CPAP mask blowing up only halfway, most air just venting out

Hi there,
I recently noticed that my mask properties changed, it is not blowing up fully and most of the air is just venting out (making a big sound)
through the vent holes of the mask. When the mask was working properly, it almost made no sound and when I checked the vent holes
with my fingers, air just exited with a gentle breeze, not much velocity. Now air is rushing out through the vent holes (important to add that there is no leak
in the mask) and it sounds like a hurricane.
Did anyone experience this? I checked the mask itself (Comfort Gel), fairly new, not damaged at all, vent holes are all clear, not blocked.
Can the mask rubber lose from its elasticity thus it is not blowing up full?
Thank you,
Laszlo

The silicone can certainly lose flexibility and a good way to renew it (weekly) is with baby wipes from the drugstore. You may be cleaning the mask with ?? but it depends on what you use and how often you replace the cushion.

Do you have the manual/booklet for your mask? I saw that you believe all the parts and nothing is broken on your mask but I would double check yours with the diagram from the manual.

Though this won't help you now, something I read here is when you get a new mask, hose or other part, keep the old one as an emergency back up.

Also check where the silicone is attached to the mask... sometimes a tiny misadjustment (? word) can make a difference, like the plastic ring holding it to the mask is not seated well.

Laszlo wrote:Hi there,
I recently noticed that my mask properties changed, it is not blowing up fully and most of the air is just venting out (making a big sound)
through the vent holes of the mask. When the mask was working properly, it almost made no sound and when I checked the vent holes
with my fingers, air just exited with a gentle breeze, not much velocity. Now air is rushing out through the vent holes (important to add that there is no leak
in the mask) and it sounds like a hurricane.
Did anyone experience this? I checked the mask itself (Comfort Gel), fairly new, not damaged at all, vent holes are all clear, not blocked.
Can the mask rubber lose from its elasticity thus it is not blowing up full?
Thank you,
Laszlo

welcome to the forum! you'll get good help here.

i have two questions- how old is the mask? and do you use a humidifier?

i know you've just joined, but you may have been on the hose for years and your mask may be getting old and due for replacement.

as to the humidifier, if you don't have the tank seated properly, it can affect the pressure coming from the mask. or so i seem to remember reading here somewhere.

Thank you everyone for the help, your comments are really useful.
I'll try the baby wipes - have been cleaning my mask with a non-greasy soap and water so far and
will also look for potential misadjustments.

Do you have an option to check mask fit? I have a nasal mask and the noise woke me up twice and I was too tired to figure it out. Later realized mask was not getting a good seal. My machine lets you check the seal before you go to sleep. It changes frequently I have found, not sure why. Good Luck.

Comfort Gel is a mask type, it doesn't tell us what you are using, BUT if it is a ComfortGel FF Mask, it has a valve that allows you to breath if the machine shuts down, if you have a ComfortGel Nasal Mask, it does not have that valve, as you can just breath thru your mouth. I have never seen a mask blow up, most inflate a little. Jim

How much air is supposed to be venting out the holes? Should it be a steady stream?

Berks wrote:How much air is supposed to be venting out the holes? Should it be a steady stream?

Depends on the mask, the pressure and it usually varies slightly with inhale and exhale.
Some masks have vent holes so that the air vented seems to have a lot of force to it and some masks the vented air is diffused and you can barely feel it.

Berks wrote:How much air is supposed to be venting out the holes? Should it be a steady stream?

It varies, when you buy a mask papers come with it that have a pressure vent chart. Every treatment pressure and exhale pressure are different. Software and a full data machine can show what your rate is overall. It should be close to what the chart says or something can be causing the difference. (Excessive leaks or Mouthbreathing or the low side clogged vents or face blocked by pillow). It is a study stream, but it varies between inhale and exhale. Jim

Berks wrote:How much air is supposed to be venting out the holes? Should it be a steady stream?

The majority of masks vent between 20 *liters* (around 5 gallons) of air per minute at a pressure of 4cm/h2o, up to around 50 liters per minute at a pressure of 20cm/h2o. so, yes, it's a considerable, steady stream.

With most masks, it feels like a hard blowing stream of air, though there's a few that have a diffused vent, just as much air being vented, but it's much gentler and quieter.