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DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
#1
DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
I have the Philips Dreamstation APAP with the integrated humidifier.

I leave the humidifier on 'Adaptive' and 3 out of 5 setting, sometimes lower if it is hotter and humid in the bedroom (it is summer in the USA).

I thought everything was working OK, and I left the windows open and it got unexpectedly cooler in the room (61 F) as a cold front went through. Normally never gets below 70 F in summer and 65 F in winter.

I woke up this morning with what felt like ice cold air blowing through my full-face mask (no condensation in the hose). I opened the humidifier compartment and felt the water and it was very cold.

The humidifier does heat the water if I place the setting in the 'pre-heat,' setting so it is not dead.

Any idea if this is normal behavior? (The humidifier not heating at all in a cold room). Is it ever normal for the water to be cold?
Any way to test if the humidifier is working correctly in adaptive mode. Is there a minimum water temperature or something that I could measure in the morning?

I am not sure if I would notice if it was not working correctly this time of the year, as it is normally humid and warm in the bedroom.

The machine does have a manual humidifier setting (instead of adaptive) with settings 1-5, but I was advised not to use it by the medical device dealer (said it was hard to control and could cause "rain-out").

Anybody use the Dreamstation in 'manual' humidifier mode? What setting?
What does 'adaptive' adjust (water temperature? exit air humidity? exit air humidity/temperature combination?)
Thinking-about
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#2
RE: DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
I use resmed CPAP's in only manual mode, you might have to play with the temperature to prevent rainout.
I would guess that both systems work basically the same for humidity at least.
The temperature of the water will be whatever is required to get the humidity level you requested.
The temperature setting is for the heated hose and should be set warmer than the expected air temperature.
The air coming into the CPAP does not get warmed very much as it passes through quite quickly.
The water that the air flow picks up as it passes through the water tank can be quite warm

My water tank has a metal place on the bottom that sits on the heater element in the machine, I set my level at 2 and this plate gets quite warm to the touch. Other than this, you should see the water level decrease overnight.
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#3
RE: DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
(08-23-2016, 08:51 PM)NorthernGuy Wrote: Anybody use the Dreamstation in 'manual' humidifier mode? What setting?
What does 'adaptive' adjust (water temperature? exit air humidity? exit air humidity/temperature combination?)
Thinking-about
The adaptive setting tries to maintain the relative humidity. It sounds like it worked just as it should have. With the very cold air in the room if you had been on the manual setting you would have woke with a hose with a lot of water in it.
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#4
RE: DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
I don't use a heated hose on mine. It is plenty humid in the Eastern US in the summer, so it is only using about 1/4 to 1/5 of a tank of water per night. I top-up or replace the water nightly.

My concern is that when the room got cold, there appeared to be no heating in the humidifier chamber and evaporation was cooling the air further. This cold air blows through the full-face mask on the way to the vent holes. The air felt super cold and the humidifier water was also cold, ~40-45 F (estimate).

I never have checked the temperature of the humidifier tank before.

Is there a simple testing or troubleshooting procedure for the humidifier?
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#5
RE: DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
Just guessing, because I /never/ let my bedroom get that cold... Set to adaptive, I'd guess that the first priority is to prevent rainout. With cold air entering, it wouldn't take much added water to get condensation. To prevent that they let the water stay at room temperature, which normally feels cold.
Just a guess, based on physics and weather stuff.
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#6
RE: DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
(08-23-2016, 09:34 PM)Jimsp1 Wrote:
(08-23-2016, 08:51 PM)NorthernGuy Wrote: Anybody use the Dreamstation in 'manual' humidifier mode? What setting?
What does 'adaptive' adjust (water temperature? exit air humidity? exit air humidity/temperature combination?)
Thinking-about
The adaptive setting tries to maintain the relative humidity. It sounds like it worked just as it should have. With the very cold air in the room if you had been on the manual setting you would have woke with a hose with a lot of water in it.

What surprises me is that there is no minimum temperature maintained. Even maintaining 65-70 F in the humidification chamber wouldn't cause condensation. Turning off the heat completely is worse for the supplied air temperature than no humidifier at all, because it further cools the air.
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#7
RE: DreamStation Humidifier working/testing?
It's really about relative humidity, not air temperature.
Warm air can hold more moisture; ergo, with the same amount of water in 60 degree air compared to 90 degree air; the 60 degree air will have a higher relative humidity.

So, the room air got cold due to a cold front coming through that was likely laden with water vapor. With an adaptive humidifier, the heating plate may not be heated because the relative humidity is already considered high enough. So, your mask is essentially delivering air at room temp and plenty of humidity.

The humidifier was never meant to heat the air passing through it; just evaporate enough water to keep the relative humidity comfortable.
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