Grubby Hose

[EwanJon]

Hi there,
I was just wondering if it was ok to use diluted milton on my air hose?
I clean it every day with hand soap and hot water but it still is getting what can only be described as gunk stuck to the inside. It's quite gross really.
I soak the hose every saturday too in hot soapy water.
Any ideas ?
Many thanks!
:-)

[Tigers Fan]

Time for new?

Hi EwanJon

As hot soapy water washing doesn't work, why not give Milton a go? Might be an idea to have a spare hose to hand - just in case.

The question for me is - where is the gunk coming from? I wash my hose less and less enthusiastically as it seems to be such a waste of time - washing a clean hose.

Will your clinic issue a new hose?

TF

[EwanJon]

Hi TF,

That's been bugging me all day. Where does it come from? Very odd.

I suspect they would give me a new one. They're very good and basically said if I break anything they will change it etc so maybe they'll swop it.

Wil have a go with Milton very diluted. Could do with a very long bottle brush!!

lol....

Thanks,

Ewan

[ElleCee]

Hi EwanJon,

I do wish you hadn't said about your hose being gunked up.
I thought, oh heck, best check my hose. So, l pushed finger in hose to have a feel and got it firmly stuck!
What a palaver! Took ages to get it out again and I felt such a fool, thinking I would have to waltz into casualty with it hanging off the end of my finger.
Thankfully it was nice and clean, so I wont be doing that again!.

Lorraine

[EwanJon]

I nearly did that myself, easily done!!

Im going to ring the techies at wythenshawe tomorrow to see if they have any ideas as it's really gross.....

I hope your finger's ok!

Cheers,
Ewan

[davejwhite]

Questions to consider:

1. Where is the CPAP machine sucking in air from?
2. How old is the hose?
3. Do you use a humidifier?

If the hose is badly soiled, you need a new one - don't use a gunked up hose. You do not want to be breathing contaminated air, or air with bits in!!

I would suggest it is a good idea to use Milton - at the concentration that it suggests for soaking babies bottles. Leave the hose immersed in that for about 15 minutes,making sure that you work the air out of the hose before you leave it. Then hang it up to drain and dry. Then connect up and blow some air through it before you connect it to the mask and use it. I would do this about once a month - in between, a rinse will suffice.

Maintenance wise:-
Make sure the hose is hanging up straight, not coiled, between uses so that if it has any moisture in it it can dry off.
Empty the humidifier tank (if you are using one) between uses and refill with fresh water each night
Make sure the intake port for the machine is somewhere it can 'breathe' in clean air. Stand the machine on a stool or something, if necessary, not on the floor.

Just some thoughts. Hopefully useful ones.

[EwanJon]

Thanks for the help!

I did use milton and it worked well. Needed to soak in usual cleaning stuff after to get rid of the smell but it cleared the gunk.

I now do as noted by Davejwhite and hang the hose straight and so far no further gunkiness.

Phew!

Now just gota sort the rainout I'm now getting!!

Thanks!
Ewan
:-)

[davejwhite]

Great stuff - well done!

Rain-out? You are probably looking at hose sleeves?

[EwanJon]

I've got a double thickness fleece sleeve on my hose but I'm still getting rainout.

I've turned the temp down a bit but still a problem. I think it's to do with the ambient room temp fluctuating a lot with the rubbish weather we are having here. Will have to see what it's like next week when I'm in Italy!

Thanks,

Ewan
:-)

[snoreslikeatrain]

Rainout

The build up of water in hoses in interesting isn't it? I haven't yet felt the need to get a heated hose, but occasionally still get condensation in the tube.

On my ResMed humidifier, I turned the setting down from the initially recommended "4" to "1". At that level I could barely feel any warmth or humidity in the air, but there was no rainout either. Since then I've started increasing the settings and am now at "3". However if we get a cooler night, then rainout happens (guess the outside humidity can affect this too?).

The most irritating is when there's enough condensation in the tube that my breathing makes it gurgle. Usually gently lifting the tube is enough to make the water run back into the humidifier, but it still interrupts sleep. Occiasionally if I don't do this carefully enough, I get some droplets splashing into the mask - just what you need to trigger a dream about Jaws