Dreamstation noises - second machine to do so!

[nansaidh]

I've been using a Dreamstation since mid-Nov 2019 and all in all, my therapy is going well and is successful. I am 100% compliant.

Last month some time my machine developed a "moaning" noise on expiration that drove me crazy. It didn't do this from the start and it seriously affected my ability to fall asleep. In what I hoped was thoroughness, I did everything I could think of to rule out all parts save the machine - it still made the noises without the humidifier, without the mask (breathing directly into the tubing), with a different mask, with the (unheated) tubing reversed, I re-seated the gasket between the machine & humidifier, tested with different settings on the machine, anything at all I could come up with as a variable. Eventually I contacted my DME supplier and (of course) when they tested it in their office, it didn't make the sounds it did at home. At all. They said that in their experience, "these machines (blowers) rarely go bad." They (reluctantly) gave me another identical machine which was quiet (enough) again and I've been using that since.

This second machine has developed the same moaning sound on expiration, in what I estimate to be about the same time frame from start-of-use. Pardon the expression, but WTF?! If I go back to the DME supplier, I don't anticipate the cooperation I reluctantly received the last time. I'm going to end up paying more than $900 for this thing by the time my required payments to the insurance co. are done, so yes, I WILL go back but I REALLY want to make sure I'm not missing something before I do. What am I doing wrong?

Most gratefully submitted...
Nancy

[D.H.]

You should never pay $900 for this machine new in the US. You can get it for less out of pocket!

BTW, make sure that Aflex and Cflex are both disabled. I found those things annoying. They can be enabled (or disabled) remotely, so it's possible your DME had been changing it. Sometimes, DMEs just reset machines to the prescription on record.

[D.H.]

BTW, did you use a So-Clean machine or other similar device on it? That could cause such problems!

[jimbud]

Do you have your machine on some kind of vibration absorbing mat?

JPB

[Wulfman...]

I've been using a Dreamstation since mid-Nov 2019 and all in all, my therapy is going well and is successful. I am 100% compliant.

Last month some time my machine developed a "moaning" noise on expiration that drove me crazy. It didn't do this from the start and it seriously affected my ability to fall asleep. In what I hoped was thoroughness, I did everything I could think of to rule out all parts save the machine - it still made the noises without the humidifier, without the mask (breathing directly into the tubing), with a different mask, with the (unheated) tubing reversed, I re-seated the gasket between the machine & humidifier, tested with different settings on the machine, anything at all I could come up with as a variable. Eventually I contacted my DME supplier and (of course) when they tested it in their office, it didn't make the sounds it did at home. At all. They said that in their experience, "these machines (blowers) rarely go bad." They (reluctantly) gave me another identical machine which was quiet (enough) again and I've been using that since.

This second machine has developed the same moaning sound on expiration, in what I estimate to be about the same time frame from start-of-use. Pardon the expression, but WTF?! If I go back to the DME supplier, I don't anticipate the cooperation I reluctantly received the last time. I'm going to end up paying more than $900 for this thing by the time my required payments to the insurance co. are done, so yes, I WILL go back but I REALLY want to make sure I'm not missing something before I do. What am I doing wrong?

Most gratefully submitted...
Nancy

We have NO IDEA what you're doing, so how could we evaluate/diagnose your problem?
Were you taking things apart? Cleaning things? If so, that might be one of the first procedures you might analyze.
It seems kind of ludicrous to ask them for a different machine if it's something YOU'RE doing wrong.
We also have no idea what your opinion of "moaning" is, either.
Are you running your machine while you're awake and attentive to the sounds it makes?
Trying to narrow down the location of the sounds?

Den

.

[nansaidh]

BTW, did you use a So-Clean machine or other similar device on it? That could cause such problems!

No, I've never used any of those cleaning machines.

[nansaidh]

I've been using a Dreamstation since mid-Nov 2019 and all in all, my therapy is going well and is successful. I am 100% compliant.

Last month some time my machine developed a "moaning" noise on expiration that drove me crazy. It didn't do this from the start and it seriously affected my ability to fall asleep. In what I hoped was thoroughness, I did everything I could think of to rule out all parts save the machine - it still made the noises without the humidifier, without the mask (breathing directly into the tubing), with a different mask, with the (unheated) tubing reversed, I re-seated the gasket between the machine & humidifier, tested with different settings on the machine, anything at all I could come up with as a variable. Eventually I contacted my DME supplier and (of course) when they tested it in their office, it didn't make the sounds it did at home. At all. They said that in their experience, "these machines (blowers) rarely go bad." They (reluctantly) gave me another identical machine which was quiet (enough) again and I've been using that since.

This second machine has developed the same moaning sound on expiration, in what I estimate to be about the same time frame from start-of-use. Pardon the expression, but WTF?! If I go back to the DME supplier, I don't anticipate the cooperation I reluctantly received the last time. I'm going to end up paying more than $900 for this thing by the time my required payments to the insurance co. are done, so yes, I WILL go back but I REALLY want to make sure I'm not missing something before I do. What am I doing wrong?

Most gratefully submitted...
Nancy

We have NO IDEA what you're doing, so how could we evaluate/diagnose your problem?
Were you taking things apart? Cleaning things? If so, that might be one of the first procedures you might analyze.
It seems kind of ludicrous to ask them for a different machine if it's something YOU'RE doing wrong.
We also have no idea what your opinion of "moaning" is, either.
Are you running your machine while you're awake and attentive to the sounds it makes?
Trying to narrow down the location of the sounds?

Den
.

Hello,

I thought I laid out pretty well what actions I had taken. As I mentioned in my IP, I did attempt to narrow down the location of the sounds: I used the machine without the humidifier (to rule out the humidifier as a cause), I ruled out the mask by breathing directly into the tube, I tried a different mask, I reversed the tubing, I re-seated the gasket between the machine & humidifier, replaced the air filters, tested with different settings on the machine... none of which stopped the moaning noises. Yes, all of this was while I was awake and attentive. No, I did not take the machine apart other than to detach and reattach the humidifier and re-seat the gasket and air filters.

Ludicrosity aside, I posted this question to SEE if it was something I was doing wrong or that I shouldn't be doing.

As far as my description of the moans/noises, a "moan" is as close as I can come. I will try to record it.

Nancy

[nansaidh]

Do you have your machine on some kind of vibration absorbing mat?

JPB

Thanks! I will look for one!

Nancy

[palerider]

The times I've heard something like that, it was generated by irregularities on the inside of the hose, and one time by a respironics brand elbow, that was rough on the inside instead of smooth like it should have been. These non smooth surfaces set up resonances in the hose, creating moaning and/or whistling.