Cold Weather 02 Water bottle

[jarca]

Has anyone found a way to stop the water from concentrating in the line in the winter?

I know it is caused by warm air going into water bottle & then crossing cold floor. (when outdoor temps hit freezing mine would start)
SO
I put a 10' line on the concentrator & ran it to a table 8' away where I put the water bottle---so water is cold & air is cold by the time it reaches the bottle.
This helped & I don't get condensation now until it hits around 10f or lower.

well now I have gotten that cold &i'm dealing with the problem again.
My supplier gave me "water traps" that work well, except when it gets sub zero the water from the water trap actually concentrates again at my 4' canula & will run into my nose if my canula accidentally gets out from under my blankets where it stays warm.

This doesn't make sense to me that I run 10' cold line to the water bottle sitting on a cold table.
Then it runs thru 40'-50' of plain line on the floor to the water trap where the water trap catches the water.
Then if not raised off the ground by my 4' canula during the day or kept under my blankets at night it will re-condense at my canula & run into my nose!!!
i live in desert, very dry climate. In winter heater takes even more moisture out of the air so in winter I need to run a humidifier also because i get too dried out....does anyone else deal with this & if so how do you overcome it?

(people on this board live in much colder climates than my old board, so i am hoping to find something new from others that deal with the cold.)

i ask because i had the fun of water running into my nose last night because canula came out from under blankets.

ps. i empty water trap every day, so it is not because it is getting full----this is just condensation problem  

[lavishgail]

Jarca, I don't think anything works! I hate it so much I feel like I'm going to drowned. So I don't use the water cup on my concentrate. I find myself up all night long taking it off and shaking out the water! Then from not removing the long hoses be4 when moisture built-up, thats why I was getting sick. Now my nose is so chapped idk what to do? I'm lost! I'm going to ask for help but I doubt they can help me do anything different!

When going out during the day I use the real old fashioned bottles very heavy.

Here in my home I have the newer type machine that plugs in and uses air and somehow turns that into oxygen, I myself dont understand?

For some reason my breathing has been better. I'm happy about that but I'm in the house doing nothing.

Take care.

[jarca]

I dry out way to much if I don't use the bottle & in the winter a room humidifier also.
summer there is no problem.

gail; do you have a water trap that goes at the end of the line just before your canula? it does trap the water, but you have to empty it daily....
there must be a better way though,,,,and I can't figure out why i get condensation AFTER the water has been caught in the trap???

(that is why in winter I went to 4'canula's instead of 7'= so it keeps my last little bit of line off the floor.

I live in an area with such hard water that room humidifiers are a pain as I have to take a couple of days a month to soak the heating element in vinegar & get the hard white crust off or i have to buy new humidifiers every couple of months .

it just seems that there must be some other way other than letting my nose dry up & turn into 1 big sore inside. (yes, I'm very good at using AYR or other nose lubricants, but nose lubricants can only do so much also.

I want a winter humidity miricle !!!!!

[gnott]

[jarca: I didn't see your post until after I posted. So you can ignore most of this. I will revise.

There are other possible reasons you are collecting an unusual amount of water condensate - a worn sieve valve (increase in N2, increase in water vapor) and simply because the concentrator is warmer.]

Your problems are exactly one of the many reasons I gave up on ‘water bottles’. I was very surprised (am sure it is dependent on location) that it didn’t take that much of a “lower” temperature to cause problems. And since I prefer to sleep in a cold room (old habit and feel I breathe better) condensation was a constant issue.

Most people I have talked to and I have quickly discovered - you have to get the hose off the floor – Period. (Duct tape works well. Smile) Someplace along the line you provide mild heat with an incandescent lamp/light– unfortunately they are becoming scarce. Most people’s solutions end up quite creative – but you have to do what you have to do.

A farmer Rehab acquaintance jerry-rigged a heater water hose by running his tubing inside it. Others have used simple heating tape wrapped around a hose or tube, again with the air hose inside. You don’t have to heat the whole length just sections.

However, all these cases were running hoses "across a room". I have no experience trying to run a hose 40’ to 50’ under those conditions. You may have to come up with a way to get the concentrator closer. But that probably isn’t viable or you would have done it by now.

The other option is to bring the bottle (and/or trap) closer. Run your hose to the bottle, then attach a 7’ cannula to the bottle. Attach to wall or headboard. They also make humidity bottles that have a loop on top. Hang it from the ceiling over your head. This is the solution I chose even though my hose run was relatively short.

[Still in my case the whole process of fooling with water bottles was just a PITA so I quit using them. Now if I get too dry I use saline solution and Ayrs. BUT we are all different – I tend to get rhinitis – which is annoying but as a result I’m seldom so “dry” I ever need one. I only tried it because it was recommended – someone’s guess to help my rhinitis. I did, it didn’t. However, other people probably do need them.]

[jarca]

thanks for the ideas gnott....
I'm curious if it is just because i live in the desert that I get so horribly dried out & if poeple that live in more humid areas don't have the problem to need the water bottle or shrivel up like a mummy?
I try going without it sometimes but i end up with such dry mouth at night & sores in my nose that I just can't stand it.

people have suggested taping it to the wall or putting cup hooks up on my ceiling, but how would one walk around then???
If i only needed it for sleeping or if i was bedridden that would be feasible, but where I need 02 24/7 i don't see how that would work.

I do have my concentrator located in the "middle" of my house (the living room) my bedroom is off 1 side of the living room, the den the other side (then guest room off the den). My kitchen & bathroom thru a door straight ahead. (yup, old house, no hallways jut doorways). So I can run the shortest line possible to get to all parts of my house.

it takes about 14 feet to reach my bed so I have been coiling the excess up on my stool at night & covering it with a blanket. 2 problems= 1. the hose (about 7 feet of it) that goes into my room condenses. then i have the water trap to catch that, then my 4' canula that pretty much reaches up the side of my bed & to me (ya gotta admit sleeping with about 10-11feet of line is sleeping with a pretty short line!)
I just don't understand why it is condensing again, AFTER the water trap has caught the water, where there is only my 4'canula left....as long as the 4' of canula is up off the floor & under my blankets i do okay.

2. If i get up to use the bathroom it all comes undone & there i am in the middle of the night coiling line back up & getting under a blanket cuz if i don't keep it up & covered the condensation will get so bad it will literally fill the line with droplets of water!

I know as it gets even colder I'm going to have to give up the water bottle, but i was just hoping someone else has "figured this out" I was hoping someone living in even colder climate than i do may have "THEE answer!" sigh

Question; rhinitis? isn't that like allergies? ---see i have allergies & if i can run the water it kind of filters out the pollens & I feel like I get cleaner air also. my nose runs less when I can do the water.
maybe i'm weird but my sinus' will be so packed up but my nose & throat feel dry...and the water bottle helps my sinus' open up for some reason (of course I also sleep with the breath right strips --- have you tried those? they work great if your sinus' are swollen or clogged up)
okay, off subject now

Humidifiers; I also run a room humidifier. I have very hard water & can't afford to buy bottled water to run in them, so i clean the humidifier once a month with vinegar------has anyone found anything to stop hard water from caking up on heater element in humidifiers???

(gosh, i sure don't know why i don't like winter )

[lavishgail]

Jarca,
I understand what you mean, and sometimes the water will go right up my nose at 50 feet of hose. Filling the tube with water driving me crazy, keeping me up at night thinking I'm going to drowned!!! I've not been using my 02 lately, at night, it seems I'm ok at night. Plus my nose became so sore I had to not use it except as needed only. Sob only.. my nose is finally clearing up, it's so bad. I also have hard water and cannot afford to put in a softener. I didn't really understand what you meant till gnot explained it. So I do get it now. I seem to be ok at rest.