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+--- Thread: [CPAP] Electricity related horrible CPAP smell (/Thread-CPAP-Electricity-related-horrible-CPAP-smell)
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - Walla Walla - 08-14-2018
Maybe at the Hotel it was located further away than it normally is?
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - carlrtx - 08-14-2018
Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the additional troubleshooting assistance. The brick would seem to stick out as a possibility if it weren't for the following two rebuttal experiences. When I travel, I have clean air probably 90% of the time. When I borrowed electricity from the neighbor, same brick, I had clean air for over 3 weeks. That source finally failed as well and became as unreliable as my house. Spot checking the voltage hasn't yielded anything yet. I just got back from a week's vacation at various hotels. I had clean air other than a temporary issue at one location.
I guess my main question is as follows: Is there a known issue with these machines emitting a horrid smell with either too much, too little or varying current? The brick is supposed to handle a pretty broad range and the power conditioner is supposed to help with spikes. I'm going to contact the electric company who said they would attach a voltage monitoring device for a while. Thanks again.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - Sleeprider - 08-14-2018
There is a consistent pattern of people reporting a bad electrical smell, that is almost always resolved when the AC adapter brick is isolated from the machine air intake. I think if you can make a point of placing the CPAP in a position where it cannot be affected by odors from the AC adapter, then we can rule that out.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - OpalRose - 08-14-2018
Place the power brick on the floor or as far away from the Cpap that you can. At least try to rule that out as a possible cause.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - silentsnore - 08-14-2018
I read original post one more time, and if I understand correctly, there were 5 different machines, both ResMed and Respironics, and all of them were emitting the foul odor.
So, how did we get to the power brick as a suspect?
AFAIK, Resmed and Respironics machines are using different power supplies (power bricks). All of these power units were designed to operate over the wide voltage range, something like 100-240V and 50 to 60Hz. I could understand that one of 5 bricks were bad for some reason, or didn't like the environment, but all five?
I have a feeling the source is something else in that house.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - Sleeprider - 08-14-2018
All power adapters create heat, and the ones included with your CPAPs are also potted with an epoxy substance that makes them run a bit hotter and FWIW, hard to service. These devices give off a smell that is normally not detected, but if you place your CPAP next to it, the air intake sucks that smell into the machine. The odor given off by the adapter is not considered a defect, but has been a common complaint and one with a pretty simple answer. Given the consistency of the complaint here, with different machines, it is logical to conclude the problem may be operator error, or simply placing the CPAP in the same space or close to the adapter on nights when the odor was objectionable.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - holden4th - 08-15-2018
I had similar issues a while ago and it affected both my S9 and my Aircurve. I could smell it through the mask. I then realised that I could also smell it without the mask but it was much fainter.
The culprit happened to be an air freshener that you plug into the wall. When the oil in the little bottle runs out there is still heat applied to the wick which is basically plastic. Turning this off resolved the smell.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - horsepower - 08-17-2018
What about a UPS for computer equipment? That should give you a constant 120v of clean power... I know you said you used a power conditioning device, but didn't specify what kind...
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - carlrtx - 08-17-2018
Thanks again for the additional thoughts. Couple more pieces of data. First off, my power block is on the floor and depending on the outlet I roll the dice on that night, is anywhere from 3-5 feet away from the machine. The block doesn't smell. I just returned from another trip and another night in a hotel. Again...no smell. As enforcement that it isn't the block, if the hotel has an outlet on the table next to the bed (which most do these days), the block will typically be right next to the machine as I keep the cords all wrapped up to traveling. So at least in my case, having the block close to the machine is also not the issue.
RE: Electricity related horrible CPAP smell - matthewb - 08-17-2018
I'm going to sound silly here..well sillier than normal.
I have had a similar issue off and on for a few months, strange "metallic" burnt smell, and only occasionally. Turns out its the meds I was on for my blood pressure, changed something making me "smell" things that weren't there. Doctor has changed the type of med and smells have gone.