Advice

Hi. I need advice on travelling on a ship with a CPAP. I've two S9 machines, my main one, which is whisper quiet and going well, but is out of warranty this month (!). I've my old backup, which suffered a mishap and chipped a corner, but the motor (which works) hums.

I've taken it apart (thanking this forum for year down pictures), and made sure everything is set solidly. However, the noise is from the fan and even transmits up the hose. Unfortunately, whilst it gives therapy, I find the noise irritating for more than a night or two -- it is, after all, my emergency backup.

So, do I risk taking my main CPAP and have a restful holiday, or do I take the backup, which I won't mind too much if it gets damaged, but know that even with the waves against the ship I'll still have a buzzing transmitting up the hose?

Half of me says that I've paid for this holiday, so don't be silly and take the best CPAP. The other part of me will be gutted should, and it is an if, anything happen to it and I had to buy a new one.

Finally, and this is to the other [ engineers/people who have repaired an S9] in the forum. I've eliminated movement from the PCB (it's screwed in anyway), and the tube used to measure the air pressure seems to be seated correctly, although it's in a silicon seat which allows vibration. I've turned the uppermost fan by hand and it seems well lubricated, so I don't know why it should be humming louder than usual. I'm going to take it apart tonight (once you've taken it apart once it's actually straightforward), so any suggestions welcome. I don't think I can lubricate it, but I can blow compressed air into it.

Thanking everyone in advance

The problem is solved.

The wire from the fan that exits the seal and runs along the outside of the air chamber to the PCB has to be *tight* against the body of the air chamber (and along the fan). What was likely to be happening was there was slight play, which must've vibrated at particular rotational velocities of the fan (probably akin to a natural frequency) causing the buzzing. Weird how acoustics can amplify the slightest vibration.

Desperation - the inspiration to finally fix it.

Anyhow - travel CPAP fixed and ready to go.

Always feels good to solve a problem - enjoy your trip.

By all means take the new one and make sure you have the correct device to plug it in. Aboard ship your partner might not be able to deal with noise and you will better enjoy the trip using a machine that you can trust.

BanjoPaterson wrote:The problem is solved.

The wire from the fan that exits the seal and runs along the outside of the air chamber to the PCB has to be *tight* against the body of the air chamber (and along the fan). What was likely to be happening was there was slight play, which must've vibrated at particular rotational velocities of the fan (probably akin to a natural frequency) causing the buzzing. Weird how acoustics can amplify the slightest vibration.

Desperation - the inspiration to finally fix it.

Anyhow - travel CPAP fixed and ready to go.

BP: Good troubleshooting and the subsequent repair ... thanks for sharing that.

My thought was buying a new machine would be more expensive away from home;
but your home is about the most expensive place to buy a cpap.
Depending on where you are headed, you might buy a new machine during the trip,
and pretend it's the one you left with.

There is a low ambient noise from the ship's engines and the ventilation systems ship board that might have covered the machine's noise in any case. But I'm glad you were able to fix it.

Thanking everyone for the input. I appreciate the time people took to reply. Although I'm an infrequent poster on this forum, I still lurk around because it's a great source of information with a very well informed community. On the few times I've felt able to respond to a question, about a dozen better informed people have already answered it!

I'll be leaving this week-end, so looking forward to going.

PS: I agree with the last poster, that the ship's noises (we're in the aft cabin, so plenty of ocean noise from the wake) would have probably have masked it.

Best wishes all and Happy Festive Season.