humidity off & empty water chamber ok?

[Tweety]

I get a lot of rainout, even with Humidity set to 1 (I use the Bleep) and a hose cozy. Regular hose, not heated. I'm tired of waking up to a snootful of water, so last night I tried the machine (Aircurve VAuto) with Humidity off and an empty water chamber--good timing 'cause I'd just washed it. It was sooo much better! I was afraid I'd feel dried out, but at least for this first try it was fine. Maybe I'm one of those people that'll do better without the humidity? I assume it's okay to run the machine with an empty tank, as the manual says to do that when using it on an airplane. I couldn't find any discussion on it, although I'd swear I saw something a year or so ago, so I have a couple questions for those of you who eschew humidity:

1. I will still need to clean the tank occasionally, yes? A lot of sediment settles out of the air here in SoCal, so I bet it'll find its way into the machine. Anybody have experience with yucky stuff growing?

2. Somewhere in these forums I remember the mention of a neoprene-or-somesuch insert that allows you to run the machine without the tank (although it was a different Resmed model, I think). Is there a reason to do that rather than use an empty tank?

3. Am I missing some other obvious solution because I'm crazy from inhaling too much water?

[Pugsy]

You can certainly use your machine with the water chamber in place but without water in it if you wish. Just turn the humidity off so the water chamber isn't heated. The reason is obvious...heat an empty plastic container with nothing in it and it stinks to high heaven and isn't good for the plastic either.

You can use the side cover that can be used in place of the water chamber if you wish.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... side-cover

I have no idea if anything will grow in an empty water chamber or not...so can't comment on that aspect. I would think the chances are minimal if there's nothing there to feed anything.

Be aware that you can still get condensation in the mask itself though....our own exhaled breaths contains moisture and it can condense if the conditions in the bedroom allow for the condensation to happen...specifically if the ambient bedroom temp is cool enough it can happen even if no added moisture is coming from the humidifier itself.

[Tweety]

You can use the side cover that can be used in place of the water chamber if you wish.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/resmed ... side-cover

I hadn't seen that particular cover, I like it! More compact for travel, too.

Be aware that you can still get condensation in the mask itself though....our own exhaled breaths contains moisture and it can condense if the conditions in the bedroom allow for the condensation to happen...specifically if the ambient bedroom temp is cool enough it can happen even if no added moisture is coming from the humidifier itself.

Thanks. I did indeed get some condensation last night, but it was just lightly damp, as opposed to large drops running straight into my sinuses. I dunno why I get so much rainout, it's supposed to be dry here. I'll try a few more nights to make sure I'm not trading one problem for another.

[Pugsy]

I dunno why I get so much rainout, it's supposed to be dry here.

Ambient bedroom temperatures. It's physics in action when we get condensation.
I have heard of people in the high desert not using the humidifier at all and complaining of condensation. The only thing left is moisture in our own exhaled breathe and ambient room temps causing the air in the mask to cool down and release the moisture.

You can't control the moisture in your own breath. It's just going to happen.
You can control the ambient room air temp or the hose air temp both of which need to be warmer so the air doesn't cool and release the moisture...it's Physics.

[Tweety]

I dunno why I get so much rainout, it's supposed to be dry here.

You can't control the moisture in your own breath. It's just going to happen.
You can control the ambient room air temp or the hose air temp both of which need to be warmer so the air doesn't cool and release the moisture...it's Physics.

Makes sense to me. I guess if I don't like having the humidity off, I might have to spring for a heated hose, because the hose cozy isn't keeping the air warm enough.

[louwho]

I live about 45 miles from Boston, so it is getting colder at nights, and for some reason, this year, even with a heated hose, I am experiencing rainout. I have an Airsense 10, it is a couple of years old, not sure if that is a factor. I recently got a hose cover, that does not seem to stop the rainout. I have an airfit p10 mask, that has about 16 inches of hose that is not covered by the 6 ft hose cover...do I need to get another hose cove to cover this? I have tried auto and manual adjustments, tonight I will try turning the humidity all the way down to see if that helps. I lower the heat at night and have a blanket that keeps me warm,to save on oil costs, and that may be a factor. Next I will try raising the temp a degree or so, and a less warm blanket (so that I do not sweat).

[khauser]

You don't say what your humidity settings (including hose temp) are...

So was this a statement of fact or did you want some suggestions? Those would revolve around your current settings.

FYI I am in Nashua ... water consumption has definitely gone up (and I increased humidity slightly), but no rainout. I can't let the house be too cold ... pet birds would not like it.

[Pugsy]

I live about 45 miles from Boston, so it is getting colder at nights, and for some reason, this year, even with a heated hose, I am experiencing rainout. I have an Airsense 10, it is a couple of years old, not sure if that is a factor. I recently got a hose cover, that does not seem to stop the rainout. I have an airfit p10 mask, that has about 16 inches of hose that is not covered by the 6 ft hose cover...do I need to get another hose cove to cover this? I have tried auto and manual adjustments, tonight I will try turning the humidity all the way down to see if that helps. I lower the heat at night and have a blanket that keeps me warm,to save on oil costs, and that may be a factor. Next I will try raising the temp a degree or so, and a less warm blanket (so that I do not sweat).

So what is the max temperature you have your heated hose set to?
What is the ambient temperature of your bedroom?
Where is the rain out? In the hose, the mask or both?
What is your usual humidity setting?

I can speak from experience...the auto hose temp setting doesn't work so great if the bedroom is very cool at all....even at the auto humidity setting which equals about a setting of 4 if compared to manual.

A short hose cozy might help...and if it is mainly in the mask nasal pillows the padacheek barrel cozy will help.
https://www.padacheek.com/barrel-cozies-1

Turning the humidity off may not help (and maybe it might cause your nasal mucosa to be unhappy) if the moisture is condensing in the mask and that moisture is from your own exhaled breath.

[cpap450]

I have an Airsense 10. Two months after I started on CPAP, my experience was optimized enough that I was complaining about the air temperature and the humidity.

Turning my humidity down from the midpoint initial setting felt great, and I incrementally went down to zero, and it was great and I've been doing it that way for ten months now. Empty water chamber, and humidity off.

I also changed the hose air temperature from mid-80s initially to 70, where it's been for ten months. Big improvement.

The temperature in my bedroom tends to be around 65 during the winter, 70 or a hair over in the summer, with low humidity in the room itself, if that's some helpful guidance.

[louwho]

On my system if you set Climate Control to 'Auto', the Tube Temp, and Humidity level disappear. If you set to 'Manual', they appear.

On manual I had tried various tube temperature and humidity levels, and had the rain in the mask (nostrols). Same thing with Auto.

Last night, I turned off the humidity (don't remember what I had set for tube temp, but assume that it was set to 81 (default if you go to manual)), and my mouth\stuck was puckered together until I set humidity to 1.

What is the tie in with Humidity and Hose temp... how are they supposed to work together, how do they affect each other?

Tonight will try Auto, and higher temp in house.

[Pugsy]

What is the tie in with Humidity and Hose temp... how are they supposed to work together, how do they affect each other?

Hose air temp is primarily to prevent condensation...secondary is personal comfort.
Warm air will hold more moisture than cool air. Condensation is when the air can no longer hold onto the water because the temp is too cool to retain the moisture.

A setting of 4 for humidity amounts to or dispenses the same amount of moisture in the air at 86 degrees as it is at 76 degrees or even 66 degrees.
What is affected is the ability of the air to hold onto that moisture.