Humidifier Chamber cleaning

[Melman]

One more thought on cleaning CPAP stuff in general. Sometimes CPAP cleanliness is compared to breathing the air in a room. But, I think it is different with CPAP because what is blowing into your lungs is coming at you in a concentrated way and this cannot be comparable to normal breathing. That is why I think it is very important to keep this equipment clean.

The concentration at a pressure of 20cm of water is only about 2% above room air. The concentration of airborne particulates in room air probably varies by more that that over the course of a day. So the comparison of room air to CPAP air is reasonable.

[mfac11]

The heated humidifier is only designed to raise the temps a couple of degrees, not make the water HOT.  I would be interested in history of scorching the tank.  I kind of doubt it would ever get that warm.

Hasn't happened to me, have seen it mentioned in other threads here on AB, but "a couple of degrees" is somewhat of an understatement.  Resmed's A10 manual says:

Maximum heater plate: 154°F (68°C)
Cut-out: 165°F (74°C)
Maximum gas temperature: ≤ 106°F (≤ 41°C)

So the heater plate without water will in fact cook itself and its immediate surroundings.  Enough to start a fire?  I doubt it.  Enough so you can smell it?  Sure.

I take my humidifier out as soon as I wake up every morning and dump any leftover water, wipe out any leftovers, and put it back in the machine so the "cool down" air that blows for 30 minutes after I get up can circulate through the machine without adding extra water to the air.  The plate on the bottom of the water tub is warm to the touch, but I have no idea how warm.  Definitely no where near warm enough to burn me.

I will admit there have been a couple mornings where I found no leftover water in the tub and I realized I forgot to fill it the night before.  Didn't notice any odd smells.  (On the rare occasion I purposefully left the water tank empty, I went into the settings on my machine and turned the humidifier off.  I don't have the special side plate to put in place of the water tank.)

[OMyMyOHellYes]

Hmmmm....

The thought occurs.

Dentures. Efferdent. Humidifer tub.

Dentures should be out of mouth when using machine anyway....

Two birds with one stone .....

[Nightynite]

I’m with the dawn crowd, for the tank I put a couple drops in with hot water. Close and shake for 30 seconds and rinse, air dry while open. For the hose, I mix dawn and hot water in a glass, pour into hose and let sit for 30 sec and rinse, hang to air dry. Nose piece gets massaged with dawn and my fingers and rinsed daily to get oils off.

[lynneat]

My husband uses a toothbrush to clean where it's hard to reach.  Any tiny brush would work he said.  We haven't gotten that far yet (daughter) but I bought my toothbrush!

[sovkiller]

HI guys, I know this is a very old topic, and very common, and there are tons of info outside, but none have been effective so far for me. I recently got a new ResVent machine, same with my previous one, and have used like 5 or 6, and all same issue, this was the last due to the recall, and the water chamber (even while I always use distilled water, different brands, etc) keep on creating some kind of deposit on the metal plate, it is easily removable, even while there is still water in, if it gets completely dry, you see on the metal plate some kind of white deposit. The recipient is very complex in shape, and has certain places that are not easy to reach, even using brushes, foam brushes, etc...they are very hard to reach areas...Is there anything that you can add the water than will avoid this from forming, or making it easy to remove without using any instrument to buff it? Vinegar, does not work, and it seems not to be a mineral deposit, or sometimes takes forever to clean, even pure, mild soaps clean momentarily, but the residue is still getting back no matter what.
Any suggestions will be really appreciated, have heard of polydent tablets, and similar solutions but I'm afraid of using them and ending ruining the chamber or so...

[sauerkraut]

Resmed suggests washing with hot to the touch water mild 
dish soap/baby shampoo ..Rinse with vinegar .. 
Rinse with water .. Hand dry ..  My provider 
suggests once a week .. I do it every 2 weeks ..
Maybe try some Lime-a-way for the white deposits ??
Good Luck Steve ..

[sovkiller]

Resmed suggests washing with hot to the touch water mild 
dish soap/baby shampoo ..Rinse with vinegar .. 
Rinse with water .. Hand dry ..  My provider 
suggests once a week .. I do it every 2 weeks ..
Maybe try some Lime-a-way for the white deposits ??
Good Luck Steve ..

I have tried all these, and unless you actually rub it with your fingers or sponge or brush or something, that doesn't go away just rinsing or using any kind of cleaners, solvents, and not sure why, they have to create these reservoirs with so many intricate corners out of reach, I have been using CPAP for long time, and it has always been the case so far...

[garyhibb]

Can someone recommend a type of cloth to use when drying the humidifier chamber (we have a Resmed 11)  We've tried various cloths, paper towels etc and seem to always end up with lint in the chamber.

[JCinPA]

Microfiber. No lint.