What are good O2 Concentrators

[CpapWife]

9forus - My husband can't used pressurized air (or oxygen). He had chemo for Testicular Cancer and one of the chemo drugs can create problems in the lungs where they will quit working if exposed to compressed air, high oxygen amounts, or long term oxygen (not at high amount). About 10% of the people who have the chemo treatment have this complication, but I think less now they have reworked the protocol (unfortunately hubby had the old protocol). But since it had like a 98% chance of curing the cancer, it was real hard to say no to.
Hubby has had no lung complications (typically show up within a few months, one of the things they keep an eye on), but rare cases it pops up like 10 years later, so we are being cautious, and are fine to give up scuba diving forever. We did have the sleep Dr do a full lung checkup (he passed with flying colors, probably better than I would have) and they are doing another one in 6 months to confirm that long term o2 will not have any bad effects.

Doing some more checking, the typical at night o2 compressors run about $700 (give or take some) about 40 lbs and 40 db for the quieter ones. The portable are much more pricy.

Respironics has a new one that is smaller but for night time stationary use, but only about 20 lbs or so, but the max is 2 Lpm and the price is similar to the portable ones.
http://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare-p ... ncentrator

I would like something like that but that would go a little higher in LPM in case that ever gets changed. We are taking a trip in 3 months, so we will decide what to do at that time, luggging a 40 lb huge o2 concentrator around does not feel like fun and we will be switching lodgings every night for a few nights.

[chunkyfrog]

My sister-in-law started out on concentrators, but uses tanks now, with a concentrator as emergency back up when they travel (by SUV--a big one) a portable tank is quiet and easily refilled from a medium tank in the car.
As long as his need is in the low single digits, and at night only, the "affordable" route sounds good.

[CpapWife]

Just wanted to update what we settled on.
We went for the Invacare® SOLO2® Portable Oxygen Concentrator because it goes up to 3 lpm, not just 2. And it is only 17 lbs, so easy to take on trips including carry on a plane. We are happy with it.
We did end up getting a used one as we could get one a couple years old without a lot of use that was a good price. We happen to live in AZ and so there is more o2 concentrators (and maybe cpaps also) since we have a large older population here.

[sickwithapnea17]

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[Goofproof]

my O2 concentrator was badly damaged on a flight because it was put in baggage. can you get a doctor's note and take the concentrator as a carry on? I need to be on 8 hours of oxygen a day just to feel normal. but I don't have the cancer restriction

You need to read your own posts, and choose which story to use and stay with it! A couple of days ago, it was a 120 volt concentrator and you hooked it up to 220 volts, and fried it. ¿ ¿ ¿ Jim

[chunkyfrog]

Nice catch, Goofproof!

[cpapwife (as guest)]

I just wanted to do an update.
I was searching the forums and stumbled upon my old post.

We had hubby checked out by the pulmololgist after several months on o2 and no problems from the chemo drugs (nice to know). Since o2 added to a cpap is not direct pressurized o2 (like scuba diving or airplane emergency oxygen), it is not as much of a concern, but low levels of added o2 can cause damage and we wanted to make sure.

I am surprised, we have had the Invocare Solo2 for over 9 years now, used nightly, for probably 9 hours a night average. Still works great but we are getting a new one just cause it is old.

Newer units are lighter and smaller and supposedly quieter and use less electricity so should not be as hot.
Still researching but down to a few that we will choose from.

[Goofproof]

O2 used with XPAP should be full time flow, NOT pulsed, if you are now using pulse flow for XPAP, you are NOT supposed to use that. Full Flow Only!!! Jim

While NEW smaller units look nice and have nice features, quality and lifespans suffers. Not Quality built. Jim

I went thru 3 from lincare, then they gave me a high mileage old unit, it's still working, noise heat and high electric use.

[JimW159]

I am currently on 2LPM supplementary O2 and have used two concentrators:
The first was the Philips EverFlo Home oxygen system https://www.usa.philips.com/healthcare/ ... ncentrator which I used for about two years. It was fairly loud and bulky but had a fairly wide range of continuous output (0.5 - 5 LPM). When nearby, I found it difficult to sleep - consequently I got a 50 ft tube and put the machine in a walk-in closet some 30 feet from the bed; problem solved.
My second and current machine is an O2 Concepts Oxlife Independence portable https://www.o2-concepts.com/products/ox ... dependence
It is located in the same place as the former unit but I have routed the tubing somewhat differently with Wiremold raceway along baseboards and through walls. It is significantly smaller and has integrated wheels and a handle for easy transport. It seems quieter though its sound level is the same as the former unit. It is also FAA approved for use on aircraft. Its output rating is a maximum of 3 LPM continuous and with the standard battery (built in) it will operate for about two hours @ 2 LPM.

[Cpapwife as guest]

Jim, you at missing information - I clearly stated a couple times that I am talking about smaller portable machines that do continous O2 not pulse.
The new machines (came out since 2012) will go up to 3 L on continuous O2 and are very portable (14-18 lbs, smaller size though they typically come with a cart to make it easier to drag around).

In fact our Solo2 from invocare that hubby has used since 2008 (and it was bought used) did 3 L continous as it’s max - though that I have always called semi portable as it closer to 30 lbs about 1/3 larger than the latest ones.

[Goofproof]

Jim, you at missing information - I clearly stated a couple times that I am talking about smaller portable machines that do continous O2 not pulse.
The new machines (came out since 2012) will go up to 3 L on continuous O2 and are very portable (14-18 lbs, smaller size though they typically come with a cart to make it easier to drag around).

In fact our Solo2 from invocare that hubby has used since 2008 (and it was bought used) did 3 L continous as it’s max - though that I have always called semi portable as it closer to 30 lbs about 1/3 larger than the latest ones.

The title of your posts asks about good O2 Concentrators in general not any special type, not travel units only.

[Goofproof]

Jen, that helps to know that the price is dependent on the warranty. Sorry to hear about your husband, I hope you both enjoy the time he has left.

Sorry I wasn't clear, its my Hubby's brother that is dying. He is more like my child than a brother-in-law. I'm the family 'caregiver' & Bryan has been my 'problem-child' for years. We are all making the most of the time we have left with him.

Regarding the O2, another thought came to me - Inogen has another unit, weight 4.8lbs. It also comes with the carry bag, but I'm not sure about the cart. It might be ideal for travel due to its size. However, the battery runs for approx. 5 hrs on EITHER unit, so this might be a problem. You would need to ask how long it runs on 'pulse', timing might be OK, but that fact just popped into my head.

Keep searching the internet, I'm sure the answer is out there. I'll go back thru my notes & post any other useful info if I find any.

Jen

PULSE is NOT to be used with XPAP units. PERIOD. Full Flow ONLY with XPAP units. Jim

Also the Filters need serviced (usually Cleaned or washed) Plus the Flow and O2 strength (percent of O2) need to be checked.

[CpapWife]

I wanted to make a correction. I can't change this in the original post as I was a guest, but I misread the dates when seeing when this thread started. We had our solo2 for 3 years, bought it used (I don't know how old but it was lightly used and I think not more than a year or three at most). We got about 11000 hours out of it which was not bad at all for a new version of semi portable (not as small as the smallest portables but nowhere near as big as all the other at homes that were selling at the time).