My S9 auto didn't want to blow last night

When I pushed the power button, it seemed like it wanted to blow, but started out with barely a whispered breath, and this went on for 30 minutes as I tried turning it off & on, over & over for it to work, as I prayed, and it seems to have something to do with the H51 lock on the door. The humidifier door is closed as tight as I can close it, but when I open that door, it blows a little for a few seconds then shuts off. The little bar that shows loading doesn't seem to want to "Load" on the viewer window the whole way across. I can't reach the shut off switch on my surge protector, because it is behind my heavy headboard for the bed & I have a bad back, so couldn't move the bed to get to it, so wasn't sure what to do, but it finally started, although it seems to be blowing less pressure now than I am accustomed to (6-10 cm H20 pressure). I have a high deductible insurance and no back up machine, as well as very little money since I am the only breadwinner supporting the household. I can't afford to take it to the DME for sending back to the company to repair, besides have nothing else to use for sleeping while it would be gone. I am up against it. I can't afford a new one and it is out of warranty.I have used it every night since I signed up here. Does anyone have any ideas how to trouble-shoot it?? Thanks.

Take the water tank out before tinkering with the machine so you don't spill water into the machine.

One option is to remove the humidifier completely. It will separate, and then you can just plug into the right side of the blower unit.

If the humidifier door doesn't seal, mine puts a message on the display. Did you get a message?

Examine the humidifier closely to see if you can find a reason for the bad seal. BTW, you can take the tank out and it may still blow correctly on the S9 if that lets you close the door properly, but turn the heat off if you go that way.

Thanks, I hadn't thought of trying to run it without the humidifier. I was on CPAP in the late 90s that had no humidifier and it irritated my nose so much, I gave up back then. The passover humidifier the Dr ordered for me back then didn't heat that many yrs ago, and it didn't help any. I eventually had UPPP and T&A and sinus surgery is an attempt to breathe at night, and gave that machine away to an old friend who needed it- think it was a round NOISY Sullivan unit. We have since moved out of state and that person is no longer a friend, so I can't get it back now if I wanted it. Wish I could find someone who wanted to get rid of a used humidifier, since I wonder if I just need a new humidifier? Maybe I could afford that if I could find a used one somewhere. I have checked prices on Secondwind and Alibaba and they are out of my league for used or open box auto CPAPS but maybe I can find another H51 humidifier somewhere. Thanks for alerting me to just removing the humidifier, I will try that tonight and see if I can sleep that way now.

Also, the lid on the S9 humidifier detaches. Sometimes I knock it loose and it sometimes seems to be very fiddly about getting it to reattach. There's also a replaceable clear silicone rubber gasket in the lid that comes out. Similar concerns about it being fiddly to reinstall.

Sounds like your ramp feature has been tinkered with. The "loading" bar never filled up because you kept turning the machine off and resetting the ramp time. When I turn my machine on for the night, after that first initial burst the pressure backs off to almost nil, almost like the machine isn't blowing.

Check your ramp settings before you send it back for repairs

codinqueen wrote:Maybe I could afford that if I could find a used one somewhere. I have checked prices on Secondwind and Alibaba and they are out of my league for used or open box auto CPAPS but maybe I can find another H51 humidifier somewhere.

Secondwind sells used H5i units with new tanks for $90.

Make sure there isn't water in your tubing.

I got instructions how & disabled the ramp a few weeks after I got this machine because it suffocated me at 4 cm pressure, and I haven't messed with the settings since, but maybe the aliens did it while I was sleeping. I will try to check the ramp if I can remember how to get to that setting. Thanks for the info about used humidifiers @ $90 from Secondwind, I will start searching for a used one on Craigslist too, maybe I can get one for less cost if I am lucky, to keep as a back-up so when/if it breaks I will still be able to breathe humidified air at night. I know there is a way to look at Craigslist across the country, but not sure what the website address is to do it. $100 is not easy to come by for me. My tank is dishwasher-safe, and the last time I washed it in the dishwasher it didn't want to close very easily, & took us hours to get it back together, so I just soak it now with vinegar water periodically. Maybe the dishwasher did something to the gasket. I think I will try my old hand-washable tank that came with the machine and see if works better than the dishwasher-safe one. Thanks for the suggestions. I wonder if I can put some very small amount of Armor-all on the gasket to see if that will help?

View this video and it will show you how to do the things you want to do. http://www.cpaplibrary.com/machines.html Just click on the picture of the S9.

codinqueen wrote:I got instructions how & disabled the ramp a few weeks after I got this machine because it suffocated me at 4 cm pressure, and I haven't messed with the settings since, but maybe the aliens did it while I was sleeping. I will try to check the ramp if I can remember how to get to that setting. Thanks for the info about used humidifiers @ $90 from Secondwind, I will start searching for a used one on Craigslist too, maybe I can get one for less cost if I am lucky, to keep as a back-up so when/if it breaks I will still be able to breathe humidified air at night. I know there is a way to look at Craigslist across the country, but not sure what the website address is to do it. $100 is not easy to come by for me. My tank is dishwasher-safe, and the last time I washed it in the dishwasher it didn't want to close very easily, & took us hours to get it back together, so I just soak it now with vinegar water periodically. Maybe the dishwasher did something to the gasket. I think I will try my old hand-washable tank that came with the machine and see if works better than the dishwasher-safe one. Thanks for the suggestions. I wonder if I can put some very small amount of Armor-all on the gasket to see if that will help?

The gasket in the tank shouldn't cause problems with the machine not blowing. You could leave the entire tank out and the machine will still blow.

I think I know what happened with the tank not closing on you.

The snaps are on a plastic sleeve that goes around the metal base. When you get it wet, the sleeve can slip down around the metal base where it doesn't reach far enough up to engage the tabs on the top.

The solution is to slide the sleeve as far up as it will go. When it's dry this can be sticky and hard to slide. If you run some warm water on the sleeve and get some of it between the sleeve and the tank, it will slide more easily. You should probably learn how to take it off and put it back on anyway so you can clean out between the sleeve and the tub occasionally.

BTW, be sure to check the seal in the lid itself. Take the water tank out and put it aside. Look at the humidifier itself. Lift the lid and look on the bottom of the lid. There's a clear rubbery silicone seal. That's what seals the humidifier.