Poll: How Often Do You Clean Your Tank?

Ramma2 wrote:Every 2-3 weeks for me, or if I notice any floaties or film when I'm adding water. I use distilled water, the one time I used even fitered tap water I had a buildup in the tank after only 2 days.

Sounds like you need to do a Vinegar treatment!
Wash your HH first with Ivory or whatever you use, rinse it well then use 1 part Vinegar to 2 parts of Hot Water & let it soak for a few hours rinse it and let it air dry, see if that helps!
BTW, what Brand of distilled water do you use???
I use Walmart brand and I have never had a problem with slime or floaties... That flips me out, I wonder what causes that???
Goodluck

Clean the tank? I NEVER clean the tank.

I use distilled water exclusively. I will occasionally completely dump the residual water in the tank a refill but that only happens when I am taking the machine with me on a trip.

I've operated this humidifier tank that way since obtaining the unit in September 2008. It looks as pristine now as the day I first fired it up.

I use distilled water.

There's so much mold in the air around here that anything left to air dry (ESPECIALLY if left to dry in the bathroom) develops mold if there's any moisture on it. (I growl at my husband for not spreading the dish towel out to dry.)

As a consequence, my tank gets washed the day we are are traveling. I get up that morning, disassemble and pack my Bipap, carefully rinsing and drying mask and hose, and then washing out, and carefully drying the humidifier tank.

It gets washed and dried each day we are changing location. If we don't travel, I clean it if I think about it. The rest of the time, I just top things off.

No mold, slimies, or floaters.

In contrast, the dachshunds' water bowl DOES develop the slimes because a little of their saliva gets into it when they lap the water. That DOES get washed frequently.

The only respiratory infection I've had in 19 months (which includes pre-Bipap time) was one last spring, which my husband brought home from the office and gifted me with.

I dump any left over water every morning (into my plants) and leave the tank to dry during the day. Every two weeks or so I wash the tank and hose in a solution of vinegar and water. I never take the tank apart because I don't want it to leak. I used to clean it every day at first but figured that putting NJ tap water into the tank might not be the best.

I used to clean my tank once a week as instructed by my DME rep, since I only use distilled water, but once when doing the weekly tank cleaning, I found pinkish-orangy mold growing in 2 places on it. I was never able to get it off totally and was given a new tank.

I clean the new one every morning with vinegar water, rinse, and let it dry in the dish rack all day. It only takes a minute. I wash it in cold water and Dawn dishwashing liquid once a week when I clean the rest of the gear, except for my nasal pillows, which also get cleaned every morning. When I mentioned my daily cleaning routine on the forum once before, someone accused me of being OCD, lol.

My "OCD" paid off recently when my machine, which had been fully paid for over a year ago and belonged to me, not the DME, started making occassional grinding noises. My DME rep., who knows how carefully I take care of things, cleaning and ordering new white filters all the time, etc., said it couldn't possibly be my fault since I am so diligent, and gave me an upgrade to a brand new machine for free.

A friend recently diagnosed with CSA told me she had not gotten any instructions about cleaning her tank, but it seemed obvious to her that warmed water left in a dark place was an invitation to disaster and should be dumped and cleaned daily. I felt like a dolt for ever doing it only once a week and not expecting pink mold to show up sooner or later, esp. here in Florida.

Pulmonary fungual infections are no laughing matter, and since I have a serious disease that has altered my immunity (Lyme Diseae), I can't afford to take chances. I have also noticed that the CPAP will drive a cold virus right into my lungs in less than 24 hours.

klutzo

This continuing debate about cleaning humidifiers, and the use of distilled use, has got me intrigued. I have estimated that, conservatively, there have been 17,268,147 posts about this subject, and still the debate rages.

My views about distilled water usage have been made many times, so I’m not going to enter into further debate, however I thought I’d tell you a little about my recent experiment.

Melbourne tapwater is almost as good as Johnny Walker Black label. It has low turbidity, relatively low dissolved solids and most people in Melbourne drink it straight from the tap. I’ve been using tap water in the humidifier for a year now. Each morning I tip the remaining water on the tomato plants, give the tank a quick rinse and leave it to air dry. Weekly I flush it with a 10% vinegar solution.

After the year of this regime, the tank is as clear, bright and shiny as the day it was born.

Two weeks ago I changed the regime. Each morning, rather than flushing and rinsing, I just topped it up. Generally, I use about 60% of the water in the tank, so after the first week the concentration of the solids and scum etc would have increased by a factor of about 4.6. At the end of the week, I tipped out the residue water and let the tank air dry. There was on the tank walls a slight brown scum. I’m not sure about other machines, but the Resmed H4i humidifier affords very easy access for cleaning, so I was able to get in there with a tissue and clean it off very successfully. The tissue was stained, but not badly.

Now, for all of last week I went back to my normal regime (drain and flush each morning). And this weekend I let it air dry and used the tissue to attempt to clean off any residue. The tissue was clean, no evidence of any staining.

So, what’s my conclusion? I’m not prepared to give one, except that it reinforces my opinion that there is nothing wrong with using reasonably good quality tapwater as long as it is replaced (not topped up) each day. And it proves my point that even if there is ‘stuff’ in tapwater, the distillation process removes it from the airstream going up the hose.

Cheers

K

kopoloff wrote: Two weeks ago I changed the regime. Each morning, rather than flushing and rinsing, I just topped it up. Generally, I use about 60% of the water in the tank, so after the first week the concentration of the solids and scum etc would have increased by a factor of about 4.6. At the end of the week, I tipped out the residue water and let the tank air dry. There was on the tank walls a slight brown scum.

Wouldn't that be about when you had those Red Dust storms?

With dust storms, all bets are off.


O.

Wouldn't that be about when you had those Red Dust storms?

With dust storms, all bets are off.

Nah - the dust storms were in the parts of Australia where the sun don't shine. Sydney is about 1000km's away. We don't do dust here in Melbourne anymore.

K

I used to subscribe to the "no need to be OCD" approach: I'd top off the tank with more distilled water as needed -- usually every other day.

Then that fateful morning: I saw that the tank was filled with really disgusting pink scum. Bummer!

So now, I only fill the tank partially each night. And in the morning, I give the excess water to the plants, give the tank a rinse, and let it dry out.

My conclusion: I think it just depends on the climate where you live, and the nature of your house.

I clean the tank daily. I take it out, open it up and rinse it out. Then I set it upside down on a towel to air dry. I know if I left it in the machine it would get bumped and end up damaging the machine. So it's just easier for me and safer to remove it, rinse it and let it dry.

Gerry

I use distilled water and empty the humidifier container every day and wash it and dry in the morning. I fill about half way to the line, depending on the humidifier setting. I can imagine all the amoebae and mold and slime that is attracted to sitting water here in Florida so I keep it clean and fresh. I wash my hose and nasal pillows once a week otherwise they will start to go sour.

To me leaving water in and just topping it off is the same as leaving water in tires outside so mosquitoes can breed.

JPO wrote:To me leaving water in and just topping it off is the same as leaving water in tires outside so mosquitoes can breed.

Ugh.

Maybe the reason topping it off has worked so well for me for so long, is because I don't leave an open port. I keep the main air hose attached to it all day.

My edit: Forgot to add that my routine is like Wulfman's on page 1 of this thread --
viewtopic.php?p=405516#p405516
Except that I do turn the heat on (low) on my humidifier every night.
I use distilled water only, and chose "Never" in the poll, since I dump it out to start over so seldom -- perhaps twice a year.

I do try to clean my tank at least once a week. I let it soak for 30 minutes in vinegar and water. I also just use distilled water.

Every other week or so on average. The tank is clear; you can see anything in the water. Anything in it, it gets cleaned. About every other week or so, I take it to the sink, take it apart and scrub it with a toothbrush and dish soap. This cleans it and reduces any scale or hard water build up. Once in a blue moon it gets a soaking in vinegar along with the mask. I've been doing it this way since '06.

The toothbrush is my unique idea for the hard plastic parts on the mask and tank. Better than trying to use a cloth it seems to quickly clean all the contact surfaces. All the soft rubber parts fit squeekly after a quick scrubbing. Just a couple drops on the toothbrush and a quick scrub.