CPAP Troubleshoot: Help My Humidifier!

CPAP patients often come to us with complaints of their humidifier not working. They may say it doesn’t seem hot, or they don’t see the water level in the tank going down during the night. There are a few simple things you can do at home to test your humidifier to help determine if a repair is needed.

The first thing to know if that if your water level is going down over the course of the night, your device is heating, even if it doesn’t feel hot to the touch. There are all kinds of factors that can influence evaporation of water in your CPAP device, including:

• changes in weather

• the humidity or temperature in your home

• a problem with your heated tube (if you’re using one)

• tube not inserted all the way.

All of these factors can make the rate of evaporation in your water chamber faster or slower.

Make sure you’re not overfilling your water chamber! The water can get into your device and cause corrosion that leads to failures of your PC board or other components.

While we’re on the subject of humidifiers, make sure you’re not overfilling your water chamber! The water can get into your device and cause corrosion that leads to failures of your PC board or other components.

For a true test of whether your device is heating, remove the water chamber, turn your humidification to fixed (not adaptive) and turn the temperature up as high as it goes. Depending on the make and model of your device, you might also have a function called “run warmup” in your menu. Check your user’s manual for how to do this on your particular model.

After you’ve left the heater on for about 10 to 15 minutes on the highest heat setting without the water chamber, hover your hand over the heating plate to see if it’s warm. You’ll need to get your hand pretty close to feel it, but don’t touch it. If it’s still not warm, try turning the device off, disconnecting the power cable and humidifier, and giving it a moment. Then plug everything back in and give this test another try.

If it’s still not heating, then it’s time to send your device in for repair. Visit CPAP Medic online at www.cpapmedic.com to request a free estimate, or call us to learn more about our CPAP repair and maintenance services at 877.310.0343.