Arrrrrrggggg !!!! Quattro leaking like a sieve now

[shippy]

Does anyone know how long the silicone cushion is supposed to last, I know its recommended and insurance will pay to replace a mask every six months. Got my Quattro about three and a half months ago, leak rate pretty good until about the last week or two, now i am getting some large leaks and having to tighten up the straps pretty tight (cpap pressure 16cm) to control the leaks. When this mask was new it looked like it was gods gift to cpaping, not so sure now. I see where a new cushion can be purchased from our sponsors for 60.00 bucks which is 30% the cost of a new complete mask.

Dale

[shippy]

O.K. Shamelessly bumping my own thread since i got no responses

Lets try this again those of you who have a Quattro FF mask has your mask gone to crap after just three months like mine did. Seems like the silicone seal has gotten flimsy and started leaking badly. I have only washed it with Dove pure soap and have not done anything to damage the seal. Last night i pulled out my Soyala FF mask out of the do not use drawer in a desperation move, slapped a bandaid over my nose bridge and achieved a 1.9 AHI with little leakage felt pretty good today, will stick with the nose killer for a while again.

Dale

[RiverDave]

Shippy,

Don't know how long the cushions are supposed to last, but it has been my experience that after about 2 months. I can tell the difference between new and old then. The leak rate just kind of increased slowly and then exploded at the end.

Good Luck,

[Snoredog]

I've gotten 2 years out of a single UMFF mask, cushion & headgear, in fact I still use that mask when I travel and become congested.

I use the stuff that you are not supposed to use, I use Dawn Antibacterial Citrus liquid hand soap. Squirt some in the bathroom sink, run only hot water to fill the sink give it the bar glass cleaning treatment and rinse.

I never take the cushion off the mask frame to clean unless I'm replacing it with a new one. Remove it as the mfg suggests and you will be going through masks once a month.

All you have to do is remove the quick-release clips from the mask removing the headgear and clean the mask fully assembled. I use a wash cloth and my fingers, rinse, shake the water out of it and dry in a towel and wear it.

works for me.

P.S. I've gotten a year now on my Soyala nasal mask and there is no sign of wear.

[Wolfmarsh]

I pretty much do the exact same as snoredog, and I think my UMFF is as good as it was new (6 months ago)

[Wulfman...]

Does anyone know how long the silicone cushion is supposed to last, I know its recommended and insurance will pay to replace a mask every six months. Got my Quattro about three and a half months ago, leak rate pretty good until about the last week or two, now i am getting some large leaks and having to tighten up the straps pretty tight (cpap pressure 16cm) to control the leaks. When this mask was new it looked like it was gods gift to cpaping, not so sure now. I see where a new cushion can be purchased from our sponsors for 60.00 bucks which is 30% the cost of a new complete mask.

Dale

Dale,

Are you ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE that it's the seals that's leaking??? Have you done the "Teflon tape fix" to the elbow in the front of the mask? It's not unusual for me to get Large Leaks, too......but it's usually a sleep or positional thing with me......happens at almost the same time of the night, so I'm assuming it's happening during a deep sleep stage.....starts and stops very abruptly and I never know it's happened until I look at my charts in the morning......could be a couple of minutes or it could be for a half hour or more. If your seals are wearing out, I would assume (since I've never seen it happen) that you'd have a larger AVERAGE leak number and the leak line would look about the same all night long. Don't over-tighten the mask, either.....that's liable to make it leak MORE. Unless you've actually got a tear or rip in the seals, I would look for a different cause.

Den

[jburnham]

Me three - I only dissassemble for a weekly soaking in Control sterilizer, otherwise it's a daily quick wash and rinse with baby shampoo. I'm pretty sure a daily disassemble/reassemble would wear out the mask quickly.

[shippy]

Thanks

Den
Thought i had the swivel thing solved by using a rubber band around the swivel and around the left side headband clip, which applies enough downward force to the swivel where i could not feel or hear the leak, guess i will have to go teflon and see if it helps.

Snoredog and jburnham
Made the mistake of watching the manufacturers video when i got the mask and have been removing the silicone seal and frame from the mask by popping out the three retaining clips and then removing the silicone from the cushion frame to soak in lukewarm water with soap. Sounds like a no no. May need to go ahead and buy another seal.


Riverdave
Yes i feel like after a couple of months with any new mask UMFF or whatever there is a point where they don't seal as good IMHO like you said slowly increased leak rate and finally a leak explosion.

Dale

[Wulfman...]

Dale,

On your reports, are they showing "black line" Large Leaks or is it just your average leak rate that's higher?

Den

[shippy]

O.K. Den your making me do my homework ha! ha!

Went back and looked at the long term reports all the way back to where i got software starting on 12/21/06 and its becoming apparent that this Quattro mask has sucked all along since i got it on 6/12/07. Please someone correct me if i am wrong but if the Quattro's intentional leak rate is the same as an UMFF as i think it is 48 lpm at 16 cm's of cpap pressure would not ones Avg. Leak Rate be at or below 48 lpm in a perfect world so to speak.

Here are my long term numbers

Quattro 9/11 to 9/25/07
Avg. AHI 3.1
Avg. Max Leak 99.8
Avg. 90% Leak 68.8
Avg. Leak 55.6
Avg. Large Leak 4 mins.

Quattro 7/6 to 9/4/07
Avg. AHI 2.8
Max Leak 100.0
Avg. 90% Leak 68.1
Avg. Leak 57.2
Avg. Large Leak 6 mins.

UMFF is worse though for the period of 02/15 to 7/4/07 the last 22 days of this period on the Quattro

UMFF & Quattro
Avg. AHI 4.1
Max Leak 111.0
Avg. 90% Leak 77.9
Avg. Leak 62.6
Avg. Large Leak 16 mins

UMFF 12/21/06 to 2/2/07
Avg. AHI 5.2
Max Leak 118.2
Avg. 90% Leak 99.4
Avg. Leak 77.7
Avg. Large Leak 1hr 20 mins. mins

The obvious things that stick out are an improvement in AHI since i started therapy thanks to what i have learned from the folks here at cpaptalk, and some what of an improvement in the large leak area and the average leak is lower than when i started. But it appears if my theory is correct need to get at or below the intentional leak rate am i right or wrong in this assessment ?

Dale

[Wulfman...]

Dale,

Are those numbers coming off of Encore Pro Analyzer or Encore Pro ("Sleep Therapy Long Term Trend" report)?
If they're coming from EPA, I don't pay much attention to those numbers.....I mostly go by the Encore Pro reports.....I look at the events on the leak line in the Daily Details reports. And THIS is where I go by the "How do you feel?" scenario. If I feel like I got a good night's sleep, I don't worry about it. I get some large (sudden) leaks on some nights.....but it's happening when I'm deep into my sleep and there isn't much I can do about it at that point. They stop as suddenly as they start. I don't have my machine set to shut off or warn me of large leaks.....it just keeps blowing air.....which is what I want it to do.

I'd try the "Teflon tape fix" on the elbow next. When I wrapped mine, the leak rate went from the upper 30's to the lower 30's.

Yeah, the numbers are a little bit high, but not what I'd consider totally out of the ballpark considering your pressure.

P.S. I've had leak numbers larger than that. (at pressures of 10 and 12)


Den

[shippy]

Den

The info is from Encore Pro long term reports and not the analyzer

Dale