Broken machine?--- need to know b4 Fri. to get VA help

thimarine · Post by **thimarine** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:52 am

Woke up this a.m. feeling I wasn't getting enough air. I had to get up three times during the night to use the bathroom. Haven't done that for several months. I checked the pressure on my machine and once it was 8, once 9.9, once 10.4 and once 9. I woke up when it was 9. There was a 19 second power outage at 6:00 a.m., and there were some power problems due to a storm. But I feel like crap today. I called the VA tech and he said he doesn't think it's the machine and when I'm awake the pressure drops and what I'm seeing when I check the pressure is normal. He said I could come in and he would swap a machine that would blow constantly at a set pressure if I wanted. What I wanted was to know if there is something wrong with my machine. It's six months old and I haven't had any problems with it. The only thing I changed was to try a new hose I bought online to see if it fits (it does) but I didn't leave it on. So, how can I tell if my machine is broken or if I just had a bad night. I don't want a straight cpap machine set at 14 or 16 like the tech said. My avg. 90% pressure for 30 days is 12.2. My 30 day avg. AHI is 1.5 and 7 day avg. of 1.2. If I wait past Friday, I can't go to the VA until Monday and I don't want to have a broken machine all weekend. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:59 am

Does the "tech" have a manometer to check the pressure with? You can also build them yourself. Or.....you could set your Auto to single pressure mode at 12 or 13 if that's about where your 90% has been.

Den

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:03 am

viewtopic.php?p=34193#34193

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 9:44 am

ozij wrote:viewtopic.php?p=34193#34193

Thank ya....thank ya very much......

Den
(this time I saved them to a Word document so I can build one of my own.....someday.....)

.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:17 am

I'm wondering if the power outage and then power surge when the power came on again could have reset the auto to the factory default settings? Can you check all your settings to be sure they are as they had been?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:22 am

I did not check the settings to see if they were at the factory settings. I will do that when I get home. When I had my machine checked at my first (and only) checkup in August, the tech just turned it on to see if it was blowing and then when into the clinicians menu to check the numbers. He told me he couldn't tell me the numbers, so I learned how to do that here.

We had one other power outage about 2 weeks ago and nothing happened to the machine, but it certainly doesn't hurt to check the settings.

Thanks for the suggestions.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:40 am

Wulfman wrote:
ozij wrote:viewtopic.php?p=34193#34193
Thank ya....thank ya very much......

Den
(this time I saved them to a Word document so I can build one of my own.....someday.....)

.

You're most welcome, Den...
Derek's photos are something I always remember... most photos, I guess.

O.

Dgrendahl · Post by **Dgrendahl** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:49 am

I found this article on CPAP-Supply. Check it out!

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=132

Frankly, I have found a number of sites selling a manometer anywhere from $20 to $25. Why would you want to make one?

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:08 pm

Dgrendahl wrote:I found this article on CPAP-Supply. Check it out!

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=132

Frankly, I have found a number of sites selling a manometer anywhere from $20 to $25. Why would you want to make one?

Mainly because some are being sold on false pretences, the ones that use a floating ball in a tube and not for calibration. Jim

Dgrendahl · Post by **Dgrendahl** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:12 pm

Goofproof wrote:
Dgrendahl wrote:I found this article on CPAP-Supply. Check it out!

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=132

Frankly, I have found a number of sites selling a manometer anywhere from $20 to $25. Why would you want to make one?
Mainly because some are being sold on false pretences, the ones that use a floating ball in a tube and not for calibration. Jim

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:36 pm

I checked my "menu" when I got home. Everything is still set where it should be. I did change the ramp time (which I never use) to 20 minutes. The range is 8-18, which is wide open, but I don't see any reason to change it. Hopefully, everything will work tonight. I don't understand why the VA technician wanted to put me on straight CPAP because I asked a question about my machine. I can put it on cpap if I want. It doesn't require a new machine.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:37 pm

Dgrendahl wrote:
Goofproof wrote:
Dgrendahl wrote:I found this article on CPAP-Supply. Check it out!

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=132

Frankly, I have found a number of sites selling a manometer anywhere from $20 to $25. Why would you want to make one?
Mainly because some are being sold on false pretences, the ones that use a floating ball in a tube and not for calibration. Jim

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:44 pm

if your power was going off and on all night, the machine would have been resetting back to the Minimum pressure. IF the machine went off due to a power failure, you would be rebreathing your exhaled CO2, do that too much and you will feel like crap.

If the power problems persist, you should invest in a computer UPS battery back-up. Most any of those over 750VA should work fine and you can run your humidifier with it.

Note: When the power goes off so does the machine, when the power comes back on, the machine should automatically restart. If you are waking up and it feels like the machine is not blowing, then look at the LCD for the displayed pressure, it should be displaying the Minimum pressure setting at a minimum. Maybe you need to increase the Minimum pressure to 9.0 cm or even 10.0 cm.

I wouldn't let them swap out my autopap for a cheap CPAP machine, you will be getting the short end of that stick.

I would go through the settings making sure Mask alert is enabled (it disables that auto-off feature when you enable it).

If it is a Classic machine it won't have any Auto:Ramp, that is only available in the CPAP mode, but it can be used to drop pressure back to the Minimum pressure setting.

Dgrendahl · Post by **Dgrendahl** » Thu Oct 18, 2007 2:44 pm

dsm wrote:
Dgrendahl wrote:
Goofproof wrote:
Dgrendahl wrote:I found this article on CPAP-Supply. Check it out!

http://www.cpap-supply.com/Articles.asp?ID=132

Frankly, I have found a number of sites selling a manometer anywhere from $20 to $25. Why would you want to make one?
Mainly because some are being sold on false pretences, the ones that use a floating ball in a tube and not for calibration. Jim

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:22 am

Snoredog wrote:If it is a Classic machine it won't have any Auto:Ramp, that is only available in the CPAP mode, but it can be used to drop pressure back to the Minimum pressure setting.

...And if someone did set the ramp on a classic, (not the M-Series)the machine will be doing a "split night" study on you - and only supplying 4 cms of pressure for half the night, before it switches to therapy mode. So do check that. No ramp should be set on the classic.

O.

Broken machine?--- need to know b4 Fri. to get VA help

Broken machine?--- need to know b4 Fri. to get VA help

Derek's self-made manometer

Re: Derek's self-made manometer

Re: Derek's self-made manometer

Make your own Manometer article

Re: Make your own Manometer article

Re: Make your own Manometer article

Re: Make your own Manometer article

Re: Make your own Manometer article