humidifier and water level

sleepyinmississippi · Post by **sleepyinmississippi** » Fri May 03, 2013 7:57 pm

Hello.
The past 2 mornings, I've noticed my CPAP humidifier's water level hasn't decreased at all.
My CPAP appears to be working correctly--but the water level doesn't change. Should I be concerned--could I somehow be doing damage to my CPAP?
Please advise.
Thanks!

LSAT · Post by **LSAT** » Fri May 03, 2013 8:19 pm

You are not damaging your machine in any way...The humidifier is just a comfort issue. What setting do you have your humidifier set at? If you are in a high humidity area of the country you may not need much additional humidity.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Fri May 03, 2013 9:27 pm

What cpap machine are you using? There's a 3 digit model number on the bottom of the blower unit. If you are having trouble finding the right model tell us the model number and we can point you to which model machine and humidifier that works with it.
Your profile points to this humidifier which was discontinued back in 2006 or 2007.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... ifier.html

If you are new to cpap therapy you probably have one of the new machines which have sensors in the machine to detect ambient room humidity and make adjustments to delivered humidity based on room humidity. If your bedroom humidity is a bit higher for some reason then the machine won't heat up as much and won't deliver as much added moisture. How it works depends on which model.

The other night I slept with the bedroom window open and it rained all night. My machine is within 2 feet of my bedroom window. My humidifier setting is always maxed out because I like a lot of added moisture. The night it rained...I barely used any water at all and I almost always use nearly the entire full tank each night.

sleepyinmississippi · Post by **sleepyinmississippi** » Sat May 04, 2013 11:17 pm

To LSAT and PUgsy,
I usually have my humidifier on level 3 ( really don't know what the significance of these numbers are). I live in an extremely humid area.
Pugsy: You said there's a 3-digit number underneath the blower unit. Is this it: Ref Remstar 150P.
The humidifier my profile points to is NOT the humidifier I use. I will have to update my profile.
Thanks for your patience and help.

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Machine: S9 AutoSet™ CPAP Machine
Mask: Mirage Quattro™ Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear
Humidifier: S9™ Series H5i™ Heated Humidifier with Climate Control
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Re: humidifier and water level
by Pugsy on Fri May 03, 2013 10:27 pm

What cpap machine are you using? There's a 3 digit model number on the bottom of the blower unit. If you are having trouble finding the right model tell us the model number and we can point you to which model machine and humidifier that works with it.
Your profile points to this humidifier which was discontinued back in 2006 or 2007.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respiro ... ifier.html

If you are new to cpap therapy you probably have one of the new machines which have sensors in the machine to detect ambient room humidity and make adjustments to delivered humidity based on room humidity. If your bedroom humidity is a bit higher for some reason then the machine won't heat up as much and won't deliver as much added moisture. How it works depends on which model.

The other night I slept with the bedroom window open and it rained all night. My machine is within 2 feet of my bedroom window. My humidifier setting is always maxed out because I like a lot of added moisture. The night it rained...I barely used any water at all and I almost always use nearly the entire full tank each night.

LSAT · Post by **LSAT** » Sun May 05, 2013 5:11 am

sleepyinmississippi wrote:
The other night I slept with the bedroom window open and it rained all night. My machine is within 2 feet of my bedroom window. My humidifier setting is always maxed out because I like a lot of added moisture. The night it rained...I barely used any water at all and I almost always use nearly the entire full tank each night.

If you are in a "very humid area"...and it rained all night...the humidity in your house was probably at 100%. The machine would not see a need to use ant water.

Pugsy · Post by **Pugsy** » Sun May 05, 2013 5:56 am

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... chine.html
This above is your cpap machine. In the equipment menu this is the PR System One Remstar cpap machine..it may or may not be a working choice option.
The option is there but I don't know if it is working link now because that machine is no longer offer because there is now a newer model. Look for the machines beginning with PR...there are several all grouped together..
If you choose it and it doesn't show up in your profile just manually type...PR S1 CPAP model 150 in the comments section

Your 150 model is a very basic machine. No exhale relief. No data beyond hours of use. So if you see us talking about software and reports...your machine doesn't do that.

This is the humidifier that you are using.
PR System One Heated Humidifier...it is there in the PR grouping
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... ifier.html

With this particular model the machine uses sensors in it to figure out the ambient room humidity to figure out how much added moisture is going to be needed. This default mode of operation simply uses less water anyway...use it in a high humidity environment and it simply won't sense the need to add much water so the water level won't drop much if any.
Since you live in an already very humid area the ambient room humidity is going to likely be pretty high unless you are using the air conditioner all ready. A setting of 3 with the default mode chosen (there is another mode that will use plain heat to add moisture) it simply won't need to use much water at all.

The other night I used mine with the window open and it was raining outside all night long...so my ambient humidity was obviously quite high. I had the humidifier at maximum setting and the water level barely budged from full.

So there is nothing wrong with your machine...it simply doesn't sense any need to add much moisture so it isn't heating up much because it doesn't need to.

If you are comfortable at this setting you don't need to do anything. If you feel that your nasal mucosa are dry or if they become dry when the AC is turned on...you can increase the level up to 5...if still too dry you can change the mode to classic mode and get more moisture that way. This is a setting change available in the clinical set up menu.
http://www.apneaboard.com/pr-system-one ... structions
The link above explains how to get to the clinical setup menu. Save it for later use if you think you may need it.

There is no right or wrong way to set the humidifier in general. Humidity needs vary between individuals. Some need a lot and some need minimal to none. Each person has to figure out what they need on their own. There are people who live in the high desert who don't even use a humidifier...and then there are people like me who can't get too much water.

I don't know how long you have had this machine and I don't know if you feel the need to have access to any data that might be important....like leak data or AHI...or even exhale relief if you are having problems...but if you think you might want or need those features now or later...you might want to see if you can get a machine that offers those features.
For data...you would need model 450 or higher to be able to see anything useful. All the models 450 or higher offer exhale relief. There is a model 250/260 that does offer exhale relief but no data beyond hours of use.

So you might read this link http://maskarrayed.wordpress.com/ especially the part down at the bottom about the "brick" no efficacy data machine.
Your model machine is a basic machine...no exhale relief and no efficacy data. In regards to delivering therapy pressure it is a good solid machine. If you are having problems exhaling..not comfortable...exhale relief can help in that regard.
So while the 150 will do its job...it does it without exhale relief (you may or may not miss it) and you have no way to monitor the effectiveness. This may or may not matter to you but I just wanted to let you know what you have and don't have with this machine.

If you stick around the forum and see comments about reports, leaks, AHI ...that is the data we are talking about.
If you are still feeling crappy using the machine...you need to be able to try to figure out if the therapy is even optimal.
If therapy isn't optimal the usual "give it time" thing that DMEs offer won't help...because no amount of time fixes sub optimal therapy.

caffeinatedcfo · Post by **caffeinatedcfo** » Sun May 05, 2013 6:30 am

My water levels vary every so often with the same humidity setting due to changes in the weather (environmental humidity).

sleepyinmississippi · Post by **sleepyinmississippi** » Sun May 05, 2013 5:57 pm

LSAT,
It's been raining a lot the past few days--which might explain why the water level in the humidifier didn't decrease.
Pugsy--thanks for all your diligent research and help!