Humidifer questions.. Resmed 10 Airsense

[beetee]

Hello all,

Been using CPAP for three months now, last night i tried humidifer for the first time to see how it is, and i found it more comfortable to use. Ive started on manual mode (with climateair line heated tubing) and on humidity setting 3, though i intend to increase that level.

A few Questions.

1. I bought some distilled water from amazon (which wasn't particually cheap) i watched videos and read instructions which all say to fill the water to 'just under the max line'. When i woke up in the morning it had barely used more than a quarter of the water, Is there any risk to the machine or the therapy of filling the water less (for example just under the second fill line or even in between the first and second line). Is doing that ok, or must you always fill to under the max line?

2. Im thinking about just rinsing the water tank out each morning with some distilled water, emptying in out and leaving it to dry. Is that perfectly fine to do or do you have to wash it fully everyday to avoid bateria and germs etc?

3. Can the water tank just be washed properly once a week, and must you use soap or can you just wash it with hot water?
I prefer to just use water if i can, as i have found with my mask, even when i use unscented soap that meets there criteria i can still smell it after cleaning it and rinsing it, I very much have a sensitive sense of smell.

4. I don't understand, as they put such an emphasis on using the correct water in the tank, but surely it not a good idea to wash the tank in tap water, couldn't that leave mineral desposits or something when its drying or does wahing it in tap water not matter so long as your not using tap water during its operation?

Thanks

[robysue1]

1. I bought some distilled water from amazon (which wasn't particually cheap) i watched videos and read instructions which all say to fill the water to 'just under the max line'. When i woke up in the morning it had barely used more than a quarter of the water, Is there any risk to the machine or the therapy of filling the water less (for example just under the second fill line or even in between the first and second line). Is doing that ok, or must you always fill to under the max line?

Several comments:

Here in the US distilled water is readily available in most grocery stores and drug stores. It's often priced at $1.50/gallon or less.

How much water you go through in one night depends on a several things:

• The humidifier setting
• The ambient relative humidity
• The hose temperature (if you are using a heated hose and the hose temp is above room temperature
• The pressure you are using
• How long you sleep for the night
• Whether you have some significant leaks, particularly mouth breathing, during the night

A humidifier setting of 3 is not particularly high. If your room's ambient humidity is above 30% or 40% and your room is relatively cool and your hose temperature is on the low side (i.e. just a few degrees above room temp), then you're not going to use much water over the course of a night, even if you sleep for 8 or 9 hours.

The recommendation to fill the humidifier all the way to just below the max line is to make it far less likely that a person will run out of water during the night even if they've got the humidifier set on the high side (i.e. 7 or 8) and the hose temp set on the high side (80+ Fahrenheit) and are sleeping in a relatively dry environment.

Once you've got a few weeks of experience you'll know how much water you go through each night. And if you know that you always use less than half a tank of water, then there's no reason to fill it up all the way to the max line.

And it's worth remembering: The worst thing that can happen if you do run out of water during the night is this: You may wake up with extremely dry nasal passages, particularly if you don't wake up shortly after the last of the water is used. And you may wake up to a "bad smell" from the tank being heated without any water in it. It's not going to damage the tank---there's just not that much heat applied to the bottom of it; in other words, it's not like running a tea kettle dry on a stove burning turned on High.

2. Im thinking about just rinsing the water tank out each morning with some distilled water, emptying in out and leaving it to dry. Is that perfectly fine to do or do you have to wash it fully everyday to avoid bateria and germs etc?

I would say to just use tap water to rinse the tank out every morning, providing your tap water is potable. There's no real need to use distilled water to rinse or wash the tank out.

Some people don't even bother to dump the distilled water out every single morning. If your house doesn't have a mold or mildew problem, you're not likely to get something growing in the tank if you forget to dump the water every single morning.

As for germs: The germs on/in your CPAP equipment are the same germs that you live with every single day. They're the ones on your bed pillows and covers, the ones on your night stand, the ones on your own skin, and the ones living in your own mouth. Now if you happen to come down with some kind of viral illness, then it's probably a good idea to do a thorough cleaning of the equipment as you start to get better so you don't reinfect yourself. But for most people and under most circumstances, you're just not going to catch a dread disease because you didn't wash the humidifier tank out every single day.

3. Can the water tank just be washed properly once a week, and must you use soap or can you just wash it with hot water?
I prefer to just use water if i can, as i have found with my mask, even when i use unscented soap that meets there criteria i can still smell it after cleaning it and rinsing it, I very much have a sensitive sense of smell.

As someone with very sensitive skin, I never use any kind of soap on my humidifier tank, hose, mask frame and nasal pillow cushions.

When I want to wash stuff "properly" (which is less than once a week), I'll use about a cup of distilled vinegar in a bathroom sink full of hot water. I typically let things soak for 30 minutes or so before rinsing thoroughly and then letting everything dry in my bedroom. Personally, I find the vinegar rinses cleaner (in terms of smell) than any soap I've ever tried to use.

Now, I don't have oily skin. My husband does, and when I'm cleaning his mask cushion, I do usually have to use a bit of dishwashing soap to cut the oil build up on his mask.

4. I don't understand, as they put such an emphasis on using the correct water in the tank, but surely it not a good idea to wash the tank in tap water, couldn't that leave mineral desposits or something when its drying or does wahing it in tap water not matter so long as your not using tap water during its operation?

In other parts of the world, CPAP instructions will often simply state to use potable water in the humidifier tank rather than distilled water.

The only real advantage of using distilled water in the tank is to reduce mineral buildup on the bottom of the tank from heating the water for several hours every single night. The mineral buildup is actually not unhealthy, but it looks "dirty" and unsightly. So germaphobic Americans see that buildup and then convince themselves the CPAP is filthy dirty and then blame the CPAP for every head cold they catch (from other people).

There is a second advantage to using distilled water in the tank in some areas of the country: If your tap water has an obvious (bad) odor, then putting that tap water into your tank means you're going to be smelling that (bad) odor all night long. That can make you miserable and keep you from getting a decent night's sleep, but it's not going to make you sick with a viral/bacterial caused illness.

When we run out of distilled water, my husband and I just use tap water until we have a chance to get to a store to buy more distilled water. The tap water bothers me more than it does him, but I'm much more sensitive to the smell of things than he is.

As for washing the tub: Warm/hot tap water plus some distilled vinegar will dissolve small amounts of mineral build up, and air drying won't lead to any mineral build up. Think of it this way: You don't worry about mineral build up on your dishes when you (hand) wash them in hot tap water and then put them in the dish drainer to air dry. Same thing with the humidifier tank: Washing it in warm/hot tap water is fine.

[beetee]

If you choose to only ever wash the Humidifer water tank with water and never any soap or vinegar, could that increase a risk of any bateria, pathogens,viruses in the tank since maybe water isnt cleaning it thoroughly enough?

Also i really have my doubts with Vinegar as it has such a strong potent smell, and even if you correctly dilute it and use a tiny amount, i feel for people with very senstive sense of smell that after thorough rinsing there will be a small but noticable vinegar smell still remaining, that may not bother or be noticed by some people, but by sensitive people it would be, do you think so?

Thanks as always Robysue, really useful insight.

[robysue1]

If you choose to only ever wash the Humidifer water tank with water and never any soap or vinegar, could that increase a risk of any bateria, pathogens,viruses in the tank since maybe water isnt cleaning it thoroughly enough?

If you dump the excess water frequently and let the tank air dry, I don't think you're adding a significant risk for things growing in the tank. But it's not "no risk" since vinegar is capable of killing a wide variety of pathogens.

For me, I'm more worried about potential of mold/mildew growing in the tank than bacteria or viruses: We live in an old house with a musty basement and I'm not the greatest housekeeper in terms of keeping things spic and span.

Also i really have my doubts with Vinegar as it has such a strong potent smell, and even if you correctly dilute it and use a tiny amount, i feel for people with very senstive sense of smell that after thorough rinsing there will be a small but noticable vinegar smell still remaining, that may not bother or be noticed by some people, but by sensitive people it would be, do you think so?

I am someone who is pretty sensitive to all kinds of physical stimuli, including odors.

For me personally, the small residual odor of vinegar is not a big problem. And again, for me personally, I'd rather smell a bit of vinegar (which smells "clean" to me) instead of residual odors from soaps/detergents, even those ones that are "fragrance free". I think it's a personal choice: Folks who are highly sensitive to smells typically know what smells they can/cannot tolerate and which things rinse clean enough to not cause problems. If you think vinegar even properly diluted is going to bother you, then I'd say trust your instincts.

[beetee]

Would you say you can personally still smell the vinegar, or is it almost barely noticable? how strong do you find the smell once you have rinsed it out?

[robysue1]

Would you say you can personally still smell the vinegar, or is it almost barely noticable? how strong do you find the smell once you have rinsed it out?

I can smell the vinegar when I'm soaking things in the sink. Once I rinse the tank thoroughly and let it air dry, I can't smell it.

[zonker]

Would you say you can personally still smell the vinegar, or is it almost barely noticable? how strong do you find the smell once you have rinsed it out?

if you have the money, why not buy a spare humidifier tank? you can clean the first one and let it dry out completely. however long that takes. you can give it the old sniff test.

meanwhile, pop the alternate tank in while the first is drying.

[prodigyplace]

If you PM me I have a brand new humidifier tank sent to me years ago when I first got an Airsense 10. I now use an Airsense 11. For the cost of shipping it can be yours.

[jsmit86]

If I only rinse my tank each day, I will get a bit of slime in the tank within a couple of days. I'm pretty sure it's from an environmental bacteria that is commonly called pink mold. It's not really mold per se, but not something you want to get our of control. It's in the air and water in many areas. I am in the Houston Texas area, and we are usually quite humid. My water system removes chlorine, so to keep this at bay, I wash the tank daily with Dawn dish soap or baby shampoo, taking care to wipe all of the surfaces on the interior of the tank. I dry it well, and fill it with RO water. Doing this daily keeps everything fresh.

I used to live in the Chicago area. I could actually just top off the water for a few days with no apparent smell or slime. We did not have any of that pink stuff there.

[beetee]

Thats very kind of you Prodigy

I imagine with proper rinsing it will be fine, i'll just have to try it one time and see.

Thanks again

[prodigyplace]

Lincare sent is with the first automatic shipment of supplies. After realizing I could get supplies cheaper than paying them 20% for their choice of what they wanted to send me, I promptly canceled.