Remstar Pro with C-Flex + Problem

Hi all. My machine is having a intermittent problem. It will stop running in the night and go into alarm stating "service required". If I turn it off and on again it will try to start running but will just keep trying to start in spurts and the ramp light will blink. It happened just this morning and I found that if I take my hand and bang the bottom of the machine it will start running correctly again. I have also in the past, removed the cover, blown the inside out with canned air and it will run again. I thin I have read of others with the same problem with these machines. Is there a specific action I can take to correct the problem for good? I have written to Respironics about this problem over two months ago but have not received a reply yet. I also have a backup machine of the same brand and it does the same thing. I have cleaned the filters, swapped the power supplies and humidifiers and both still have the same problem. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

That sounds like blower bearings going out. You have two machines doing the same thing? That's odd.

How old are the machines?

P.S. The thread title says that you have a Pro with C-Flex+ (450/460) but your sig shows an Auto (550)

I would try different electrical outlets - you may have intermittent power in the original spot and should get that checked out.

Thanks to each of you for your reply. I am pretty sure it's not a bearing problem, in fact, I may have solved the issue, but time will tell. I have also used different power sources and got the same results. After posting my original topic I opened the unit and tried to get it to operate with the top off. It did the same thing, just kept burping on and off and the ramp light would flash once each time it burped. Then I took off the circuit board and the little rubber thingies that went up the a sensor on the circuit board from the output duct. It still burped. I then put the rubber thingies back on and made sure the circuit board was well seated against the three rubber thingy ports. Shazam, it worked and I cycled it several times to make sure it would come on each time and it did. I then used some foam and put it on top of the circuit board above those sensor ports to give down pressure when the top was put back on. This would ensure the rubber thingy ports are seated against the sensors. I again cycled the machine on and off several times and it worked each time. Now, I wait to see what will happen. The last time I had to give it a boost to get it to work was about three weeks ago. It could be a long wait and see. OH, I used my backup machine specs on my post, not the one listed.

Dear Air Force Retired,

You are a genius. I had exactly the same problem and was able to fix it using your method. Thanks for a description that was detailed enough to guide me through it. Your use of the term "thingy" threw me at first but when I actually opened up the machine, I could see exactly what you were talking about. My machine has been working for two months now and I didn't even need to put foam on the circuit board like you did. Thanks for taking the time to post this solution.

Thanks again,
Tom

I'm betting that respironics determined that this was a design flaw, because the newer models have a big honkin screw by the pressure sensors to hold the circuit board down

A.F.R., I have been having the same symptoms on the same machine (about 4-5 years old). Only difference is that my problems were not quite as consistent as yours, so it was very difficult to assess the problem or the cause. It usually started it's series of double beeps in the middle of the night and then it went off. I would unplug it, wait a little while, and then plug it back in. Sometimes this helped, but often it did not. This was going on about 3 times per night. I was dragging.

I knew It had to be something with the electronics, though it bugged me a little that from what I read, the alarms were similar to what you get with a major mask leak. But I had set all those alarms to off. Also I was not set up for auto on, auto off, or auto anything...just to be sure anything the machine wanted to do, it needed my permission first.

The other strange thing I was settling on is that it was (at least sometimes) triggered by any change in my breathing...such as a small yawn or grunt in the middle of the night. But since I was almost always asleep when the beeping started, it was hard to say for sure. Besides...it couldn't be both an airway problem AND an electronic problem...could it?

So after searching repair places online for answers (and finding none) I gave up and went through the brain damage of ordering a new machine. I had changed from private ins. to Medicare since my first machine, so there was no problem with insurance. But the issues with nursing staff at the clinic and the health provider almost did me in. The whole process took 4 weeks. No excuse for that.

Love the new machine (you can now program out the off/on beeps) and it is quieter. But I travel a fair amount in foreign countries, and I don't relish the idea of hooking up this expensive machine to typically problematic foreign power of varying voltages. So my quest became to get the old machine repaired so I could have a backup (and never be 4 weeks without a machine again) and to use exclusively for foreign travel.

Thinking it was the circuit board that needed replacing (although there was no sign of physical damage or burning), I started searching online for a source. From that I learned that there are many similar boards, all for the supposedly same machine. They must change the design often. I came very close to buying one on Ebay and was sure it was the same board. But I noticed just this morning in a careful zoomed-in examination that the "thingy" parts you described were different on the Ebay board, and they were not going to mate with the "receivers" on the blower of my machine. I had no idea what these things were for mind you, but I could see they were not going to match. Also I had no idea that I was likely staring at the very problem.

So I figured I was going to have to send it off some day when I had the spare $250 or so to get it fixed in some far away shop.

And as I was searching for those shops, I ran across your post. Glory Glory Halleluiah !! So...based on what you describe, it really COULD be both an airway and an electronic problem at the same time. Obviously (now) these little ports off the blower feed air pressure readings to the circuit board and the machine responds. Why the fit between the mail and female counterparts were no longer getting a good seal is a mystery, but I agree that the use of the foam spacer between the lid and the circuit board to put a little pressure on the ports is truly genius.

In fact I yanked out the small foam filter (shook off the dog hair) and used that. Perfect size and resistance in my opinion. I cleaned the receivers and the ports with an alcohol wipe first, just to be sure there were no crumbs or dust that might cause a bad seal.

I am wearing the darn thing now and it is giving me no problems. I will test if for a couple of nights and report back. I will be very happy to have a travelin' machine if I can get my confidence back in it...or I will be really bummed if it wakes me up with beeps tonight.

We shall see.
This is my first post to this board, as I just registered tonight. I promise that if I post again, it will not be so many words...but I think that this issue is important and I am betting a lot of people have spent a lot of money when a 5 minute fix woulda done it.

here's hopin'
thanks again, Tom

FredToo
Houston

I'm posting here to 'mark' your post so I can have my DH read it. I've had some of the same issues with mine.

Jean

Here it is July 2017 and following you fix I was able to fix my machine. So thank you so very much