How to Attach a Humidifier to an Oxygen Concentrator

How to Attach a Humidifier to an Oxygen Concentrator

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Humidifiers are not always necessary, and for some people who have to use an oxygen concentrator, they are there for comfort. You may have purchased your oxygen concentrator without a humidifier, only to find that your nasal passages and throat get very dry when you use it. This can cause a lot of discomfort, and even damage to your nasal passages.

You might find that you only need a humidifier during the cold months of the year when the air is very dry, or if you’ve moved to an arid part of the country. You might also require one if you have to use your oxygen concentrator while you sleep. When many people sleep, their throats or nasal passages become dry anyway, and the addition of oxygen therapy (air blowing into your nasal passages) In any case, you can purchase a humidifier bottle that is compatible with your oxygen concentrator.

Most of the larger portable oxygen concentrators are built to have a humidifier because they have higher oxygen flow settings that usually dry out the nasal passages more than low doses that are usually found in small portable models. Most stationary oxygen concentrators (ones that only run on AC power and not DC or batteries) accommodate for a humidifier bottle.

You should not use tap water or any other type of water beside distilled water in the humidifier. Even filtered tap water can still have tiny impurities that might not be harmful to you but can cause build up and malfunctions in the oxygen concentrator. The distilled water you purchase by the jug from the store will do.

Attaching a humidifier to your oxygen concentrator is very easy. Just be sure that you have the humidifier that is compatible with your particular model of portable or stationary oxygen concentrator. You will see two lines on the bottle – a maximum fill line, and a minimum fill line.

You don’t want to fill the bottle above the max fill line, because this can cause too much moisture to get into the concentrator, which can severely damage it and make it unsafe. Letting it go below and stay below the minimum fill line for too long can also be unsafe because not enough moisture is getting through. The best thing to do is fill it up so that it is about a half inch below the maximum fill line.

You will need to turn on your concentrator and locate the humidifier port and the short rubber tubing that you will use to connect the nozzle of the humidifier bottle to the humidifier port on the oxygen concentrator.

Attach the nozzle to the tubing, and to the humidifier port. Wrap the Velcro strap around the humidifier bottle snugly, so that it won’t slip out and fall. Attach the Velcro to the opposite side of the Velcro to secure it against the oxygen concentrator. You are now ready to use your oxygen concentrator with the humidifier.

Page last updated: November 26, 2018

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Scott joined American Medical Sales and Rentals in 2008 as a Web Manager and Content Writer. He is a writer and designer. He is extensively trained on oxygen therapy products from leading manufacturers such as Inogen, Respironics, Chart, Invacare, ResMed and more.

Scott works closely with respiratory therapists and oxygen specialists to educate the community about oxygen therapy products, COPD, asthma and lung diseases. He writes weekly columns and is passionate about educating the community on oxygen therapy and respiratory issues.

About Scott Ridl:

Scott joined American Medical Sales and Rentals in 2008 as a Web Manager and Content Writer. He is a writer and designer. He is extensively trained on oxygen therapy products from leading manufacturers such as Inogen, Respironics, Chart, Invacare, ResMed and more. Scott works closely with respiratory therapists and oxygen specialists to educate the community about oxygen therapy products, COPD, asthma and lung diseases. He writes weekly columns and is passionate about educating the community on oxygen therapy and respiratory issues.

40 thoughts on “How to Attach a Humidifier to an Oxygen Concentrator

    • Thank you for your comment, Julie. If you are not seeing the distilled water move or bubble to any degree you may have an issue with your tubing connection. Go ahead and reach out to our Customer Service Department at 877-303-9289 and one of our representatives can help to troubleshoot your humidifier.

        • Hi Sabitri, water or moisture may appear in tubing because of the below-mentioned reasons:
          • Tubing is switched for humidifier inlet and outlet
          • Humidifier bottle is filled over the limit
          • You are in a high humidity environment
          • Humidifier bottle is not upright
          Hope this helps!

      • Oxygen concentrators can be used without a humidifier. However, it’s recommended to use a humidifier on high continuous flow since the air becomes much drier.

    • Feel free to reach out to one of our Customer Service representatives. They can help walk you through properly and safely connect your humidifier to your machine.

  1. My wife is currently in rehab. She wants a bubbler on her concentrator and at night switchs over to cpap with humidifier. Can she use both bubbler and humidifier?

    • Thank you for your inquiry, Don. By “bubbler” do you mean humidifier bottle? It is possible to use a humidifier on your CPAP as well as your concentrator if you are using them in tandem. That being said, if you are already receiving moisture from the CPAP machine with the humidifier, it would not be necessary to also use the humidifier on the concentrator unless you have been medically instructed to do so.

    • Thank you for your comment, Diane. Just to confirm you are using this with an oxygen concentrator, correct? If you are using this with a concentrator, attaching the humidifier cup shouldn’t affect output unless you have filled the bottle too high with water. Are you filling the water to the very top? If so, try dumping some out.

  2. I have a even flow concentrator. I have the humidifier connected like I have had it for over 4+ years. I do so because of my bloody nose and very dry throat. I could always hear and the moisture at the end of the canula. It has now stopped doing so. I see that the water has not moved like it had before which had alway’s empty every night. I see the water bubbling and I do have the proper pressure as before. I have ‘never’ filled the bottle beyond the fill line. Oh, let me also say that at one time, a water trap was installed because I was getting to much moisture. I no longer use it.
    Anyone thoughts would be welcome.
    Tim Rosenlof

    • Thank you for your inquiry, Tim. I have been advised by our Customer Service team to have you reach out to them at your earliest convenience to discuss the connectivity of your humidifier bottle and concentrator. They’ll be able to walk you through each step of troubleshooting over the phone and be able to assist with next steps! You can reach them at 877-303-9289.

  3. When using the water bottle on concentrator to keep moisture out of the tubing attach a small clip on the wall above concentrator to elevate the line coming out of water bottle

  4. I ordered a humidifier for my concentrator, but there were no instructions as to how to attach it. please send instructions..Thank you

    • It is recommended that you use distilled water but if you use spring water keep an eye on your humidifier bottle as you may have to replace it more frequently if you have any mineral deposit build up.

    • Distilled is the best option, The minerals in purified water is low it can still create mineral buildup over time.

  5. Humidifier bottle was change and when I turn it on the Air flow is not as much used to be @ 2 L/ min. what did I do wrong . I check the tubing no kink no dent ???? Humidifier bottle tight to close

    • Hershey, It is difficult to figure out without seeing it. I would inspect the bottle and and the machine for anything that might have caused it. I don’t think the bottle being to tight would cause this. Try using it again and if it is still not working properly, give our service team a call and they might be able to help.

    • You can use a humidifier bottle with a portable oxygen concentrator (POC) when it’s on continuous flow mode. POCs like SimplyGo and Eclipse 5 have a humidifier attachment, which can be used on continuous flow.
      However, humidifier cannot be used on a pulse dose mode because the concentrator will not be able to sense your breath and deliver oxygen.

    • No, the tubing will not carry the water from the humidifier bottle to the nose. Instead, the air passing through the humidifier bottle will carry moisture and make it easier to breathe.
      If you see water in the tubing, check your setup.

    • Yes, you can use RO water in the humidifier. Distilled water has no minerals in it but RO water might. Just remember to clean the humidifier bottle every 3 days with warm soapy water to clean mineral buildup.

  6. I was told that water can get into your lungs with the humidifer bottle being hooked up to the oxygen, Is that if you just fill the bottle too full ? My Husband has C.O.P.D. & lung cancer, So scared of this because he gets pneumonia pretty easy. Thank you !!

    • All portable oxygen concentrators that can supply continuous flow oxygen can be used with a humidifier bottle. We have got CAIRE Eclipse 5, Philips Respironics SimplyGo, and Oxlife Independence. Note that humidifier bottle is not part of the standard package and needs to be added to the order.
      Please give us a call at (877) 644-4581 for any questions.

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