what to do when your cpap breaks?

Woke up this morning and my apap had just shut off with the error message 'service required'. Its a dreamstation go and I don't have a backup. Given that I can't sleep without one and my sleep doctor hasn't answered my call yet (its early), what exactly is a person supposed to do in this situation? Money isn't an issue, I just need to get it fixed or get a replacement today. What should I do?

Get one of a local buy/sell site like Craigs list.

You can be all setup before noon. Then when you get your next machine you'll have a spare.

allennosleep wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:23 am

Woke up this morning and my apap had just shut off with the error message 'service required'. Its a dreamstation go and I don't have a backup. Given that I can't sleep without one and my sleep doctor hasn't answered my call yet (its early), what exactly is a person supposed to do in this situation? Money isn't an issue, I just need to get it fixed or get a replacement today. What should I do?

I don't think your doctor will help you with a broken CPAP...Find a DME in your area and see if they can help.
Where are you located? Repairs available at http://www.ACBIO.com

allennosleep wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:23 am

what exactly is a person supposed to do in this situation? Money isn't an issue, I just need to get it fixed or get a replacement today. What should I do?

Go to a local DME and spend a ton of money, then buy a spare for the next time it craps out on you.

In 15 years it's never happened, but if it did I would hook up one of two like units, and keep on trucking! Then I'd repair or replace it. (Ex boy Scout rule, Be Prepared) Jim

You definitely need a spare.
Remember, the forum hosts, //www.cpap.com offers
OVERNIGHT SHIPPING
And competitive pricing.

This happened to me while visiting relatives over Christmas last year.

My habit was to keep my older apap as a spare, and to use it for travel.

Ha! My older pap went paws up, I was in a faraway city and state, and Christmas was 2 days away.

I was able to get a new travel apap from cpap.com (on sale) and have it express delivered in less than 24 hours.

In the meanwhile, I slept seated upright, in a recliner. (Felt a bit icky the next days, of course.)

allennosleep wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:23 am

Woke up this morning and my apap had just shut off with the error message 'service required'. Its a dreamstation go and I don't have a backup. Given that I can't sleep without one and my sleep doctor hasn't answered my call yet (its early), what exactly is a person supposed to do in this situation? Money isn't an issue, I just need to get it fixed or get a replacement today. What should I do?

You've been on the forum for exactly nine years.
In that time you should have read many posts about what to do if that should happen........
For many/most of us, we would have pulled out one of our spare/backup machines to use while we had the other one repaired or replaced. That's WHY we have spares/backup machines for when that happens. It may never happen, but if it does, we're prepared.
There have been a number of posts regarding that very problem you've encountered.

search.php?keywords=%22service+required%22

According to the service manual for the Dreamstation:

ALERT
Service Required

TYPE
Safe State

DESCRIPTION
Indicates an error which enters device into “Safe State.”
This allows power to remain on but airflow is disabled.

POSSIBLE CAUSE
Device error.

ACTION
Press Control Dial to silence alert.
Disconnect device from power.
Reattach power cord to restore power.
If the alert continues to occur, retrieve possible error codes and troubleshoot for possible failure.


Den

.

According to the Dreamstation Go manual:

“Service Required” shown on display.
• A device error has occurred and placed the device into safe state.
• Read the error log using the Service Center Tools software, and refer to the device error code table above to troubleshoot the issue.


I would suggest contacting: http://acbio.com/


Den

.

Wulfman... wrote: ↑

Mon Nov 09, 2020 10:30 pm

You've been on the forum for exactly nine years.
In that time you should have read many posts about what to do if that should happen........
For many/most of us, we would have pulled out one of our spare/backup machines to use while we had the other one repaired or replaced. That's WHY we have spares/backup machines for when that happens. It may never happen, but if it does, we're prepared.

I appreciate the tough love and TBH I should have known better. My dreamstation regular backup unit had failed a few years ago and I didn't get a backup or get it fixed when that happened. I have since fixed that problem. I recommend everyone have a backup machine as getting a new one with zero day notice was expensive and a pain (lesson re-learned).

x

dpeterzell wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 07, 2021 12:55 pm

In addition to having a backup CPAP machine (complete with backup masks, tubing, power supply, etc.), there's value, I believe, in having an oral appliance as an alternative. A cheap one is available (SnoreRx) that seems to match the absurdly expensive ones in terms of efficacy and safety (as far as I can tell) and there may be others. See other threads for a discussion of efficacy and safety issues -- it's a controversial fix. Personally, I sometimes find myself in places where there's no reliable power supply, and where trekking around with a CPAP apparatus isn't feasible. In those situations, the oral appliance is an imperfect solution, but much better than nothing.

I did this as well (snorerx) as a backup for the backup. I've had pretty good luck using the dreamstation go with battery (two actually) on international biz class flights but the snorerx would be a last line of defense if they didn't allow me to use it as I've heard some people say.

Have a backup, my machine broke last week and luckily I had a back up. You will be grateful for the night that your main machine starts malfunctioning or breaks, trust me.

The machine I got in 2009 broke in 2013. However, the machine from 2005 (which I keep as a spare) was in good working order (and is to this day).