Are the filters necessary?

[CB91710]

I've had my machine since last Sept. 10th. I've cleaned the filter in it maybe a handful of times. It's never been anywhere near being discolored when I do. 

My machine rests on a 4-drawer file cabinet, that is about the same height of our bed. The file cabinet sits in a corner of our bedroom, literally. 

I don't know for sure if that has a bearing on just how dirty the filter may or may not get. We have wood floors and my machine is far away from any foot traffic.

Same here, in two years I've rinsed out the filter three times. It doesn't seem to change. I didn't realize that the it was to protect the machine mechanism. It all makes more sense now.

Yes, when someone says their filter was really dirty or badly discolored, I have to wonder what is going on?

Construction activity near their home and they normally leave the windows open for ventilation, general dry, dusty climate, multiple pets shedding not only hair, but dander....
The presence of dust in the air is not a poor reflection on one's housekeeping.
You need to dust your furniture regularly, but leave a ceiling fan alone for 6 months and see how it looks:

That's not such an extreme example either... The fan in a CPAP will get pretty heavily caked over a year or so without filtration.

[Stemwinder]

Same here, in two years I've rinsed out the filter three times. It doesn't seem to change. I didn't realize that the it was to protect the machine mechanism. It all makes more sense now.

Yes, when someone says their filter was really dirty or badly discolored, I have to wonder what is going on?

Construction activity near their home and they normally leave the windows open for ventilation, general dry, dusty climate, multiple pets shedding not only hair, but dander....
The presence of dust in the air is not a poor reflection on one's housekeeping.
You need to dust your furniture regularly, but leave a ceiling fan alone for 6 months and see how it looks:

That's not such an extreme example either... The fan in a CPAP will get pretty heavily caked over a year or so without filtration.

It is the act of cleaning you house that causes the dirtiest air filters. People with the cleanest houses often have the dirtiest filters in their heating/cooling systems. I suppose the same is true for a CPAP filter. 

I do wonder is a manufacturer could make an issue of this by refusing to honor a warranty if they felt that a CPAP had been used without a protective filter.

[mesenteria]

If you want to gag, and are at least two hours from your next meal, remove the cover from your overhead bathroom ventilator fan.  Mmmmmmm….!!!

The idea of 'wetting' the particulate filter is not a bad one from a physics standpoint because many high performance IC engines have oil-bath filters for their air.  My experience in a Centurion battle tank, many moons ago, I know, gave proof to that concept.  What fun cleaning them, too!!!   Mmmmmm…!!

However, there is such a thing as volatiles.  They have a way of migrating to surfaces not meant to accommodate them.  Think impeller blades.  Think hose interiors.  Think LUNG interiors!!!  Think alveoli.  Mmmmmmmm…!!

[Hydrangea]

Yes, when someone says their filter was really dirty or badly discolored, I have to wonder what is going on?

I have used my CPAP in many places: a humid home, a hot basement, a beach cottage without well-sealing windows & doors, hotel rooms, mountain homes, desert homes, etc.  My filter looks different everywhere I go.  

Hotels are the worst. I change my filter before I go to a hotel, and change it right after. Even after one night, the micro filter is gray (and stinks).

The beach place makes the micro filter turn gray very quickly, too.  After one week, the micro filter was closer to black than it was to white.

So it really depends where you're sleeping.

[DanGagner]

If you want to gag, and are at least two hours from your next meal, remove the cover from your overhead bathroom ventilator fan.  Mmmmmmm….!!!

The idea of 'wetting' the particulate filter is not a bad one from a physics standpoint because many high performance IC engines have oil-bath filters for their air.  My experience in a Centurion battle tank, many moons ago, I know, gave proof to that concept.  What fun cleaning them, too!!!   Mmmmmm…!!

However, there is such a thing as volatiles.  They have a way of migrating to surfaces not meant to accommodate them.  Think impeller blades.  Think hose interiors.  Think LUNG interiors!!!  Think alveoli.  Mmmmmmmm…!!

I understand it's more to keep the mechanism clean. But, looking at this logic, what about my wife who has to breath regular unfiltered air. Should she start sleeping with a surgical mask?

[DanGagner]

If you want to gag, and are at least two hours from your next meal, remove the cover from your overhead bathroom ventilator fan.  Mmmmmmm….!!!

The idea of 'wetting' the particulate filter is not a bad one from a physics standpoint because many high performance IC engines have oil-bath filters for their air.  My experience in a Centurion battle tank, many moons ago, I know, gave proof to that concept.  What fun cleaning them, too!!!   Mmmmmm…!!

However, there is such a thing as volatiles.  They have a way of migrating to surfaces not meant to accommodate them.  Think impeller blades.  Think hose interiors.  Think LUNG interiors!!!  Think alveoli.  Mmmmmmmm…!!

Long ago we went from a carpeted, curtained house to a hard floor and blinds house after a major renovation. Most of the furniture is leather or polyester. The blankets are cloth but not the type to produce much dust. We also have this fantastic electrostatic air purifier that I had purchased for my daughter years ago when we though she might have asthma. Huge difference without carpets and cloth in the house. Dust buildup takes a long time compared to what it used to.

[mesenteria]

If you want to gag, and are at least two hours from your next meal, remove the cover from your overhead bathroom ventilator fan.  Mmmmmmm….!!!

The idea of 'wetting' the particulate filter is not a bad one from a physics standpoint because many high performance IC engines have oil-bath filters for their air.  My experience in a Centurion battle tank, many moons ago, I know, gave proof to that concept.  What fun cleaning them, too!!!   Mmmmmm…!!

However, there is such a thing as volatiles.  They have a way of migrating to surfaces not meant to accommodate them.  Think impeller blades.  Think hose interiors.  Think LUNG interiors!!!  Think alveoli.  Mmmmmmmm…!!

I understand it's more to keep the mechanism clean. But, looking at this logic, what about my wife who has to breath regular unfiltered air. Should she start sleeping with a surgical mask?

I would say not...unless...the air in your household has a lot of airborne particulate matter, and you know this because of allergies, sneezing, heavy deposits of dust on level and near-level surfaces, etc.  

The filter that most of us use help to keep the impeller and airway of the device, right up to our faces, clear of the most egregious amounts of airborne particles.  We still get lots of stuff into our lungs, but less than we would breathing room air unassisted.  Even so, most of us live in relatively clean environments in our homes.  My quoted comment was meant to warn people about using solvents, oils, or other organo-liquids to impregnate the fiber mass of filters that don't come with instructions to 'wet' them that way to improve their efficacy.  Such liquids give off volatiles that are best not inhaled in the concentrations likely to be released by an impregnated filter.

I'm not convinced of the added cost of electrostatic filters vs. the benefit.  I have lived in two homes that had them, the last being my own and where I did annual filter maintenance (into the dishwasher, rinsed with garden hose, and left outdoors to dry thoroughly before restoring them to their trays).  We still had plenty of house dust.

[Fats Drywaller]

I've found that nose hair filters out most insects and arachnids.

[SleeplessinPgh]

I've found that nose hair filters out most insects and arachnids.

Most?

[DanGagner]

I'm not convinced of the added cost of electrostatic filters vs. the benefit.  I have lived in two homes that had them, the last being my own and where I did annual filter maintenance (into the dishwasher, rinsed with garden hose, and left outdoors to dry thoroughly before restoring them to their trays).  We still had plenty of house dust.

I wondered about electrostatic's too. This unit cost me an arm and a leg, but it does a good job. It or a similar model is used by a lot of the hospitals in the area in respiratory units. It's fairly big. Interestingly, to clean it you pull out this large metal unit and use the rinse cycle in the dishwasher.