Cleaning F20/F30 QuietAir Elbow

[kevOzilla]

have you ever soaked the elbow in vinegar water before? its crazy resmed says just use soap and water but suppliers are telling people its ok to use vinegar and water i did it once i soaked all supplies in vinegar and water but im scared the vinegar deteriated that fiber material and i inhaled toxic chemicals or vinegar fumes my throat has been giving me issues

[yankees123]

I use the f20 on occasion and just use wipes to clean it.  Maybe that will avoid the black spots?

[yankees123]

Anyone do what I do as far as the elbow is concerned?

[Magoo905]

I recently noticed the "fluff" inside the elbow and was curious.  Today I bought a new one.  Still curious, I took apart the old one.  I had to break it since it was not meant to be disassembled.  I got out the white fluff.  It reminded me of the air filter material.  (While I suspect it is not vital to the operation of the system, I suspect that maybe it has something to do with quietly diffusing the exhaust air.)  I was disturbed by a small amount of black debris.  However, I'd been using the same elbow virtually every night for almost 4 years.  I had been washing in with dish detergent and hot water approximately weekly.  I suspect that the black dust is microscopic dust which cannot be filtered out by the modest air filter included in the machine.  It might also be produced by the machine itself (wear of fan motor bearings?)  When I first got the device, I was confused by different replacement frequencies from three different sources, but all originating from the manufacturer.  Some of the replacement frequencies seemed very short and I did not follow them.  I have now set a reminder for myself to change the elbow after one year.