How do I prevent rainout for 48 hours after washing Cpap tube

[Melman]

yup, I know it well. Organisms in water systems form a complex biofilm which can be extremely resistant to chemical treatments. In the pharmaceutical industry we use we use strong acid treatment at high temp to remove it from stainless steel piping. not recommended for home use.

I use Star-San as a rinse after cleaning CPAP equipment...how do you like my chances?

here's the MSDS:http://www.jstrack.org/brewing/msds/starsan.pdf

I assume you are careful with the concentrate which is nasty. Once diluted it's safe.
We never used phosphoric acid but I suspect it's a fairly low level sanitizer when diluted per instructions; should be adequate.  I doubt it will remove the pink slime, though. (maybe in the concentrated form if you want to risk it.)

 what do you clean with?

[Sleepster]

Anyone who wants sterile water should get USP sterile water for irrigation or injection at their pharmacy. The downside is it will cost at least $10/L rather than under $1/gal.

This may explain why we hear of so many Europeans here on this forum talking about how expensive it would be for them to use distilled water in their machines. They do buy it at the pharmacy and it does cost quite bit. They are surprised that we have the stuff on the grocery store shelves by the gallon and can buy it very cheaply.

[PaytonA]

Distilled does not mean sterile. I'm sure distilled water purchased at the supermarket is not produced in a sterile system or packaged in sterile bottles in an aseptic environment. It would be a lot more expensive if it were. Since the equipment, container, and the environment are not sterile there will be bacteria in the water. It is, therefore, colonized.

Anyone who wants sterile water should get USP sterile water for irrigation or injection at their pharmacy. The downside is it will cost at least $10/L rather than under $1/gal.

That brings up the next question. Would you expect to find more bacteria in supermarket distilled water than municipality supplied tap water? I am aware that municipality supplied tap water varies a lot and so probably does distilled water but could you give some for instances.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

[Sleepster]

Bleach is no big deal, I only use a small amount in a fairly large amount of water. Also, hot water de-activates the bleach ... I rinse the tube thoroughly - there is a bit of a residual bleach odor, but it's very mild. I have quite a bit of experience sanitizing beer bottles and cornelius kegs with bleach - lots of rinsing is the order of the day.

FWIW I only clean the tube and reservoir maybe once every 2 months. Maybe.

Like maybe 1 ounce of bleach per gallon of water? That's the concentration of the Control III in the mixture I used today. Equivalent to 1.5 tsp per quart.

Antibacterial soap is evil.

Then I'm on my last bottle.  

From now on I'll just get the cheaper store brand dish soap / hand soap with no moisturizers.

[Sleeprider]

The Star San is simply because I brew beer and it makes a great disinfectant for fermenters, kegs and yeast culture flasks. I only need 1.5 cc/quart for small batches or 1-oz/5 gallons. It just makes it so a cleaned moist surface can't be colonized, and has an odorless surfactant quality that results in a clean quick dry. Otherwise, nothing but dawn and mechanical cleaning as needed. I have used some 4% hydrogen peroxide in the humidifier chamber when I suspect an infection or slime. That has to be completely removed or it rapidly re-establishes.

[Melman]

That brings up the next question. Would you expect to find more bacteria in supermarket distilled water than municipality supplied tap water? I am aware that municipality supplied tap water varies a lot and so probably does distilled water but could you give some for instances.

Best Regards,

PaytonA

Unfortunately I've never monitored either one. My experience is with purified and sterile water systems in the pharmaceutical industry.

I suspect the bacterial counts in supermarket distilled water vary by supplier and even by packaging lots from a single supplier. I say this because the quality controls are probably not very sophisticated. They can't be given the low cost. It's not a concern to me. 

I wouldn't hesitate to use municipal water in my humidifier if it weren't for the mineral content. I'd rather not deal with the residues.

[dosco]

I wouldn't hesitate to use municipal water in my humidifier if it weren't for the mineral content. I'd rather not deal with the residues.

The dissolved minerals are the reason to use distilled. No worries about limescale or similar buildup.

-Dave