What is this floating in my tank?

dragon672 · Post by **dragon672** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 6:14 pm

Alright I've posted before about having things floating in my tank. Right now I'm suffering from the worst case of bronchitis I have ever had. Not the cpap's fault because I was getting bronchitis before cpap; but this is the worst I've had it. But I cleaned my tank Sunday and last night saw this:

Now I have a liner over my mask that I made myself. Anyone want to guess what that is floating in my tank?

STL Mark · Post by **STL Mark** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 6:19 pm

I'll guess fibers from a home made or repurposed filter on your machine?

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 6:45 pm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mold
I've seen it too. Time for a serious cleaning; and open a fresh bottle of distilled water.
The old one could be contaminated.

dragon672 · Post by **dragon672** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:00 pm

Ah but the water I put in the tank was a freshly opened bottle of water and it was cleaned 3 days before. I could reach out and grab the "strings". I think they are strings are from my mask liner. I emptied the tank and put in fresh water last night and removed my mask liner. Well just checked my tank and there are still some floaters. Can't figure it out unless I need to stop letting water sit in the tank until I use it up.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:03 pm

The "strings" look dry and fluffy, but if you touch one and it feels slimy, MOLD.

dragon672 · Post by **dragon672** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:16 pm

The vinegar should have killed it though. I'm using the cleaning vinegar and it soaks for a long time. I don't have a dishwasher so putting the tank there to clean is not an option. I'm over a year into this and I thought I was doing pretty good. I don't understand how some of you guys can let the water sit and sit in your tank. Mine can't even sit 3 days lol. I guess it might be my area (SE KY)?

LSAT · Post by **LSAT** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:22 pm

dragon672 wrote:The vinegar should have killed it though. I'm using the cleaning vinegar and it soaks for a long time. I don't have a dishwasher so putting the tank there to clean is not an option. I'm over a year into this and I thought I was doing pretty good. I don't understand how some of you guys can let the water sit and sit in your tank. Mine can't even sit 3 days lol. I guess it might be my area (SE KY)?

We use DISTILLED WATER...It doesn't matter where in the country you are. Distilled water does not contain minerals.

dragon672 · Post by **dragon672** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:26 pm

I am using distilled water. I use distilled water from Wally world, IGA, Rite Aid; it doesn't matter apparently something is causing growth. lol.

JDS74 · Post by **JDS74** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:34 pm

Are you sure it is steam distilled water and not purified water?

i use distilled water and dump it every day. I only get stuff like that when I'm on travel and can't get real distilled water. Purified water, bottled water, etc. contain stuff distilled water does not.

dragon672 · Post by **dragon672** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 7:45 pm

Wal-Mart...Great Value Distilled water Procesed by Steam Distillation, Carbon Filtration, Microfiltration, and Ozonation. That's what it says on the jug from Walmart. I don't have another jug from any other place to see what they say.

I think when I first started I emptied my tank every night; but I can't remember if I had any issues then or not.

JDS74 · Post by **JDS74** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:06 pm

Do you use the microfine filter behind the grey one at the air intake?
Perhaps some environmental bacteria or mold spores are getting in.

Try scrubbing your tank with mild detergent, then rinse thoroughly, then soak it with vinegar solution, and finally rinse, drain, rinse, and drain using distilled water to get rid of whatever is in there.

Steam distillation doesn't need carbon filtering nor ozonation as the stuff they remove never make it out of the steam process. Suggest you try a different source.

chunkyfrog · Post by **chunkyfrog** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 8:34 pm

And you could have gotten the one jug that went through the plant when something weird happened.
Stuff does happen. Sometimes once.

dragon672 · Post by **dragon672** » Thu Oct 03, 2013 9:28 pm

I just finished soaking the tank in almost pure vinegar; its drying right now so we'll see how it goes over the next couple of nights.

SleepyCPAP · Post by **SleepyCPAP** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:59 am

Hi dragon642,

Did you replace the fine filter?
Did you wash your hose?
Did you wipe off the gasket/connector where the humidifier tank goes in?
After that, did you run the blower by itself for a while without the humidifier attached?

If you have and you still have this issue, I'm amazed. It has to be getting back in from somewhere and doing all of the above should have eliminated the source.

--SleepyCPAP

Chilibit · Post by **Chilibit** » Fri Oct 04, 2013 6:46 am

I don't have any facts beyond what has been stated. However, the label (to me) reads like a generic label that would allow them to use the same one if the water was steam distilled OR filtered OR... Even if my rather conspiratorial theory is correct, I find it difficult to point to the water as the culprit. Our ambient air, while appearing clear is chock full of particles both organic and inorganic. None of this explains why it is happening to you and not to someone in any other city. I do suspect the vector is the air not the water. You could trying adding a HEPA filter prior to the air intake as an experiment.

What is this floating in my tank?

What is this floating in my tank?

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