RE: Smelly mask/hose - what to do?
Hello Benzi!
>>You mean: wet a cotton wool ball with it and hold it in front of the air intake?<<
No, I meant for cleaning all of the components that you can get to usually. So remove power, pipe and any Humidification Unit, and start by spraying the outside of the whole machine and wiping down with Kitchen Roll. Then spray all of the rest, and pour some into the pipe, swish that around and then pour out and allow to drain. A hair dryer on cool can be used to vent the pipe if needed to remove any fumes.
Likewise, clean mask and Humidification unit, and use Cotton Ear Buds soaked in Isopropanol and work around any silicone air seals that go in and out of the Humidification area on the machine.
>>And necessarily Isopropanol, or will any alcohol do the job?<<
I'd use 99.9% Isopropanol as it is very pure, so it both kills bugs and also evaporates fast without leaving any residue. This can be called Rubbing Alcohol, but as that can also mean only 70%, do check and only buy the 99.9% version.
It's also worth buying an Air Duster Can, the sort people use to clean IT Equipment with, and blast every component with that to remove dust and grime.
If you still have an issue, then the next step is to take the machine itself apart, and do the same with all internal components that are part of the air delivery system.
I think you said you have a ResMed S9, which is not too hard to take apart. There should be videos on, say, YouTube to show what needs to be done, and this Forum may have some guides (I regret I do not know).
The key with taking the machine apart, is just to be organised and logical. By that I mean set up a clear table top or bench top to do this on, get your tools ready, Kitchen Rolls and some 99.9% Isopropanol, and also use a Camera or a Mobile to take images of every step you take. Then you'll have a record of what went where, and can see how to put it back together again, just by reversing the steps shown in your images.
Taking images is well worth doing, I do that with any machine I dismantle, in case one is different or there is something new or damaged, and to keep a record of the inside of each unit.
Lay all of the parts out neatly in the order in which you removed them, and make sure you have something to put screws in as they come apart. Many use old small plastic pots that takeaway restaurants provide sauces in, or use a flat dinner plate, or even make sticky tape loops and stick the screws to those, so they cannot roll away or get dropped.
Use a pad and paper too, and make notes, such as number of screws you removed for each item, or any observations as you take the machine apart.
At some stage you will get to the blower motor, and you can then see how dirty that might be, and can spray that too. I also pour Isopropanol into that unit, give it a swish and drain out fast, then leave that to dry on some Kitchen Roll.
You can also clean the motor blades with Cotton Ear Buds and Isopropanol, which is fiddly, because you only have limited access from each end of the blower, and you cannot take it apart as the case is bonded together. You can also gently use, say, some solid core copper wire, to work inside the motor and try to scratch away at any dirt and grime deposits, and blast that out with the Air Duster.
That was my earlier point about changing the Inlet Filter often, as that can eliminate internal dust and grime if changed regularly from new. My S10 is now on over 4,600 hours, and when I last looked inside, the motor was spotless.
Eventually everything will be as clean as you can get it, but use the old nose test, and see if you can sniff anything. Obviously only when the Isopropanol has dried out!
Then re-assemble, and hopefully that should have removed any smell from within the machine.
MoreBeers
