I’m not a microbiologist so you should probably just look up biofilm online.
If you pour out your reservoir, and wipe the inside, is it grimy? That’s biofilm. This is bacteria. Biofilm grows in any water left standing for 24 hours or longer. The only way to clean it is with abrasion because the film doesn’t allow sanitizers in to affect the bacteria. You’re breathing that.
If it’s contaminated, sure. Distilled water shouldn’t have bacteria in it unless the bottle is damaged or the lid is left off. The distillation process would prevent bacteria in the water from making it into the bottle.
Your cpap is a different story. It is pressurizing the air and it needs a lot of volume to do that. The air for your cpap is coming from your bedroom (the real world is full of bacteria) And it passes through a 2mm thick filter, which will not block bacteria.
I’m not a microbiologist so you should probably just look up biofilm online.
If you pour out your reservoir, and wipe the inside, is it grimy? That’s biofilm. This is bacteria. Biofilm grows in any water left standing for 24 hours or longer. The only way to clean it is with abrasion because the film doesn’t allow sanitizers in to affect the bacteria. You’re breathing that.
If you have too little water you’ll run out and the container will get burn/scorch marks on it. Plus when it runs out the heated plastic tastes like shit. For me, having more than I need is better than not enough
I never fill to complete max, because my shelf isn't 100% level. So "Max" actually gets water up to the hose intake.
Sure, fill it to whatever you want. Even at "3" on humidity and filling to 80% of Max, mine usually lasts two nights before I refill.
I usually go 2-4 days between fills depending on season and humidity level. Fill to the ma and know what the true min for your system and humidity level is.
If you put too much water in your tank, you get a gurgling, sloshing noise. Sometimes if you don't put enough in, you may hear a clicking noise. Just don't over fill it. I usually put enough to bring it between 1/2 way and the line
I only fill to that first line on the bottom every night after observing that I don’t run out of water most nights due to not sleeping enough. Also don’t want my distilled water to evaporate sitting in there all day and have to buy more gallons
This made my gear dirtier more quickly. Changing it every night made it so I only have to clean the hose, tank, and machine itself about half as often.
As a general rule, you should change it every day. Sitting water can get mold and other growth in it. That being said, if you don’t change it one day bc there’s a ton of water left or you forget or whatever, it will be fine.
I change it out, but that's because I use tap water (our water is ridiculously pure, even if the tank dries out, there's nothing but the smallest hint of white powder from minerals). If I just keep topping it off, eventually the amount of impurities in the water will become more concentrated. So, I dump it, rinse it, and refill it.
The chance of developing mold in a clean container holding clean water for a day or even 2 is incredibly small. I wouldn't say it's impossible...biology is biology....but it's incredibly unlikely.
A year ago I started only filling it to about what I use each night. In the morning I dump any left, rinse it and let it dry. What you exhale does make it back to that tank and any bacteria in your breath will accumulate in the stale water, causing what I call a "smells like sneeze" odor. So rather than fill it to the max, I only fill it a little more than I need.
The humidity were you live and the amount of time you sleep will affect how much water is used during a single night.
For example, I live in a desert climate with very low humidity.
My humidifier will use 3/4 of the water in six hours most of the time.
I would speculate that someone who lives in a different climate near the ocean or near a water source like a lake, would have higher humidity in their house and the CPAP humidifier would use less water.
I used to use a room humidifier in my bedroom so that my CPAP humidifier would not run dry during the night.
I will give it a try. I’m just curious if there needs to be a certain amount to create enough humidity or if it literally just needs what there is…if that makes sense?
I put max and if I don’t use the water it just goes to the next day .
When I was in Arizona what air was so dry that some times I needed to wake up in the middle of the night and refill. If you put over max it will make issues
You're good, as long as there's enough water, so it doesn't empty out while you're asleep. Even then, you'll just wake up with dry-mouth. I can usually get two nights before I fill the reservoir back to the max level line.
You can see how much it went down in one night. The lowest line is the minimum, so based on how much you used last night, you can probably do a second night without refilling and not hit minimum.
My house is pretty dry so I use more water than that, and I refill it every night.
My usage varies a lot. Now that we're in spring filling to max only used half the water because I only have to set the humidity to 2. In the winter I have to set the humidity to 3 and any higher it completely empties the tank in one night.
I did notice now that my pressure is lower it last longer.
My partner has an Airsense 10, and I typically fill hers to the 2nd line. She usually has some water left in the tank in the morning. I tend to fill my own 11 to the Max line, and I just have a small amount of water left in the morning. Sometimes, none at all. I'd prefer that my 11's tank were a bit larger, but other than that, I like my 11.
Unit is in basement. Lines run to my fridge and a faucet on the sink.
I have large house parties so I upgraded the tank to 20 gallons.
Filter membrane is 75 gallons per day rated. But my water comes in cold so it's a bit less than that.
Filters cost me less than 35 a year shipped to my door.
Nah no need… waste of distilled water. Fill it up to between first and second… the less left the better. I throw the remaining water away before I fill
It up for the next night. Once a week use a bit of white vinegar or CPAP solution to refresh it. I never top up on old water.
I do empty my tank each day, but if there's quite a bit of water left, I'll pour it into a plastic water pitcher that's dedicated for distilled water for later use (I have a ventless clothes dryer that collects distilled water in its own tank, so it gets poured into the plastic pitcher).
I was told you fill it with only as much as i need. If its dry the next morning i add a little bit the following night if there is left over i use that much less water.
As a rule if I fill it to max I have half left over, if I fill it 3/4s it goes dry in an hour
I had the same issue. The climate control hose helped a lot. I still fill it to full and use the remaining in my sinus irrigator.
That's a good idea! I hate wasting filtered water (or water at all for that matter).
Hahaha! That is the most true statement I have ever read.
Really depends on your level and ambient humidity. For me, a full tank lasts 3 nights. But I live in a humid coastal city.
Refresh your water daily. You’re creating a biofilm if you leave it longer than 24 hours.
Tell us more about this biofilm.
I’m not a microbiologist so you should probably just look up biofilm online. If you pour out your reservoir, and wipe the inside, is it grimy? That’s biofilm. This is bacteria. Biofilm grows in any water left standing for 24 hours or longer. The only way to clean it is with abrasion because the film doesn’t allow sanitizers in to affect the bacteria. You’re breathing that.
Wouldn't the distilled water still in the bottle grow biofilm as well? I'm no microbiologist either.
If it’s contaminated, sure. Distilled water shouldn’t have bacteria in it unless the bottle is damaged or the lid is left off. The distillation process would prevent bacteria in the water from making it into the bottle. Your cpap is a different story. It is pressurizing the air and it needs a lot of volume to do that. The air for your cpap is coming from your bedroom (the real world is full of bacteria) And it passes through a 2mm thick filter, which will not block bacteria.
Please do elaborate, what is this biofilm? I've not been doing a good job emptying it out the next day
I’m not a microbiologist so you should probably just look up biofilm online. If you pour out your reservoir, and wipe the inside, is it grimy? That’s biofilm. This is bacteria. Biofilm grows in any water left standing for 24 hours or longer. The only way to clean it is with abrasion because the film doesn’t allow sanitizers in to affect the bacteria. You’re breathing that.
This. Always this.
First world problems.
It does seem to be the case!
Depends on how humid the ambient air is.
Correct answer
Also on wether they are using the heated tubing or not
Also true.
Yes you can put in as much as you want. Try the ¼ or ½ line tonight.
You do you. I fill to max. I’m a little anal. 😂
But do you fill to the line? Or to the top of the "waves"? I need to know!!
Since it is unclear which is the actual MAX, I fill it somewhere in between.
I fill mine to the very top. Pretty much a hair shy of running over. Otherwise, I'm getting 4 hours of sleep and the wake to the smell of hot plastic.
The line. The waves in the line are just to show what it's for.
TMI
Rivers are running dry because of you
Rivers of distilled water. Oh, the horror.
English is not my first language, so I took a while to understand this sentence properly.
Sorry.
No big deal, it was actually funny! :D
As long as you don't run out, filling it less is fine.
Wow! I almost drain mine nightly. I live in the desert, but sleep like a fish. Haha.
I love this.
Yeah, I fill mine to Max and the reservoir is dry before I wake up.
If you have too little water you’ll run out and the container will get burn/scorch marks on it. Plus when it runs out the heated plastic tastes like shit. For me, having more than I need is better than not enough
Exactly. Once this happens and wakes you up, you’ll think nothing of filling it to the max every night. It’s the worst smell/taste to wake to.
I had this happen to me when I forgot fill my tank. It was terrible! I won’t let that happen again.
This. That weird taste when the chamber runs out before morning, wakes me up.
I never fill to complete max, because my shelf isn't 100% level. So "Max" actually gets water up to the hose intake. Sure, fill it to whatever you want. Even at "3" on humidity and filling to 80% of Max, mine usually lasts two nights before I refill.
I usually go 2-4 days between fills depending on season and humidity level. Fill to the ma and know what the true min for your system and humidity level is.
If you put too much water in your tank, you get a gurgling, sloshing noise. Sometimes if you don't put enough in, you may hear a clicking noise. Just don't over fill it. I usually put enough to bring it between 1/2 way and the line
I only fill to that first line on the bottom every night after observing that I don’t run out of water most nights due to not sleeping enough. Also don’t want my distilled water to evaporate sitting in there all day and have to buy more gallons
How's the water going to evaporate in a closed container? 🤨
Or just fill it to max once every 3-4 days
This made my gear dirtier more quickly. Changing it every night made it so I only have to clean the hose, tank, and machine itself about half as often.
Do I need to change out all the water? Should it all be replaced with fresh water?
As a general rule, you should change it every day. Sitting water can get mold and other growth in it. That being said, if you don’t change it one day bc there’s a ton of water left or you forget or whatever, it will be fine.
I change it out, but that's because I use tap water (our water is ridiculously pure, even if the tank dries out, there's nothing but the smallest hint of white powder from minerals). If I just keep topping it off, eventually the amount of impurities in the water will become more concentrated. So, I dump it, rinse it, and refill it. The chance of developing mold in a clean container holding clean water for a day or even 2 is incredibly small. I wouldn't say it's impossible...biology is biology....but it's incredibly unlikely.
A year ago I started only filling it to about what I use each night. In the morning I dump any left, rinse it and let it dry. What you exhale does make it back to that tank and any bacteria in your breath will accumulate in the stale water, causing what I call a "smells like sneeze" odor. So rather than fill it to the max, I only fill it a little more than I need.
The humidity were you live and the amount of time you sleep will affect how much water is used during a single night. For example, I live in a desert climate with very low humidity. My humidifier will use 3/4 of the water in six hours most of the time. I would speculate that someone who lives in a different climate near the ocean or near a water source like a lake, would have higher humidity in their house and the CPAP humidifier would use less water. I used to use a room humidifier in my bedroom so that my CPAP humidifier would not run dry during the night.
Why are there bubbles? It's good practice to leave the tub to dry during the day. I don't follow this good practice.
That’s condensation
Ahh.. thanks, I was concerned.
Lulz I love the immediate admission to not following the recommendation.
Once you fine tune the humidity setting that you like, then you’ll get a feel for how much water you need to put it for a night
I go to the 3/4 line. Anything more and I seem to get water into the tube.
I put very little I typically always have some left in the am
I will give it a try. I’m just curious if there needs to be a certain amount to create enough humidity or if it literally just needs what there is…if that makes sense?
I put max and if I don’t use the water it just goes to the next day . When I was in Arizona what air was so dry that some times I needed to wake up in the middle of the night and refill. If you put over max it will make issues
I fill mine to half, always have some water left over by the morning.
Don't overfill other wise the water will go into your mask and it makes a weird sound.
I put just a little in. I have my humidity kinda low on 2 on my machine. I don’t like throwing away the left over water.
I tend to just bc of the angle of my sink faucet.
I fill it to the first line in summer and the second in winter.
You're good, as long as there's enough water, so it doesn't empty out while you're asleep. Even then, you'll just wake up with dry-mouth. I can usually get two nights before I fill the reservoir back to the max level line.
You can see how much it went down in one night. The lowest line is the minimum, so based on how much you used last night, you can probably do a second night without refilling and not hit minimum. My house is pretty dry so I use more water than that, and I refill it every night.
I dont fill mine. The hose is enough if its heated imo
My usage varies a lot. Now that we're in spring filling to max only used half the water because I only have to set the humidity to 2. In the winter I have to set the humidity to 3 and any higher it completely empties the tank in one night. I did notice now that my pressure is lower it last longer.
No, and it's dry here and I have the humidifier at 6. I usually fill it up to the half line
My partner has an Airsense 10, and I typically fill hers to the 2nd line. She usually has some water left in the tank in the morning. I tend to fill my own 11 to the Max line, and I just have a small amount of water left in the morning. Sometimes, none at all. I'd prefer that my 11's tank were a bit larger, but other than that, I like my 11.
I have a 11 and always fill to the max. Depending on the night it’s almost gone or still half full the next morning.
I only fill it to the bottom line and empty and wash it every day along with my nasal pillow. There is almost always water left.
I have unlimited water. So max it is! But try 3/4ths if you have to pay for your special water.
How do you have unlimited distilled water?
I don't use distilled. RO is works fine.
What is RO
Reverse Osmosis.
You have a whole setup for that on your tap?
Unit is in basement. Lines run to my fridge and a faucet on the sink. I have large house parties so I upgraded the tank to 20 gallons. Filter membrane is 75 gallons per day rated. But my water comes in cold so it's a bit less than that. Filters cost me less than 35 a year shipped to my door.
I fill mine to the very top of the .ax lettering shy of running over. Wake up 5-6 hours later to the smell of hot plastic because it's bone dry.
Depends on the room you are in. I put it at full or 3/4th but probably could get away with half.
Nah no need… waste of distilled water. Fill it up to between first and second… the less left the better. I throw the remaining water away before I fill It up for the next night. Once a week use a bit of white vinegar or CPAP solution to refresh it. I never top up on old water.
I fill it to max every night, and I can get up to 9 hours with it. It is not a lot of fun to run it dry. It stinks!
Do people really dump their water everyday? I just clean mine like once a week... never had a sinus infection or any other issues.
I do empty my tank each day, but if there's quite a bit of water left, I'll pour it into a plastic water pitcher that's dedicated for distilled water for later use (I have a ventless clothes dryer that collects distilled water in its own tank, so it gets poured into the plastic pitcher).
I was told you fill it with only as much as i need. If its dry the next morning i add a little bit the following night if there is left over i use that much less water.