Cleaning the Humidifier Vessel for Resmed S8 Elite CPAP

vpascal · Post by **vpascal** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 4:46 pm

Does anyone have any idea how to get the Humidifier Vessel for Resmed S8 Elite clean? I have been using it for almost 5 months now and only use Distilled Water and it is clouding up. I think it may be because I can't get all the water out of it (bad design) and it doesn't dry each night. I've tried the vinegar thing and that hasn't worked.

Can you open this thing up somehow?

I'm worried I'm going to get a mold or bacteria build up.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:03 pm

That is SURPRISING with distilled water!! I've only thoroughly cleaned mine twice in 9 months and it was clear before I cleaned it.

I did read somewhere the Polident Denture Cleanser in very warm water works very good for that cloudiness, etc. And then one of those paper dishclothes stuffed into it and swished around after its soaked for 15 minutes or so followed by the vinegar rinse and then a clear water rinse.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:14 pm

Thanks for the idea. I think I'll give it a shot

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:29 pm

Vinegar would dissolve any calcium build up if you let it set for an hour or so,

Don't mix it, but if you put a few teaspoons of clorox bleach and water in it and slosh it around filling it pretty full and letting it sit for a few hours before rinsing it will be about as disinfected as you can get.

beach kills about everything.

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:34 pm

Well, it is hard to get the water out of a Humidaire 3i. I am assuming that this is the humidifier you are using. It would be useful to have you fill out your information about which machine, mask, pressure, and other information in the Profile section. (Please click on the "Profile" button above."

I am puzzled that you have a clouding problem...are you sure that it isn't water vapor condensing on the sides of the chamber due to the heated water evaporating? Or, are you buying drinking water or spring water instead of distilled? Maybe you are using a home distiller which isn't doing a proper job of distilling.

I don't think that one would need to thoroughly dry the humidifier chamber each day. The chamber should be clean enough if rinsed out...but then, I don't dry my hose, either, just put it right back into use, as I do the final rinsing at night.

If that is not it, then perhaps try some straight vinegar in the chamber. I occasionally do this and have made a teeny, tiny 1" by 3" "washcloth" to insert through the hole in the top. I then use a butter knife or a long manicure stick (I bought a lifetime supply at Sally's) to move the "washcloth" around the inside of the chamber.

It is important to allow the vinegar to touch each side/part of the interior for a few minutes before rubbing the same area. A thorough rinsing afterward with hot water should do the trick.

I do this because occasionally I do run out of distilled water and use tap water. Generally, a tank that has only held distilled water would not need this extreme full-strength vinegar treatment.

I do clean everything possible of my CPAP equipment once a week or so by washing it with dish detergent, rinsing by soaking in hot water for a minute or so after rinsing with running water, soaking it all in a solution of 1:10 vinegar to water for 30 minutes, doing another running water rinse and a further soak of all in hot water for a few minutes. That is my method, using a Lock and Lock container which holds all of the equipment to contain the solutions and hot water. I shake the Lock and Lock container to be sure air bubbles are removed before soaking.

If you would like to see more on cleaning, a search of the forum would include an overwhelming number of posts. I am probably not the only one who sees a cleaning post and mentally groans, because there are so many methods and we all seem to like our own the best. I use the one my RT recommended at my training and it has worked well for me.

The only thing that I do differently is to follow the advice of a tech who is very seasoned in the field. She recommended that when ill, a daily cleaning and soak of the equipment as above be done WITH a 1:3 proportion of vinegar to water.

So, that is my take on cleaning my Humidaire 3i chamber. It does seem to me that it could have been made to pop apart and be cleaned in a dishwasher, but hey! Who am I to be designing equipment for a CPAP? Oh, right..."just" someone who has to live with the stuff and use it daily. LOL!

Karen

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deglorious · Post by **deglorious** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:39 pm

vpascal, I'd like to know if the method works because I purchased a used s8 as a backup/travel unit and the humidifier vessel is cloudy. The unit only had 260 hours on it so I don't know why it became cloudy, unless they used tap water in it.??? I've got over 2,000 hours on my primary cpap and its crystal clear.

I did a vinegar and water soak when I got it and it came out the same but if it works for you, I'll try it on mine.

Keep us posted because I'm probably not the only one with this problem...

Deglorious

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:44 pm

Deglorious, I do not think that the humidifier would have been "de-clouded" by a simple soak had it been used with tap water. See my procedure above...it requires the agitation of the "washcloth" to fully loosen the residue.

Karen

vpascal · Post by **vpascal** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:03 pm

I have tried the vinegar and it seemed to fix it slightly (maybe my solution was too weak). I am only using DISTILLED water. I may try buying something that I can rub around the sides and I may try bleach too.

I still think they need to design one that opens.

RichCMH · Post by **RichCMH** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:16 pm

I have the same humidifier and use only distilled water. My tank does get cloudy and I clean it about the same way with a butter knife and small piece of cloth.

Cheers

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:29 pm

Bleach should not remove the residue, if that is from tap water. Vinegar will remove it.

Why "buy something" that will work? I used an old towel and a butter knife. It is certainly effective, although I have also used a cotton swab that was on a longer wooden dowel than the typical swab.

Karen

filbert · Post by **filbert** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:55 pm

I'm one of those heretics that uses tap water. I don't drain the vessel daily; I just rinse, drain and refill every night. I clean only occasionally

One time I was too impatient to use vinegar and wait so I tried putting some rock salt and water inside, putting on the cap, and shaking vigorously. In a few minutes the vessel was as clear as new.

YMMV.

Arizona-Willie · Post by **Arizona-Willie** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 12:27 pm

I only get a film if I use either tap water or even water from our reverse osmosis unit.

I solved the cleaning problem by cutting a wire coat hanger and bending it into a twisty shape that enables me to push a paper towel around inside the humidifier and it reaches every little nook and cranny.

You will have to experiment to get the twisty part just right so that it will reach everywhere.

With the coathanger i push the paper towel around inside a wet humidifier and it gets a pinkish color on the paper towel.

Most of the time now I use distilled water and have no film problem at all.

But if you don't have it available the coat hanger will work.

bigk · Post by **bigk** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:50 am

I've had mine for 6 months now - alwqays used reverse osmosis water - no clouding at all.

OldLincoln · Post by **OldLincoln** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:05 pm

The funny thing is it can look crystal clear but when your white paper towel get pink on it the tank wasn't clean. I wonder if those Starbucks wooden stir sticks would work for swishing around the paper towels?

dhinz · Post by **dhinz** » Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:51 pm

I just ordered a new vessel for my 3i because it was feeling slimy inside, and I clean it out daily and only use distilled water in it. It is very hard to clean these and I am going to try the vinegar solution. The instructions I received initially said to use glycerin soap, and the directions on the replacement said to not use glycerin soap. I am not sure what to even use now for soap as it can't have moisturizer, be antibacterial or have any scent. Every soap in the store has one of these in it.

Cleaning the Humidifier Vessel for Resmed S8 Elite CPAP

Cleaning the Humidifier Vessel for Resmed S8 Elite CPAP

Thanks--I'm Willing to Try anything

I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE DENTURE CLEANER & BLEAC

Cleaning the S8 humidifier

Re: Cleaning the Humidifier Vessel for Resmed S8 Elite CPAP

Re: Cleaning the Humidifier Vessel for Resmed S8 Elite CPAP

Mask	Humidifier

Additional Comments: S9 Autoset, H5i, Resmed Swift FX, Resscan 3.10