RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
Yet another slight variation - FWIW:
I use distilled water, top off the tank nightly, drain and wash the tank weekly. Went for almost a full year, and then found mold in the inside corners of my tank. (replaced that puppy real quick)
I have since been draining and drying it daily. But I am also wondering if perhaps the mold was because of a bad bottle of distilled water and I am seriously thinking to go back to my old routine.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
(01-22-2014, 04:30 PM)DocWils Wrote: You WILL build up bacteria over time even in distilled water if you leave it sitting for a day or more . . .
You will build up bacteria, virus, and potentially other pathogens particularly because it is distilled water.
Distilled water is chemically very pure. Shortly after its distillation, it is probably very nearly pathogen free. Thereafter, it will take on pathogens from the environment.
City water is not as chemically pure. But it arrives at your house disinfected and with a chloramine residual that remains several days to inactivate pathogens.
To be safe, I dump my tanks every day, put them in soapy water while at work, then rinse them, fill them with water having minimal mineral content, and disinfect everything with an ozonator a few hours before use.
If you have a very robust immune system, this may be overkill. If not, it may be prudent.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
No, the mould was from not drying your tank regularly - unless you distil your own water and rigorously control it, you can never trust the purity of what you get, but either way, what you did was just plain unwise. As I said, even the purest distilled water will develop into a growth medium after a few days or sooner. So leaving the water in and topping up is not the best choice to take. It may work for you, but I would bet anyone who took a swab of the water or the tank after a week would find things that would shock you.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
(01-22-2014, 06:26 PM)DocWils Wrote: No, the mould was from not drying your tank regularly - unless you distil your own water and rigorously control it, you can never trust the purity of what you get, but either way, what you did was just plain unwise. As I said, even the purest distilled water will develop into a growth medium after a few days or sooner. So leaving the water in and topping up is not the best choice to take. It may work for you, but I would bet anyone who took a swab of the water or the tank after a week would find things that would shock you.
Using distilled water is not to protect you so much as to protect the machine from minerals that build up. I would not use tap water in the machine especially if you have hard water. I would not top it off either because the bacteria will grow in unchlorinated water. Think legionnaires disease in air conditioners in hotels.
Also many people think their hose does not get bacterial or viral contamination. Our hoses are constantly exposed to bacteria and have a warm moist environment perfect for the growth of molds, bacteria and viruses.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
Just top it off. It sits in the bottle at the store longer than the time it takes to use it up.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
(01-25-2014, 05:01 PM)Bladskinner Wrote: Just top it off. It sits in the bottle at the store longer than the time it takes to use it up.
the water that sits in the bottle in the store has not been cycled through a humidifier hose and it is recommended to dump the water and let the tank dry and refill it before using the cpap machine next.
01-25-2014, 06:15 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-25-2014, 06:16 PM by Bladskinner.)
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
(01-25-2014, 05:38 PM)me50 Wrote: (01-25-2014, 05:01 PM)Bladskinner Wrote: Just top it off. It sits in the bottle at the store longer than the time it takes to use it up.
the water that sits in the bottle in the store has not been cycled through a humidifier hose and it is recommended to dump the water and let the tank dry and refill it before using the cpap machine next.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the pan heats up the water to get vapor nothing is cycled. Air blows over the top and picks up the vapor on its way to the mask. I guess I need to go read instructions again.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
(01-25-2014, 06:15 PM)Bladskinner Wrote: (01-25-2014, 05:38 PM)me50 Wrote: (01-25-2014, 05:01 PM)Bladskinner Wrote: Just top it off. It sits in the bottle at the store longer than the time it takes to use it up.
the water that sits in the bottle in the store has not been cycled through a humidifier hose and it is recommended to dump the water and let the tank dry and refill it before using the cpap machine next.
Correct me if I'm wrong but the pan heats up the water to get vapor nothing is cycled. Air blows over the top and picks up the vapor on its way to the mask. I guess I need to go read instructions again.
if there is bacteria or nasty stuff in the water, it will get carried through the hose to the person connected to the other end of the hose. whatever is in the tub goes to the person on the other end of the mask and that is why the water level decreases with use (unless there is a problem with the humidifier). I just prefer not to take the chance of getting nasty stuff traveling through the hose, mask and into me.
01-26-2014, 11:24 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-26-2014, 11:25 PM by Bladskinner.)
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
We'll it looks like I will be dumping the water from now on. And letting the tub dry out every day. Learn something new every day.
RE: Humidifier - Leave In Excess Water ?
I too top off for about 3 nights, then empty and rinse with good hot water. About once a month, I soak it in 50/50 water and white vinegar.
