Cpap Cleaning Wand and Pads

[quietmorning]

I use a wooden dowel rod to wipe down my hose every day, then wash it in the sink with the hose brush once a week.

Cpap.com is now carrying this: A Tube Cleaning Wand

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/cpap-t ... tires.html

Which uses these pads: Cleaning Pads for Tube Cleaning Wand
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/60-pad ... -wand.html


The wooden dowel rod is working just fine for me, and I don't need to buy the wand, but I'm thinking that maybe these pads could be the answer to my PR 60series heated tubing issue (cleaning - and preventing water from getting into the electronic connection) - IF the pads are not the same stuff as the Unscented CPAP Mask Wipes - as I really can't tolerate the smell.

Has any one used these before? Is it the same cleaning fluid used in the unscented cpap mask wipes (or Citrus II CPAP Mask Wipes)?

Thanks!

[nanwilson]

I only wash my tube about every 4 or 5 months, don't understand what needs wiping out every day. Mine stays hooked up to my machine and I have a homemade mesh sock that goes over the open end I put on every morning. Nothing gets in there but air and its filtered..... just my lazy routine, and I am still alive and kicking after 3+ years on the hose.

[quietmorning]

I only wash my tube about every 4 or 5 months, don't understand what needs wiping out every day. Mine stays hooked up to my machine and I have a homemade mesh sock that goes over the open end I put on every morning. Nothing gets in there but air and its filtered..... just my lazy routine, and I am still alive and kicking after 3+ years on the hose.

Nan, I live in a very old (antebellum) house that has a serious mold issue. If I don't wipe my hose down daily and wash it once a week, I get mold inside the hose.

[chunkyfrog]

It looks like a plastic interpretation of a shotgun cleaning kit; minus the brushes.

[jdm2857]

I'm very surprised that you get mold growth inside your hose.

Mold requires both moisture and organic matter for food. While there is humidity while your machine is
running the blower dries it out after each use. And there should be nothing inside a hose for mold to
eat. So even if mold spores get inside the hose (they'll go right through the filter) they should not
grow into visible mold.

I'm wondering if there might be something unusual inside your hose. Can you switch to a new one?

[quietmorning]

I'm very surprised that you get mold growth inside your hose.

Mold requires both moisture and organic matter for food. While there is humidity while your machine is
running the blower dries it out after each use. And there should be nothing inside a hose for mold to
eat. So even if mold spores get inside the hose (they'll go right through the filter) they should not
grow into visible mold.

I'm wondering if there might be something unusual inside your hose. Can you switch to a new one?

We live in a two hundred and fifty year old house that has NEVER had any work done on it other than to add bathrooms when indoor plumbing became available. My house does not have modern heat and air, we live in the south - when it rains, it rains for days. If this hasn't happened before and been a problem already, I wouldn't have an issue to deal with. This isn't a fantasy. It's a very real issue. If you lived in this house, it would be an issue for you as well. NOTHING dries well here. this is why I have a dryer for my cpap gear. It can take up to a week for my hose to dry just from using my humidifier.

We are very close to getting to the point where we can start restoration - but not quite there yet. Probably another nine months or so.

[chunkyfrog]

QM: you may want to shop around for mold remediation;
because a regular contractor may open stuff up
and then refuse to continue work if there are serious mold issues.
(Unless the projest is DIY; in which case it is all up to you.)

[quietmorning]

QM: you may want to shop around for mold remediation;
because a regular contractor may open stuff up
and then refuse to continue work if there are serious mold issues.
(Unless the projest is DIY; in which case it is all up to you.)

Most of it is DYI. . .and lucky for us, the house is brick inside and out - so pulling down the plaster will be the end of it. It's been in my husband's family for 4 generations - so there's no selling it. We have a lot of friends who are contractors that have been begging my husband to let them work on it - as it's an historic house. So, we'll have the support to do it when we're ready. Just one more bill to pay off.

[quietmorning]

It looks like a plastic interpretation of a shotgun cleaning kit; minus the brushes.

You know, that's exactly what I thought, and thought about calling my dad to have him send me a couple of his shotgun rods. ..lol.

[quietmorning]

Update:

The pads that go to this wand for cleaning the tube has NO SMELL. None, zero, zilch. . .I'm so totally stoked, I can't stand it!!

[quietmorning]

I take that back. My hose was very smelly last night. It wasn't as bad as if I put a mask wipe through it, but it was close. Glad I didn't order the double pack.

Edit: The smell I smelled was actually something else. I've tried these pads (with my wooden dowel rod) for the last several nights and haven't smelled anything.)

[quietmorning]

Review on the wand -
I purchased the wand in order to try the pads - as I could use the wand, but if I had two jars of pads that didn't work, that would be a waste.

The wand is about four inches too short for the PRS1 60series heated hose. It has a round plate the pad sits on that is too wide for the wand to go through the sensor side of the hose. It will not enter into my short hose because of this plate at all. It should work well with the basic 15 or 22 non heated hose.

I'm going to take the last section off and string a neutrogena face wipe (what I usually wipe down my hoses with) through the end of the next section (more like a pistol or rifle cleaning wand) and see how that works, going through both sides as far as it will go.

[quietmorning]

I took that small plate off the wand with a pair of wire cutters. It fits through the small tube, now, but still will not make it past the sensor in the heated tube. Sooooo. Back to the wooden dowel rod.

Unfortunately, the female side of the connector is toward the handle not toward the wand, so using it like a rifle cleaning wand won't work, either.