Should I buy a new H5i humidifier or?

After having made boil the whole gallon of water; washed on vinegar mix the tank, hose and mask I can say all has been good for now.

I recall having a smell coming from the machine, when I washed the tank the smell disappeared for a couple of weeks then it returned on 3 different occasions.

Weird as it could sound I think this contamination came from my cheap gallons of water. I have been on the hose since 2009 and I need to tell I washed the tank each week only the 6 first months and that because I had a borrowed machine from the hospital I slowly became slack with that and I didn't wash the tank more than once a months or two The mask I washed the cushions more often, the hose same as the tank and I never had any problem of contamination at all until I changed water brand.

Yehp, I think it is the water the source of the problem. I'm still testing because there are allergens in the air right now and I don't want the allergies to interfere on the results of my test.

Thanks very much for your ideas and suggestions they were very appreciated

Is it possible that once the humidifier water chamber (the one which comes with the unit) get contaminated it is impossible to clean it?

I forced the sides of the chamber and open it (as I have done several times). I let it on a mix of vinegar and water for a couple of hours, I did the same with the hose and mask as I states above. But, the smell of stagnant water comes back after one week or so.

I know, some will tell me we are supposed to wash the chamber once a week but I had to tell I haven't been doing that for years, I haven't had any problem at all until let's say 6 months ago. The only thing I did different is I changed the brand of deminerlized water I use and I wonder if I get a bad batch.

Now I'm wondering if I need to put the chamber in a mix of some clorox+water or to simply put the chamber in the trash and start using a new one. This chamber has around 3 years, it came with the machine. I made boil the water on the stove for at least 5 minutes and I even rinsed the gallon with vinegar before putting the water in again.

Comments and ideas are welcome

rosacer wrote:Is it possible that once the humidifier water chamber (the one which comes with the unit) get contaminated it is impossible to clean it?

I can't see that happening.

rosacer wrote:Now I'm wondering if I need to put the chamber in a mix of some clorox+water

that should kill anything lingering in there.

make sure there's no water anywhere else... pop the humidifier off the cpap and have a good sniff on the output pipe, just in case moisture got in there.