Abrupt change in pressure - REMstar Plus C-Flex

MarkPear · Post by **MarkPear** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:06 pm

I received my Remstar C-Flex since last Wednesday. I had trouble with it the first night but have really adjusted to it quite well since then. Last night the pressure seemed to be much lower. My initial thought was that I was just getting used to it, but the machine is also making significantly less noise. When I woke up this morning, my wife told me that I was extremely restless during my sleep. This evening, I went through the trouble shooting section of the user’s manual. I checked for leaks, verified the pressure setting, checked the elevation setting, made sure the CFLEX button wasn't stuck, and made sure that the mask was assembled properly. I called the nice folks at CPAP.com and they said that it may take up to 2 weeks to send it back to the manufacturer and have them check for malfunctions. Does anyone know of any other potential problems that I can look for before sending it back to Respironics? I'm feeling much better since I began my treatment and am not looking forward to returning to my pre-CPAP sleep deprived state! Do equipment problems occur frequently enough to justify having a back up machine?

chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 8:40 pm

The + isn't auto. Perhaps you just need more pressure.

:twis ted:

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:43 pm

MarkPear wrote: Last night the pressure seemed to be much lower.

Do you have any way of knowing if it truly was lower? Does this machine have software you can download with a card reader to see what's happening?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:51 pm

Are you using the RAMP feature?
Check the RAMP settings and/or try without it.

Check the filter?
Check the filter cap? The "slot" should be on the bottom side.

Location of the CPAP.....it's not on the floor is it?

Have you tried using it while you're awake and can see what it feels like then?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:47 pm

Make yourself a simple manometer to measure the pressure, as shown in the photo:

Take some clear plastic tubing (about 5-6 feet), and secure to a piece of wood about 18 in. long in the form of a "U" as shown. Use some food coloring to color some water and carefully fill the tube to about half way up each arm of the U as above. You have to be careful not to get any air bubbles in the fluid, and to make sure that the tube is perfectly free of fluid except in the U. I found the easiest way was to take a mouthful of the colored water and gently blow it into the tube.

Buy a bottle of cheap wine, drink the wine, recycle the bottle, and save the cork. Drill a hole lengthwise through the cork, with a diameter that is a snug fit for the tube. Fit the tube into the cork, plug the cork into the end of your hose, turn the machine on. The pressure will force the fluid down one arm and up the other. Make a pencil mark on the wood at the two fluid levels. Take a ruler and measure the height difference in cm. That's your CPAP pressure.

Make sure the ramp is turned off while you are making the measurement.

There are many themes and variations that you can use. The wine cork is a perfect fit for the hose!

derek · Post by **derek** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:50 pm

Whoops - got guested on the previous post
Derek

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:34 pm

Derek,

The end that isn't corked, the one not connected to the hose from the machine, what happens to that?

chrisp · Post by **chrisp** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:41 pm

Its got to be opento allow the water to move.

derek · Post by **derek** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:43 pm

Lori,
It's just open to the air (got cropped out in the photo).

Incidentally - I've just had an idea for an even simpler manometer. I need to find a cork that fits into the humidifier outlet... Maybe tomorrow.

Sleepless on LI · Post by **Sleepless on LI** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:20 pm

Derek, do you even turn off the overused brain of yours? Still humming like a fine tuned engine, though, as we all can see. Don't know how you do it.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:14 pm

Use some food coloring to color some water and carefully fill the tube to about half way up each arm of the U as above

If its cheap wine, why not use some of that in the tube (if it's red...)....
...and don't drink it before you go to sleep

O.

Kermit · Post by **Kermit** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:04 pm

Hi Derek,

You just made one of the most accurate low pressure measuring devices around. Better than fancy and expensive hand held manometers and no calibration required.

I bought a Dwyer manometer with scale calibrated in centimeters and use distilled water with their dye to better see the water column, less than $20 as I recall.

Anyway, I am not sure but I read elsewhere that the method you described could be off as you are measuring static pressure. When you don your mask and expect say 10cm W.C. ( water column ) you should get 10 all the while your mask's vent is venting air. Without a similar vent hole while measuring your cpap's output you will not measure what you are expecting at your mask.

I understand adding a 1/8th inch diameter vent hole should better simulate your mask in use as you measure the cpap's pressure output.

Kermit

Abrupt change in pressure - REMstar Plus C-Flex

Abrupt change in pressure - REMstar Plus C-Flex

Re: Abrupt change in pressure - REMstar Plus C-Flex