Ants! and now a leak...

So I was ~happy~ to see that others had a problem with ants in their humidifier...perhaps this could be a common problem?

My CPAP machine (PR Sytem One) got knocked askew from some kid shenanigans, so before bed I set it back in place. Lifted it up to set it right and there were about 50 little ants, sugar ants. AAAAAAhhhhhhhh, and yuk, yuk, yuk. That started the ant war. I got out the vacuum and as soon as I would suck up a group of ants, more would come pouring out from the sides of the humidifier, carrying their eggs and looking perturbed that I had disturbed their comfy home. Not to mention it is near my bed so some of the craftier scramblers were trying to run away on my pillow and bed sheets.

So I got out the boric acid, and before I thought it through I squirted a bit around the humidifier and the outside of the CPAP machine and set it in my tub.

Was complaining about this the next day to my brother and cousin and they suggested I put the machine in a plastic bag and put the whole works in the freezer, freeze the little buggers. I did for the weekend, and it seems to work, no more crawleys coming out. I wiped out the boric acid (what was I thinking?) and set it up to go. What I learned from this experience is I don't like to go a few days without therapy, you should have seen the circles under my eyes.

NOW, the humidifier doesn't seem to seal right and I have a leak between the CPAP machine and the humidifier. Did something happen to the seal? Did I suck up something in the vacuum I wasn't supposed to?

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Ewwwwwwww! I can't even imagine how that might have happened. Very sorry you had to experience that, but my next question is: why would you try to re-use that humidifier? I think I'd probably be talking to my DME for a new one ASAP! Oh and I'd be setting a few ant traps around as well.

Regarding the leaks. Wonder if the freezing damaged a seal or the fitting?? At the very least I would get a new tank and see if that resolves the leak.

The humidifier to blower seal on the legacy REMstars has always been problematic. Usually some tinkering with removing and reinstalling will fix it for me.

A spare humidifier chamber is not that expensive anyway.

archangle wrote:The humidifier to blower seal on the legacy REMstars has always been problematic.

I used several "legacy" (before the "M" series) Respironics REMstar machines with their integrated humidifiers and never had a problem with the humidifier to machine port seal. As long as the silicone coupling is there and is inserted in the right direction, the humidifier chamber is easy to connect to the machine. Or always was for me.

indianaterri, do you still see a coupling that looks like this
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... lings.html
stuck in the place on the machine where the humidifier chamber's air port pushes against the machine? If that thick coupling thingy is gone, the chamber is not going to connect properly.

The M series humidifier chambers were a different ball of wax...many of the M series humidifiers were very leaky.

Well...I think I see the gizmo, there is a silicon seal still there, but it is seated within the humidifier "hole". Was there one that sat outside? Or was placed around the "hose" connector to the humidifier?

I know, I should call my DME and just get a new one. I switched insurance this year to a high deductible...I know, why did I do this now. And I'm afraid they'll tell me insurance will cover it, BUT it will come out of my deductible...so I will have to pay for it anyway. No ants in the water chamber or even where the heat plate is...they seemed to be living underneath the heat plate.

So I'm not using my humidifier now, which is working out pretty well right now, we live in a pretty humid part of the world in the Ohio Valley. But later this summer may get a bit dry.

....

Terri, I was looking at your equipment listing at the bottom of each of your posts and thought you were using an old (pre-M) Respironics REMstar Pro 2 CPAP machine. That's what your equipment list has as your machine. The old Pro 2 CPAP is the one that has the silicone coupling I linked to at cpap.com.

Upon re-reading your post, I see that you say you're using a Philips Respironics System One REMstar CPAP (presumably the "Pro" model.)

indianaterri wrote:My CPAP machine (PR Sytem One) got knocked askew from some kid shenanigans, so before bed I set it back in place.

So, disregard what I said about the silicone coupling for the old REMstar Pro 2 machine/humidifier. Sorry about my mistake. I was going by the equipment listed rather than what you wrote in your post.

Hope you get the problem figured out and fixed soon.

I am so sorry, I had the wrong equipment down. I am using the PR System One and humidifier (hope I didn't alarm any Remstar folks about a possible ant problem). So if you know anything about the System One possible leaks?

I wonder, is my humidifier producing some sort of happy tourism tune to the effect of "Come on in, the water's fine..."?

indianaterri wrote: I wonder, is my humidifier producing some sort of happy tourism tune to the effect of "Come on in, the water's fine..."?

Some ants seem to like electricity. Fire ants in particular like to get into air conditioners, electrical boxes, etc. and screw things up. I suppose you could try to make something to put the unit on to make it harder for the ants to get to it. Lots of folks have made various "ant proof" gadgets involving water barriers or sticky materials.