You know that really annoying high pitch (updated SUCCESS)

We ran it at the DME last week and of course, they couldn't hear anything.

When I went to bed that night? Sure enough...there it was! ARRGH.

Anyhow. I called the DME today and let them know I'm still having that noise and even with my headphones on it's driving both husband and I nuts! I'm getting a new unit today. They just told me to bring it in and they'll send it back to resmed but are giving me a new one.

(crossing fingers I have a quiet, non high pitch ear piercing, brain searing through my eyeballs noise tonight.)

If the new unit does the same thing, the noise of the machine in the space of your room is probably causing a high-frequency harmonic to resonate. Try putting a cloth in or near any hard surfaces near the machine to see if that helps dampen the noise.

Hopefully, you won't have it at all.

Let us know if the new one is quieter. A friend had a Remstar that had a high pitched sound and when she took it back they said it was a faulty machine, and sure enough, the next one was didn't have it. Hope yours turns out the same.
Kathy

Sadly, we tried several different Elite II's and I could hear it on all of them. It's just one of those pitches I guess for me.

I will say though we turned off the EPR and while I was struggling a bit exhaling, I didn't hear the whine nearly as much. I may have to slowly build myself up to no EPR. Going to try the EPR tonight at 1 vs 2.

(Will probably try to fashion a foam cushion to wrap it in at some point). They told me so long as the filter intake wasn't covered that was fine.

Will keep trying different things.

OH...wanted to add. The tech over at the DME insisted my straps were too loose and yanked them down so tight!!! She kept trying to convince me it was the mask making the noise as opposed to the actual machine.

I was like...no way honey, and btw....this mask is far too tight. She kept insisting I needed it that tight and I told her no, actually it's not supposed to hurt, my nose is supposed to rest on the pillows not have the pillows engulfed into my sinus cavity I told her if she had any concerns that my mask was leaking to feel free and download the info off the machine to check. .... she declined.

I kind of wish the lady who I had dealt with last time (and this morning on the phone) was there this aft. She was cool. This one?? not so much.

It's amazing how many people who don't wear a mask every night think that tightening the straps will solve a leak problem. If course it does in some cases, but in many cases a mask that is too tight only exacerbates a leak problem. Sometimes loosening the straps will stop leaks.

i am not familiar with your mask but i can say that different masks make different noises but USUALLY only you can hear then.
try covering your vent hole to see if the pitch changes. if it does it's a good guess that the air flow over some part or piece is causing the noise.
i have a nasal and a ff and the sounds are different and if i switch i have to get used to the noise all over again

OH no...she could hear the noise and it wasn't from the mask. I sent a letter to resmed to see what they have to say about the noise I'm hearing.

(my husband can hear it too)

The thing is...it WASN'T there the first week I was on the machine. I have very sensitive hearing so I spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with the noises from the equipment the first day I got it. (Long before I went to bed). It simply wasn't there.

The tech heard, acknowledged it and told me I was lucky to have this machine vs older models. I wanted to thump her one on the head.

Yeah...I'm feeling oh so joyous about spending the rest of my nights attached to a hose. twit!!!

Have you considered a different brand of machine?

I got an Autoset II partly because it was listed as 5 decibels quieter than any other machine, even the Elite. It might be enough to make the difference for you. If you can hear it right away, you might check them out. An auto is covered by the same code as a CPAP, and you can run it in CPAP mode if you want. Now that I at 9, I can hear a little on exhale with EPR, but to me, it isn't high pitched.

Hope you can find a solution. Noise is a big deal to anyone who is sensitive.

I did a few experiments last night and will continue tonight but...here are my results from last nights run

while ramping, no high pitch until it hit 6.8. I had a couple of old baby blankets nearby so I covered the machine with those and it helped to muffle it.

woke up at some point to use the loo, came back to bed...again, no hum during the quick ramp (I have it set for 5 minutes) and was able to fall asleep again right away.

I woke up at another point due to a minor leak (I tried a different size pillow last night...won't do that again), the pitch was there but much quieter after running for several hours.

I was going to try turning the epr to 1 last night but because I went with a smaller pillow I decided against it. tonight I'm going back to my medium pillow so I'll try that tonight.

A review of some of the ideas:

Lowering the machine closer to the floor.
Placing it on top of a piece of carpet or fabric or on a mouse pad.
Surrounding the area around the machine with fabric. (Try different fabrics, it matters.)
Changing pressure by less than a cm can change the resonating frequency and how it interacts with its environment.
Putting less or more water in the humifier tank changes the noise slightly.
Putting a cardboard box over it with cutouts for the hose and for the intake where the filter is.
Changing the direction of the machine a bit by turning it slightly to the left or right.
Using a white-noise generator or a quiet little fan that covers the noise.

Try touching places on the machine as it runs to see if the sound has a location, especially around the humidifier. Maybe a small piece of tape or fabric in the just the right spot will make a difference. Make sure the humifier chamber is well seated and that the chamber cover is not vibrating against the plastic latch.

Listen closely also to sounds coming from other things in the room, like an alarm clock. Sometimes the two frequencies together are the problem so that moving the clock a few feet away can change things.

I was already in the habit of sleeping with ear plugs because I used to be a night worker.

jeff

WOW...thanks for the list jnk!!

I'm going to further my experiments nightly.

Have you tried using the machine for a few hours in a different room? Perhaps it is the acoustics emphasizing the sound.

Yup. I had one night where DH had the stomach flu. I moved to the sofa as he was tossing and turning and terribly uncomfortable all night.

I moved everything down to the family room and it was still there so... I'll figure it all out or eventually get used to it I suppose. I'm going to try some of jnk's suggestions tonight.

I'm thinking I might pick up a thin piece of high density foam to wrap it in to muffle the pitch if I can. I need to run out again later and there is fabric store next to where I'm going so we'll see if they have some. (something kind of rubbery I think will do the best job)