Post
by Ozray67 » Sun May 21, 2017 2:08 am
Hi everyone,
I picked up an AirMini with the compatible AirFit N20 nasal mask 2 days ago. I was excited to get the AirMini as I have been using an old (ancient) Resmed S6 "lightweight" with a Swift FX Nano nasal mask for the last few years. The S6 was my first CPAP machine that I bought 17 years ago. I had a F&P ICON for about 8 years but that machine died from a bad power source and I went back to the S6. Thus I was looking to upgrade to a new machine that was good to travel with as I am a sales rep and travel regularly.
The AirMini was all I expected it to be-silent, small, super lightweight (esp compared to my S6 Lightweight), efficient and the app is great with daily scoring of my sleep (got 95/100 and 87/100 for the last 2 night's sleep). By the way - to change your pressure settings etc on the Clinical mode, you can access that menu by going to the bluetooth icon on the app, then press and hold down the Resmed and Airmini icons for 3 seconds. This section should only be accessed by a clinician or if you are confident to changing your settings. Information was obtained from the Resmed website. Downside on the app is that you cannot down download your stats yet. This may change on future updates.
The AirMini is also very easy to use with AutoStart and Auto Stop, Auto Set (APAP) and other Resmed features. I am using this machine as my daily and travel machine. The built in waterless humidifier works well too although you do not need to use it and it will not work with the full mask AirFit F20 yet.
Some of the drawback are:
Proprietary masks and hoses - at this stage you can only use the Resmed AirFit P10 Nasal Pillow, N20 Nasal Mask and F20 Full Face mask. The feature that stops other masks working is the Humidification/Venting chamber on the hose that supposedly allows the AirMini to be so small. The masks above all need a special hose attachment that attaches to the chamber.
The HumidX humidifier capsules only last for 30 days from date of opening, even if you only use it once. This is supposedly for sanitary purposes even if it still looks good. No it will not explode or dissolve like in Mission Impossible, but Resmed wants us to keep on buying a new one every month. $$$ In Australia it will cost $10 each. It will probably be much cheaper in the US.
Noise from the Venting chamber - Because the AirMini itself is so quiet, I immediately noticed the breathing/venting/Darth Vader noise coming from the Humidification/Venting Chamber. I don't know why it is louder than my old Swift FX Nano mask and I don't think there is any difference whether you use the HumidX or not. Furthermore, the location about 2.5 inches below the mask makes it quite audible at night when all is quiet. If Resmed had located it further away down the tube (probably can't do that or the humidifier won't work), or removed it completely it would be better. During the daytime, on a plane or where there is lots to ambient/white noise, the sound is quite reasonable. I am going to persist with it for a while to see if I can get used to it. My wife has noticed the noise buy it is not a whine, more of loud breathing that increases and decreases as you breathe in and out. I hope that Resmed will work on it and decrease the noise. It enough feedback is given, hopefully they will address the issue soon.
Hope this helps and answers some of the questions out there.
From Sydney, Australia