[CPAP] Burning Smell

[Esprit]

I know this is an older thread however I had a terrible sleep last night due to an intermittant burning smell. It was enough to wake me up. Happened about 5 times last night. I'd quickly remove the mask and sure enough the smell was coming from the mask and not the air in my room. The funny thing is the smell would only last a few seconds and then it would be fine. I'd go back to sleep and get waken up an hour later with the same thing. I'm kind of stumped by this! It'll be interesting to see if it happens again tonight.
Todd

[wobby77]

I brought a new water tank and the smell disappeared and has not returned. I think it was basically the fact that the tank I was using was supposed to only have a life of a year or so and it was in its 5th year of use (granted intermitant at first but not now).
My new tank though developed a small lump on the bottom plate inside that I could not shift, so I have dug out the fully washable inside expensive replacement I was given free when I purchased the machine. No More problems.

[cjhaile]

I know this is an older thread however I had a terrible sleep last night due to an intermittant burning smell. It was enough to wake me up. Happened about 5 times last night. I'd quickly remove the mask and sure enough the smell was coming from the mask and not the air in my room. The funny thing is the smell would only last a few seconds and then it would be fine. I'd go back to sleep and get waken up an hour later with the same thing. I'm kind of stumped by this! It'll be interesting to see if it happens again tonight.
Todd

After my last post, my machine had the smell a few more times. It finally stopped for a while and then about 1 month ago, it did it again but not since then. We still haven't figured out what the smell is but we think it has something to do with when the machine is at the highest pressure (?). Weird but glad that it is not doing it constantly.

[Esprit]

Hmmm. I think I'll call the place I bought it from tomorrow and ask them about. Sad thing is I now live 1200 miles from where I bought it! My machine is only 6 months old.

[cjhaile]

Hmmm. I think I'll call the place I bought it from tomorrow and ask them about. Sad thing is I now live 1200 miles from where I bought it! My machine is only 6 months old.

Let me tell you some things to try, you may have already tried them. Some of them won't make any sense, but worth a try.
1. Try taking the humidifier totally off (if you use one) and not use it to see if the smell remains.
2. My machine does not plug directly in the socket, it has a cord that plugs into the machine then routes thru a box and then into the wall socket, if yours is like this then try placing the box at a different level than the machine.
3. At one point, I thought maybe the smell wasn't coming from the machine, after all I couldn't imagine 3 machines having the same problem so I considered other options, I checked the wall socket, changed rooms where I slept, etc. Then I wondered if the smell was somehow emitting from me (ha). So I started gargling at nite time. (btw I still had the smell).
4. If you could find a DME closer to where you live, you could have them run a check on the machine and ask them if you could try a "loaner" and see if the "loaner" makes the smell.
5. I also wonder if new machines have to "burn off" new plastic smells etc. You said you had only had your machine a few months....I have only had mine since the 1st part of October 2013 and now I haven't had that smell recently.

Anyway, hopefully you can get to the bottom of this. Good luck!!

[me50]

If you have a cord like you describe (sounds like the one I have on my CPAP machine), it is not a good idea to place it anywhere near the machine. Recommendation from the manufacturer of my machine recommends placing it on the floor. I plug mine into a surge suppressor and the surge suppressor into the wall outlet. I learned the hard way to do this.

[jdireton]

Is your power "brick" in a well ventilated area? Any modern electronic comes to you coated in wonderfull substances like acetone and toluene that were used to clean the electronic boards during manufacture. Some are actually "potted," meaning the entire board or component is filled with a resin like substance (laquer). When you first start them up, you get a burning type smell as these chemicals are driven off. If your brick (big plastic box in the middle of the cord) is not well ventilated, not only can these fumes build up, but the unit will run hotter, creating more of them. These typcially go away over time, but if you keep getting new units you keep starting over.

Make sure your brick is away from walls, cabinet side, etc. and definitely that there are no pillows, sheets, bedding, etc. sitting on it. It needs to have good air flow to keep it working.

Just a thought.

[cr+mcc]

Hello, I have Resmed S9 with H5i humidifier that I used since June 2014. After a couple months of use the machine emitted a burst of a burning smell. The smell woke me then I stopped using the machine that night. The smell seemed to go away but for the last two nights I have been awakened again by a burning smell. The smell is strong enough that I reflexively rip the mask off my face. I am somewhat sensitive to certain odors. I work with electronics so I am very familiar with what that kind of burning smell. I have not experimented with moving the machine to another room and such but the smell seems to be coming from the unit itself. I don't replace the air-filter very often, could this be over loading the air-pump due to decreased air flow? Have other users of the Resmed S9 had this problem? Since the machine is less than two years I guess I can send it in for repair or replacement.

[archangle]

That's usually from running the water tank dry and cooking the crud in the residue from evaporating a tank full of water. Take the tank out, smell the water in it and rinse and refill with distilled water. You can remove the humidifier entirely if you want, or simply turn the heat level down to zero. Also take the water tank out and clean the chamber on the humidifier itself with a slightly damp cloth.

Change the filters if they're old, but unless they look dirty, they're probably not the problem.

CPAP seems to concentrate external smells, especially if the source is near the air inlet.

Make sure there's airflow around the power brick and give it a good sniff, along with any surge strip or other electrical wiring near the blower unit.

Of course, you might have something burning up inside the machine itself.

[cr+mcc]

That's usually from running the water tank dry and cooking the crud in the residue from evaporating a tank full of water. Take the tank out, smell the water in it and rinse and refill with distilled water. You can remove the humidifier entirely if you want, or simply turn the heat level down to zero. Also take the water tank out and clean the chamber on the humidifier itself with a slightly damp cloth.

Change the filters if they're old, but unless they look dirty, they're probably not the problem.

CPAP seems to concentrate external smells, especially if the source is near the air inlet.

Make sure there's airflow around the power brick and give it a good sniff, along with any surge strip or other electrical wiring near the blower unit.

Of course, you might have something burning up inside the machine itself.

There was water in the humidifier so that wasn't the immediate issue, although I have run out of water in the past. The plate under the humidifier reservoir gets quite hot if run without water.
I may have discovered the problem. While I was washing the heated air hose I noticed that the middle contact on the electrical connection for the hose was partially blackened. If the black indicates overheating of the pin due to oxidation then that may have caused the smell. It makes sense to bypass the humidifier and heated hose also to see if that helps. I have an new hose so I will also try that to see if the smell does not appear. I did not, upon inspection, see any black on the connector pins on the humidifier unit but if they are damaged I will have to send the unit for repair. Thanks