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Humidifier Water Chamber Question
#11
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-19-2014, 04:30 PM)Fat Rat Wrote: The technican of my provider (DME?) told me I should use drinking water. If I want to use destilled water I would have to buy it in a pharmacy. Destilled water for technical use could be dangerous. Maybe I should rinse the reservoir with vingar-water to wash out lime after some months.

Greetings
Fat Rat
The technician does not have a clue whats he/she talking about, manufacturers recommend to use distilled water
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#12
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-19-2014, 05:33 PM)zonk Wrote: ...
The technician does not have a clue whats he/she talking about, manufacturers recommend to use distilled water

I am shure he has.

Perhaps the manufacturer has bad water in his factory. Perhaps he thinks about areas without good tap water ...

Greetings

Fat Rat

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#13
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
My S9 AutoSet uses much less water than the AirSense 10 AutoSet
I use the heated tube on both machines with climate control set on auto mode but the temp on the AirSense 10 is set on 27C/80F and not adjustable as on the S9

Manual mode allows more flexibility with different temp and humidity level settings but without the rainout protection of the auto mode
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#14
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-19-2014, 04:30 PM)Fat Rat Wrote: The technican of my provider (DME?) told me I should use drinking water. If I want to use destilled water I would have to buy it in a pharmacy. Destilled water for technical use could be dangerous. Maybe I should rinse the reservoir with vingar-water to wash out lime after some months.

Distilled water is not dangerous. It's just much more expensive in places like Germany. I would use bottled drinking water, too, if I had to go to the pharmacy and pay premium prices for distilled water. In the US we can buy distilled water for about $1 per gallon in any grocery store.

I have been using filtered tap water for almost three years with no problems because I have a water softener.
Sleepster

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#15
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
Here in the US, "grocery store" distilled water is OK to drink. There are some overblown concerns about things like etching the minerals out of your teeth. There might be some mild dietary concerns if you drank nothing but distilled water.

In an industrial setting, they may produce distilled water or "deionized" water that's not intended for human consumption. Just because it's "distilled" doesn't mean it's pure. For instance, if there is alcohol, gasoline or many other solvents in the "source" water, there may be some of it in the distilled water. The industrial process used for producing "industrial" distilled water may not be clean or may have various contaminants that are safe for the industrial processes it's used for, but not for human consumption.

Industrial "deionized" or "purified" water may be chemically treated in various ways to remove ions. The industrial water that is ideal to use for use in some chemical process may not be safe for humans. For instance, deionizing wouldn't necessarily remove gasoline contamination from the water.

Don't put any water in your machine that isn't known to be safe for drinking.
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#16
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-19-2014, 07:58 AM)PrincessZZZ Wrote: Hello,

This is my first post, and am thankful for this forum. I feel much better having new Cpap "friends".

I too have experienced this. I used a Phillips Respironics on a trial basis for 4 months, then purchased the Resmed S9 Autopap, and have been using it for about 5 weeks. I thought there was something wrong with the machine as the water level did not go down for several days, whereas I was refilling the Phillips every 2 days or so. I have not felt any dryness however, and am comfortable so concluded that it must use less because of the heated hose.

Thank you Paula, for the explanation.
Hi PrincessZZZ,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
Best of luck to you with your CPAP therapy.
trish6hundred
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#17
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-19-2014, 08:20 PM)Sleepster Wrote: In the US we can buy distilled water for about $1 per gallon in any grocery store.
1 gallon = 3.75 liters (approx)
Even the water is cheaper, here local CPAP store sell 4 liters of distilled water at 9.30 AUD and IGA supermarket own brand of distilled water 2 liter bottle at 1.50 AUD



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#18
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
Since there isn't a definitive response to this, I think I'm going to use distilled water in the winter when the humidifier is consuming a lot of water. That's when I'm most likely to have mineral buildup. I empty the tap water out of the humidifier every day and let it dry.
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#19
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-19-2014, 03:55 PM)GeoffD Wrote: To hijack this thread which has an appropriate title for a follow-on question:

What is the long-term impact of using tap water instead of distilled water? I'm 10 days into this on an S9 Auto and it's not using a heck of lot of water each night in the humidifier. I dump it every day and let it dry out. I guess I'll get mineral deposits in the heated hose eventually.


Smile You will end up like me which might scare the snot out of you Smile

It is clear that I am in the minority but NO ONE has come up with actual evidence of that being bad for us.

I have been using NOTHING but tap water and practically never dumping or cleaning the little tank for this entire year.

Ill effects: Practically none.

As said above, the water from the tank onward is pretty much distilled by the evaporation process (there might be a small amount of direct water vapor which COULD transport something but that is a very small effect.)

My machine has NO sign of build up -- and the little tank EVENTUALLY gets a bit of coating on the bottom metal heating plate.

Every month or so -- whether it needs it or not -- I dump the tank fully and clean the bottom of the tank.

That residue on the tank is pretty much the ONLY ill effect of this LACK OF PROCESS so even if I ignore it, a new tank every year would probably cost less than the VERY SMALL cost of distilled water. (Seriously).

It's not the cost of distilled water that is objectionable however, it is rather the nuisance of something else (heavy) to drag home from the store, a place to keep the jug in the already crowded bathroom and the extra time and nuisance of using the jug to fill the machine. Even 2 extra minutes per day amounts to 720 minutes of my life by the end of the year, or 12 hours.

Who wants to spend 12 hours (even once per year) messing with the stupid water for NO USEFUL PURPOSE?

You could probably add another 1 to 5 minutes if you insist on cleaning the tank every night. which means 18 to 30 hours of your life.

Not doing that. Not until there is at least SOME HINT of a good reason.



BTW: When I was 12 years old, my father used to call me an "efficiency expert", and make it sound like an insult. Smile

Sweet Dreams,

HerbM
Sleep study AHI: 49 RDI: 60 -- APAP 10-11 w/AHI: 1.5 avg for 7-days (up due likely to hip replacement recovery)

"We can all breathe together or we will all suffocate alone."
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#20
RE: Humidifier Water Chamber Question
(09-20-2014, 04:11 PM)herbm Wrote:
(09-19-2014, 03:55 PM)GeoffD Wrote: To hijack this thread which has an appropriate title for a follow-on question:

What is the long-term impact of using tap water instead of distilled water? I'm 10 days into this on an S9 Auto and it's not using a heck of lot of water each night in the humidifier. I dump it every day and let it dry out. I guess I'll get mineral deposits in the heated hose eventually.


:) You will end up like me which might scare the snot out of you :)

It is clear that I am in the minority but NO ONE has come up with actual evidence of that being bad for us.

I have been using NOTHING but tap water and practically never dumping or cleaning the little tank for this entire year.

Ill effects: Practically none.

As said above, the water from the tank onward is pretty much distilled by the evaporation process (there might be a small amount of direct water vapor which COULD transport something but that is a very small effect.)

My machine has NO sign of build up -- and the little tank EVENTUALLY gets a bit of coating on the bottom metal heating plate.

Every month or so -- whether it needs it or not -- I dump the tank fully and clean the bottom of the tank.

That residue on the tank is pretty much the ONLY ill effect of this LACK OF PROCESS so even if I ignore it, a new tank every year would probably cost less than the VERY SMALL cost of distilled water. (Seriously).

It's not the cost of distilled water that is objectionable however, it is rather the nuisance of something else (heavy) to drag home from the store, a place to keep the jug in the already crowded bathroom and the extra time and nuisance of using the jug to fill the machine. Even 2 extra minutes per day amounts to 720 minutes of my life by the end of the year, or 12 hours.

Who wants to spend 12 hours (even once per year) messing with the stupid water for NO USEFUL PURPOSE?

You could probably add another 1 to 5 minutes if you insist on cleaning the tank every night. which means 18 to 30 hours of your life.

Not doing that. Not until there is at least SOME HINT of a good reason.



BTW: When I was 12 years old, my father used to call me an "efficiency expert", and make it sound like an insult. :)


I must admit I am in full agreement with these excellent points! I gave my "new in Oct 2014" Air Sense 10 its first water container bath today. It has used Louisville Tap water since new and usually gets water added every other night. This morning I noticed it had run dry and noticed a minor mineral layer on the bottom so decided it might be time for a rinse. I added a splash of apple vinegar and some water and let it sit. After a while, gave the solution a brushing with a vegetable brush and a tap water rinse. It looks squeaky clean; Good for another 6 months I would guess. My past 10 years appliance was an older ResMed brick with a separate Paykel humidifier. It's vessel is much larger and only needed Tap water filling once a week but it really needed vinegar treatment about each 6 months. the bottom would get crusty and not transmit heat. I still miss its capacity but like the new all contained model, especially for travel. So, like GeoffD, I'll find it hard to not use Tap water for reasons he provided and my experience. Also, I see that i can purchase a replacement vessel for $22 when this one fails or the bottom is no longer able to heat water due to mineral buildup. Its possible our Louisville Tap water has less mineral content than other areas but cost and hassle of special water vs vinegar is an easy choice for me.
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