Give away, sell or destroy my old resperonics

I have my old brick Resperonics. I have decided that when I get my 3rd machine, I won't need it as an emergency back up.

However, I am thinking what to do with it.

1. I don't think I should sell it. I detest the machine and I think that it would be wrong to take money for it.

2. I could give it away. For someone with no money it would be useful and it would prevent a company earning money by selling a brick. But then perhaps I am legitimizing it as a valid piece of medical equipment.

3. I could destroy it while photo documenting it to express what we think about bricks and make a performance art protest over bricks.

It is a Remstar Plus C-flex. Absolutely don't record anything except the hours it was worn.

I suggest giving it away. There are many people needing treatment who simply can't afford the cost of machines thru DME's. So far as it's being a brick, I personally won't worry about it. My first machine back in 1988 was a Healthdyne with no electronics whatever, not even a run-time meter, but at a basic CPAP rate it gave me tremendous relief from severe apnea.
Now, I do have a machine with quite a bit of informational output, but I do believe that I am not gaining a bit better relief than I had back in 1988. It is sort of fun to look at #of AHI, puffs, etc. But it is more of a hobby approach than a treatment approach. If I couldn't have a modern machine, I would gladly use a "brick"

TheDuke

TheDuke wrote:I suggest giving it away. There are many people needing treatment who simply can't afford the cost of machines thru DME's. So far as it's being a brick, I personally won't worry about it. My first machine back in 1988 was a Healthdyne with no electronics whatever, not even a run-time meter, but at a basic CPAP rate it gave me tremendous relief from severe apnea.
Now, I do have a machine with quite a bit of informational output, but I do believe that I am not gaining a bit better relief than I had back in 1988. It is sort of fun to look at #of AHI, puffs, etc. But it is more of a hobby approach than a treatment approach. If I couldn't have a modern machine, I would gladly use a "brick"

TheDuke

I wish there were a program or protocol for donating "brick" CPAPs that still work just fine--I have a ResMed Lightweight S7 I had to self-pay for at diagnosis I would be happy to give away, but most charity programs I found want models that are newer, and I simply don't know anyone else with apnea who is in need of a machine.

Do not donate it to Goodwill; they will destroy it.
Ask a homeless shelter if they can use it, or check with your doctor.

In my opinion, even the old CPAPs that are still working can knock out basic Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), which is THE major problem regarding sleep apnea in most folks. Give it away. Simple as that. Pugsy used to have a small stash of equipment, masks and accessories she would see got into the right hands. Probably some other members do the same thing, tho nobody comes to mind at the moment.

Absolutely! If nothing else, these old "bricks" are at least a stop-gap measure until someone can save up (or talk their insurance carrier into) data capable, apap, bipap, etc. I've thought about using freecycle.com, but it's not very active in my area, and I don't know if craigslist bans CPAP listings the way ebay does, or if anyone thinks to look on craigslist for a CPAP.

Sir NoddinOff wrote:In my opinion, even the old CPAPs that are still working can knock out basic Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), which is THE major problem regarding sleep apnea in most folks. Give it away. Simple as that. Pugsy used to have a small stash of equipment, masks and accessories she would see got into the right hands. Probably some other members do the same thing, tho nobody comes to mind at the moment.

I will probably give it away. I have so many projects to do.

Craiglist is a good idea.

Ed

I set my Jurrasic REMStar to 4 cmH2O and use it as a hose dryer when I wash my hoses.

There is always someone in need. This may be better than not having a pap.
I'd try to find someone who will appreciate it.

I have a couple of machines I have a Tank , I have a Remstar. and a couple 3 m-series BiPap

Tough call. If you give a brick CPAP away to a person in need, there's a serious problem unless the person, somehow, had a prior diagnostic and a titration study and knows what pressures, machine type, etc. are needed. Otherwise it may cause the person more harm than good. Like giving a person an old pair of contact lenses they never had a prescription for. Or an old bottle of antibiotics the person never got a prescription for. How smart would those things be. Charity is wonderful, but doing it this way could, theoretically, hurt someone. I wouldn't want that. An APAP brick is certainly a tad better, but a CPAP brick, noooo. Either ship it to that charity that helps poor people get CPAP tests and equipment (forgot name) or ship it back to the manufacturer for recycling the plastics and metals (they wont re-sell it for health reasons...). Otherwise take it to the local municipal electronics recycling station and see if they will take it. I would not throw it into the trash. Definitely at least get it recycled.

Some old machines have been re-homed via yard sales.
Recycling should be a last resort for that which cannot be re-used.
Corporations equate recycling to other methods, but it is much more costly.
And is actually wasteful! --To say nothing of the greed factor.

Repurposing the unit is a splendid idea. I use one of my old REMSTAR cinderblocks for blowing dust off of electronics and collectables.

My father's 2011 PR 550 Auto has been having problems with shutting off intermittently and so his DME/Medicare has replaced the unit. One charity outfit didn't want it because it has more than 2000 hours on the blower. (Plus, apparently, these places don't actually rebuild problem units. They only want virtually perfect ones of newer vintage.) Fair enough but what do I do with this thing?

There is something admittedly wrong with its electronics or whatnot, causing the shutdowns. Does any place takes these types of units? Rebuild them and re-sell or donate them?

I do NOT want to throw this in the trash and I do not want to spend $30 or whatnot to ship it to Respironic's president. My worst case scenario is dumping it at the city's electronics recycling site, but the folks there are not the brightest and only seem to understand what a TV and a PC are -- they once refused to take my digital coffee maker full of plastics and circuit boards. I can only imagine what a fight I will get dropping off a CPAP. "Really, its Apple's newest computer! Please take it and shred it! Please!"

Ask if the local homeless shelter can use it. Cold weather is coming.