Slime in humidifier chamber

Hello all,

I clean my humidifier tank every single day as soon as I wake up. I clean it in Palmolive dish soap and I rinse well and let it air dry. I also use distiller water in my tank but I do clean it in tap water. Well, yesterday I noticed a grey like slime on the bottom and on the sides of the inside of the chamber.

I about freaked out because I have a bad respitory issue going on right now and am wondering if this has anything to do with it.

I can't figure out how if I'm cleaning it everyday how this slime has accumulated. I'm afraid to use the humidifier now. I tried putting it in the dishwasher and also let it soak in vinegar which got most of it off but there is still some there in the tight corners that won't come out.

Could this be mold? Anyone know what this could be or how this happens?

My first thought is that it's from the Palmolive. Palmolive dish soap has lotions in it and it leaves a residue. I was told NOT to use it on my masks because of that, so I'm guessing the humidifier tank would be the same thing.

I've used Palmolive for some years on my brother's equipment without a problem, but given your issue, try using Dawn Dishwashing soap. The only problem with Dawn is that it reacts with some masks, but I've seen that many people have used it on both Resmed and Respironics equipment without problem. Water quality can change sometimes. Even air quality can cause problems.

Try a little Dawn soap and rinse with white vinegar. I just use straight vinegar to clean mine, I let it sit for couple hours and rinse good with tap water and let dry...gets the job done.

Chelle, I have no idea what's causing your problem, but I can tell you that I rarely clean my humidifier water tub (maybe once every 6 months) and I never get any build up. I use a very low or no humidity setting and just add distilled water as required, maybe once a week.
I don't think you have to worry about breathing something from the water in the humidifier, there are numerous threads here that discuss that and it seems to be the consensus that it is very unlikely, although I don't know than an actual "proof" has been put forward.
I suspect, as others, your cleaning regimen is the likely culprit.

Jay Aitchsee wrote:Chelle, I have no idea what's causing your problem, but I can tell you that I rarely clean my humidifier water tub (maybe once every 6 months) and I never get any build up. I use a very low or no humidity setting and just add distilled water as required, maybe once a week.
I don't think you have to worry about breathing something from the water in the humidifier, there are numerous threads here that discuss that and it seems to be the consensus that it is very unlikely, although I don't know than an actual "proof" has been put forward.
I suspect, as others, your cleaning regimen is the likely culprit.

+1....I agree...I rarely "rinse" my humidifier and use only distilled water. My tub is crystal clear.

I use Polident denture tablets every couple of months.
I use hot water w/2 tablets and let it sit for a couple of hours.

My husband has a PRS1 and we have 2 humidifier chambers. Once a month, everything, including his chamber, gets a bath in hot water and baby shampoo (I found a lavender scented baby shampoo that I really like). We rotate the chambers every month.

My humidifier has DISPOSABLE chambers, but since I lost my RT and my supplies may not be coming as normal, we are TRYING to wash my disposable chambers to get more time out of them.

Any time my tank looks, feels, or smells funny, it gets washed with hot water and a couple drops of Dawn.
Then I rinse it fully with hot water. I only use water distilled at home,
so the weird stuff they can sell at "some" stores never touches it.
Change sources for your distilled water. It might be OK for your iron, but not for your HH.

Chelle25 wrote:Hello all,

I clean my humidifier tank every single day as soon as I wake up. I clean it in Palmolive dish soap and I rinse well and let it air dry. I also use distiller water in my tank but I do clean it in tap water. Well, yesterday I noticed a grey like slime on the bottom and on the sides of the inside of the chamber.

I about freaked out because I have a bad respitory issue going on right now and am wondering if this has anything to do with it.

I can't figure out how if I'm cleaning it everyday how this slime has accumulated. I'm afraid to use the humidifier now. I tried putting it in the dishwasher and also let it soak in vinegar which got most of it off but there is still some there in the tight corners that won't come out.

Could this be mold? Anyone know what this could be or how this happens?

Unlikely that it's "mold". And, virtually impossible for any pathogens (viruses or bacteria) to get out of the humidifier tank to you because the water vapor molecules are too small to carry them.

To me, the frequency of your cleaning is suspect as it can allow more "stuff" to get in there during the cleaning (and possibly the) drying process. The more you disconnect that equipment, the more opportunity it has to get "stuff" inside it.
You didn't say where you were hanging the equipment after you had cleaned it. If it's in a bathroom.......bad idea!

I'm another vote for "Dawn" (blue) dishwashing liquid to clean it.

I'd also suggest less cleaning and disconnecting the equipment. Distilled water (the real stuff) won't have anything in it to grow anything bad. If you feel it's absolutely necessary to clean your equipment, do it in the evening before bedtime so any residual moisture in the hose will be mixed with your humid air coming from the HH tank. "Drying" the equipment after washing it is counter-intuitive.

Make sure your filters are clean and changed on a regular basis.


Den

.

When I used a PR System One with Humidifier, I sometimes noticed what appeared to be loose metallic gray stuff on the bottom of the water tub. I don't know that I would call it "slime" and I have no idea how to get rid of it, except possibly to soak the water tub in water with vinegar in it. I thought it was metallic stuff coming from the bottom of the humidifier and didn't think it was good for me. It was winter, I was having problems getting out and carrying bottled water, so I had stopped using distilled water around that time and was just using tap water.

I rinsed the tub and put in new tap water every night. Now that I have gotten a new APAP machine, I am back to using distilled water.

Thanks for all the great replies. As to how I clean things. I do the mask cushion and humidifier tank daily. Air dry on a clean towel in my bedroom.

Once a week I clean everything. The hose, the mask and take that apart. To dry the hose I just hook it up to the machine for 15 mins and the air dries it.

Nothing done in the bathroom. Distilled water only.


The filters I wash the grey ones every week and the white one replaced every two weeks. Basically I'm following what the dme told me to do.

I found an extra tank in my stuff that was still good so now com trying to dry it out with a clean towel after washing it. Will soak it in vinegar one a week too from now on.

Still can't figure out where that slime came from when I'm so diligent.

Slime, Slime, everywhere some slime
lives in my machinery,
messing with my mind.

Clean this,
don't clean that
Cant you see the slime?
The Slime..

Sorry, I couldn't resist.. Hope the song doesn't get stuck in your head..

AlabamaAl wrote:Slime, Slime, everywhere some slime
lives in my machinery,
messing with my mind.

Clean this,
don't clean that
Cant you see the slime?
The Slime..

Sorry, I couldn't resist.. Hope the song doesn't get stuck in your head..

Thanks alot!!!

How about..........

"From the land of slimy waaters........."

(if you're not old enough, that's a paraphrasing of the old Hamm's Beer commercial song)

Or.........

From Olympia Beer's ad.

"It's the water"


Den

.

Chelle25 wrote:Hello all,

I clean my humidifier tank every single day as soon as I wake up. I clean it in Palmolive dish soap and I rinse well and let it air dry. I also use distiller water in my tank but I do clean it in tap water. Well, yesterday I noticed a grey like slime on the bottom and on the sides of the inside of the chamber.

I about freaked out because I have a bad respitory issue going on right now and am wondering if this has anything to do with it.

I can't figure out how if I'm cleaning it everyday how this slime has accumulated. I'm afraid to use the humidifier now. I tried putting it in the dishwasher and also let it soak in vinegar which got most of it off but there is still some there in the tight corners that won't come out.

Could this be mold? Anyone know what this could be or how this happens?

Sorry for the late reply to this thread. I don't check in with the forum on a daily basis.

I've had the same problem as you. What's causing it is a slime developing on the inside of the tank. No amount of hand cleaning or use of chemicals is likely to get rid of it. There's just too many nooks and crannies on the inside of the tank for effective cleaning. With hand cleaning, the best you can hope to achieve is limited control over it.

I use reverse osmosis water in my respironics system one xpap. Every morning, I dump the residual water and rinse the tank in tap water, then let it dry through the day. Fresh RO water every night.

In the past, I found that a slime mould would develop in the tank after about 2 or 3 months. When I found this, I would give it thorough soap and water cleaning and a 1:3 vinegar and water soak. Sometimes I also would use a 1:10 hydrogen peroxide solution. This would help, but it was not a not permanent solution. The slime would always return after a couple of months.

Best solution I've found to the problem is to put your humidifier tank in the dishwasher (a solution given to me by someone on this forum!) and clean it that way. Don't use a sanitize or power dry cycle on the dishwasher because the excess heat could damage your tank. I've found that a dishwasher cleaning every four to six months, combined with my usual daily rinse-out of the tank, will control the slime for a period of 4 to 6 months. Slime growth will then recur. But it's a simple way to clean and control so it could be a long term solution.

Alternately, you could just replace the tank. Tanks are fairly inexpensive and your insurance might pay for it! But note that tank replacement also is unlikely to be a permanent solution because you've not made whatever other changes are needed to prevent slime growth in a new tank. There are many possible sources of this contamination and you might never find the source or a viable method of control.

Best of luck.