Adding a true HEPA filter to APAP for california wild fire smoke

[SarcasticDave94]

Why can't we rig up a hooka pipe type thingy?  Surely our machines can draw air through a shallow bath of water...or vodka? 

Offer to work together and build this, Called HPAP Hooka Pipe And Parts     We spike the thing with mind altering drug that makes the patient believe our HPAP is worth more than it really is. Then we call as a CS follow-up to measure compliance and of course to order the model 2 because model 1 JUST became obsolete. And they must act today or be left behind with an old outdated model 1 HPAP, oh to endure the shame that they don't care about themself and relegate their therapy to old equipment. HEY wait a minute...kinda sounds like a DME, errrrr.

   

Add in an offer to rent for 13 months as well.

[SleeplessInVirginia]

One example (link removed) in the US at Home Depot for $30.00

I don't think a UV air cleaner will work for smoke.  Those kill micro-organisms and stop odors from them, but they don't remove small particles from the air (which is what you smell from the smoke).  An electrostatic air cleaner would be an alternative to HEPA for smoke particles, but you can get tiny amounts of ozone.  Some people are sensitive to even small amounts of ozone. An ion generator will remove the smoke particles, but permanently bond them to your walls and everything close by.  There are some "ionic wind" air cleaners that don't use a fan.  They create ions and attract them to charged plates, creating a wind in the process that pulls more air through the machine.  Very little of the particles escape, so these won't blacken your walls and furniture, but they are ridiculously over-priced.

[SarcasticDave94]

You could be right on that. Sorry.

[jthompson1002]

California currently has the worst air quality in the world, so I'd love it if my APAP filter could remove the tiny and hazardous 2.5 micron particles from the air I breathe at night. I'm pretty sure the un-rated "hypo allergenic" filters in my A10 don't filter out anything that small.

Has anyone cobbled together a true HEPA filter for their PAP machine? I'm assuming that I'd need to use a large filter funneled down to the machine's intake to get sufficient surface area to keep the flow resistance down. Or, alternately, the PAP machine could be put in a sealed box with a big HEPA filter on one side a sealed holed for the hose and power cord - which I'm less inclined towards because I don't want the machine to overheat and I wouldn't be able to easily access the machine controls.

Not technically a hepa filter, but I've been using a respirator filter in my cpap machine (Resmed S7 lightweight) for more than 15 years.  My DME has tested it and said it works great. What I use is a P100 Respirator and McCordick G70 filter cartridge.

Now that I have a Resmed Airsense 10, I adapted it by welding the respirator mount to a small kitchen funnel. The end of the funnel fits perfectly into the opening behind the Resmed Airsense 10 filter door.  Based on the measurements I made using a precision micro-manometer, the respirator cartridge reduces the air flow less than the standard Resmed filter.

[ianerc]

I know I'm late to this thread, but I came up with a simple solution recently.
The main problem is that a true HEPA filter puts too much strain on the small motors. The solution to that is a greatly increased filter size.
I just took a hepaflo vacuum cleaner bag, turned it inside out and taped it sealed to the Resmed air inlet.
Not any noticeable change in strain judged by noise or pressure.
You can buy non-branded cheap from ebay.
The Numatic hepaflo is 40 x 40 x 0.2 cm (around 15" square on each side). That's a lot of surface.
If you have it on cabinet on the right hand side of you bed then it just dangles happily over the side.

[JLRINCT]

As noted above, cutting a piece of material from an N95 or KN95 mask is the easiest.  However, you have to make sure the little fibers don't hang around to get blown into your lungs.  
I solved the problem by trimming a larger section of mask, taping all around the edges, and then taping that construct to the ....outside.... of the machine.  I also left the original filter in place.  

Results: I don't seem to have any increase in my apneas.  I'm theorizing that because it's a CPAP which adjusts the pressure automatically the output results are the same as without.    Whether it puts a strain on the machine, decreasing its life, I don't know.  
I will be checking with my sleep Doc and with the CPAP manufacturer tech support.  I will report back.

[mlgyellow]

I have two high quality free-standing air filters in my home.  Both manufacturers are clear to warn that if you also run a room humidifier with the air filter, keep the two units as far away from each other as possible.

I can imagine the impossibility of a filter along with the climate line hose with humidifier

[G. Szabo]

I can imagine the impossibility of a filter along with the climate line hose with humidifier

It depends on the arrangement according to the flow direction. 
You can use an air (HEPA) filter upstream and a humidifier downstream without any problem. In this case, the humidifier is closer to the mask. 

However, when you use a Humidifier upstream and a filter downstream (like when you use an antibacterial filter before your mask), the moisture can condense on the filter and block the airflow. Hence, this latter configuration can only be used when the evaporator delivers very low-humidity air.

[Sleeprider]

We had a member post a configuration with HEPA filters ahead of the intake. I have to search for that one, but it resolves all the problems. there is plenty of air available to the device, and no extra resistance between the flow sensor and patient circuit.

[Zombie on my Lawn]

Another case of jerry-rigging: I have cut a little rectangle of 3M air conditioner filter paper (which claims to filter out 97% of PM2.5 particles, but doesn't have a HEPA rating) and put it in the filter area instead of buying a special "hypoallergenic" or "pollen" filter from the manufacturer, since the 3M material at least is making some claims about such things.
There doesn't seem to be an option in my machine to tell it whether I am using the basic or special ("pollen" as the company calls them) filters, as some machines do.