Will this ruin my precious CPAP?

I have tried everything for nasal congestion over the last 40 years including every pill, spray, and inhaler known to CVS plus three years of fruitless allergy shots. My CPAP helps, but sometimes takes 30-40 minutes. Today I put one drop of pure eucalyptus oil on a cosmetic sponge, dropped it in my always empty water chamber. WOW. Nearly instant relief. I’d like to sleep with it there tonight. Will this harm my machine? I have heard of folks putting eucalyptus near the intake. Which is mechanically safer? TIA all, and good sleeping.

Wish I knew; I'm hoping others who are more mechanically inclined can answer. But you might want to experiment for a few nights with putting the sponge near the air intake. If you get the same good results, then you can just keep doing that.

Yes, near the intake, no to (anything ever) in the tank. Doubt if one time will hurt it.

The advantage to keeping the aroma outside the tank is if it is too strong,
it only takes a minute to move it farther away.
If you put it inside, you might be up for an hour scrubbing.
If you have already slept a night with a drop of eucalyptus in the tank,
likely no harm done.
I would not make it a habit--essential oils don't always play nice with plastics.
You indicate you don't use water--why?
Simple humidity has saved many of us from the condition you describe.

Thanks, all. I don’t seem to need the humidity. I did use it for the first couple of years. I have clear sinuses when I wake in the AM. Then it is all downhill from there.

I will put the sponge by the air filter and see if it works. I don’t want to harm My Precious.

MizLizzie wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:59 pm

Today I put one drop of pure eucalyptus oil on a cosmetic sponge, dropped it in my always empty water chamber. WOW. Nearly instant relief. I’d like to sleep with it there tonight. Will this harm my machine? I have heard of folks putting eucalyptus near the intake. Which is mechanically safer? TIA all, and good sleeping.

I can't see anything wrong with what you're doing,

It would be less 'bad' for your machine than having the fumes go through the thing itself, which is the normal advice.

Post motor would be better.

So at the humidifier is a better choice than at the filter.

At least if any damage is done it would only be from the huidifier tank downstream, and those parts are replaceable. I would be very careful to use the absolute minimum so as not to get poisoned hy the fumes.