how to clean water chamber

Catnapper wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:54 am

Thanks for all the help.

please come back and tell us what DID work?

thanks.

Catnapper wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:54 am

Thanks for all the help. The distilled water does not have added minerals, so that didn't cause the problem. I have soaked the chamber in vinegar all day without much luck. I will try the other suggestions. I had not thought of salt or alcohol but I will try it. I never buy expensive vodka anyway, just the cheap stuff.

I don't remember who it was that suggested the salt and alcohol trick, I read it here, and saw some other people say "yeah, that worked!"

We have a winner! Using a soft, flat 1/4 inch artist's brush and a mixture of salt and alcohol, I lightly brushed the inside of the water chamber's nooks and corners several times. I could reach almost every area, much better than I could with a toothbrush or Q-tip. I did not let it soak more than a few minutes. After rinsing it thoroughly I let it dry. You could easily see any areas I had missed because they remained filmy. I didn't miss much! I used about a tablespoon each of salt and alcohol. The salt did not dissolve.

My husband tried another method for the water chamber for his cpap machine using a disinfectant cleaner which did not work well at all.

Thanks again. It works, and really was not difficult at all.

Catnapper - Joanie

Catnapper wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:40 pm

We have a winner! Using a soft, flat 1/4 inch artist's brush and a mixture of salt and alcohol, I lightly brushed the inside of the water chamber's nooks and corners several times.

thanks for letting us know!

and btw, this flies in the face of sleepgeek, who wants us to believe that palerider never helps anyone.

Vodka for cleaning my tank.
I use it to clean the O-rings in my water bottles, too,
after I use a dental pic to extract them from their tight crannies.
It brings budding ecosystems to a screeching halt--wherever it is used.
Nice, fresh water in my lungs and in my mouth.
With just a hint of the old country.

Catnapper wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 10:54 am

Thanks for all the help. The distilled water does not have added minerals, so that didn't cause the problem. I have soaked the chamber in vinegar all day without much luck. I will try the other suggestions. I had not thought of salt or alcohol but I will try it. I never buy expensive vodka anyway, just the cheap stuff. I have used a nice clean toothbrush and the round one from the Oral B brush,and even some Q-tips to clean the corners. It would help if the top part could be removed or if it didn't have such a complicated design.

Thanks again for responding and offers of help.

Catnapper - Joanie

I haven't seen anyone else mention this because it does kind of waste water but it also works. Start with a new tank that doesn't have the film on it. Dump the water in the morning let your container dry all day then fill it with new water each night. If you don't fill your tank real full your not dumping a bunch of water.

Catnapper wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 7:40 pm

We have a winner! Using a soft, flat 1/4 inch artist's brush and a mixture of salt and alcohol, I lightly brushed the inside of the water chamber's nooks and corners several times. I could reach almost every area, much better than I could with a toothbrush or Q-tip. I did not let it soak more than a few minutes. After rinsing it thoroughly I let it dry. You could easily see any areas I had missed because they remained filmy. I didn't miss much! I used about a tablespoon each of salt and alcohol. The salt did not dissolve.

My husband tried another method for the water chamber for his cpap machine using a disinfectant cleaner which did not work well at all.

Thanks again. It works, and really was not difficult at all.

Catnapper - Joanie

I think I forgot to mention that you can swish the alcohol/salt mixture around and let the salt do the 'getting in the corners', so it can do a lot of the work, for that container, perhaps put the mix in, and cover the top with the palm of your hand, and swirl around? (I'm just guessing about using your hand like that, I've only seen pics of those humidifier chambers, but haven't had one in my hand, the opening might be too big.)

I'm glad i remembered that idea.

OK, I will try that too. The opening at the top may be too big, and there is also another opening on the side. As time goes by I will try to find better solutions. The salt-alcohol mixture appears to be the main feature for clearing the biofilm. It might just be one or the other of them, but this time I used them together. I have to wait for the water chamber to get dirty again. You cannot really see the film unless it has gotten dry so that adds to the difficulty. I wonder if adding food color to the chamber would make it easier to see. I would not let that remain in there while using it of course.

Do any of you remember restedgal who used to give lab rat awards? She loved it when people experimented on cpap stuff. I once won one of her very coveted awards, I feel proud to say! She moved on several years ago, but long-time members will know her.

Catnapper - Joanie

From what I understand, it's a combination, the alcohol will kill the bacteria, and the abrasive salt will break up the biofilm so the alcohol can get to the bacteria.

I've seen rested gals posts, but she passed the torch to pugsy before I started being very active here.

babydinosnoreless wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:20 pm

I haven't seen anyone else mention this because it does kind of waste water but it also works. Start with a new tank that doesn't have the film on it. Dump the water in the morning let your container dry all day then fill it with new water each night. If you don't fill your tank real full your not dumping a bunch of water.

huh. that does sound like a good plan. i'm a creature of habit, so it would take time for me to inculcate a new habit. but maybe i'll give that a go!

Hi Joanie,

Good to see your posts.
Here's a link to many other links collected by "rested gal". Lots of good information in there (assuming the links still work) and categorized.

viewtopic.php?t=17435

I was wondering about another cleaning "trick", so I did a search on it.

search.php?keywords=%22denture+cleaner%22

Seems that a number of people have tried it and had good luck with it.


Den

.

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:23 am

babydinosnoreless wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:20 pm

I haven't seen anyone else mention this because it does kind of waste water but it also works. Start with a new tank that doesn't have the film on it. Dump the water in the morning let your container dry all day then fill it with new water each night. If you don't fill your tank real full your not dumping a bunch of water.

huh. that does sound like a good plan. i'm a creature of habit, so it would take time for me to inculcate a new habit. but maybe i'll give that a go!

This is my approach -- and it works very well for me.

TropicalDiver wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:02 pm

zonker wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:23 am

babydinosnoreless wrote: ↑

Fri Sep 18, 2020 11:20 pm

I haven't seen anyone else mention this because it does kind of waste water but it also works. Start with a new tank that doesn't have the film on it. Dump the water in the morning let your container dry all day then fill it with new water each night. If you don't fill your tank real full your not dumping a bunch of water.

huh. that does sound like a good plan. i'm a creature of habit, so it would take time for me to inculcate a new habit. but maybe i'll give that a go!

This is my approach -- and it works very well for me.

Remember the red tablets pediatric dentists use to disclose plaque? (Biofilm)
Whatever that is, it would be useful to reveal the crud not yet cut.
Then we just scrub until the red goes away.
Or put a denture tablet in a load of tap water and let it do its thing.
Then we can simply rinse well and refill.
Maybe I can point the water pic in there.

chunkyfrog wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 20, 2020 3:34 pm

Maybe I can point the water pic in there.

OH! that's a good idea, too. i know that your tip about using the water pic on the p10 vent worked very well indeed.