -- decrease the humidy a little and increase the room temperature by maybe 2-3 degrees, and go from there. I never tried those hose coverings, so i can't comment on them. But my rainout usually happens in my mask.

Rainout is condensation and it may come from the humidifier OR from your own breath (remember huffing on your glasses to get a fog for wiping them off?) In addition to the things mentioned above, consider raising the room temperature enough to prevent surfaces from being cool enough to condense your breath to water.

Good luck,
TerryB