Replacement Quattro is good

[cwsanfor]

I got my Quattro replaced on warranty. It had leaked badly from the elbow, and finally degraded so that the elbow (my third) detached from the shell several times a night from normal hose tugging.

The new one is almost silent, very unlike the old one. Interesting thing: along with an AHI of 0.7, right at my six month average, the leak rate was reduced to 43 LPM, down from about 60 LPM with the old Quattro, both at 15/19.5 cm H2O on BiPAP. Also, the leak chart was nearly flat, without the huge swings exhibited bt the first Quattro. It appears that the leaky elbow was definitely the problem.

So either I got a bad one, or more likely, Resmed has made a slipstream fix in production.

[Knightfall]

I received a Quattro from my DME around a week ago (lot #169326). I also own a UMFF which gets used sparingly; I do like the quick disconnect, the strap system changes and the new forehead adjustment on the Quattro.

I definitely feel leakage at the elbow on my Quattro. I can't say I hear the leak unless I deliberately put my hand near the elbow. With your new mask, do you feel any leakage at the elbow?

Ken

[cwsanfor]

Knightfall,

No, I don't really feel the leak with the new mask, but I am not sure I felt it with the old one. I could, however, definitely hear it, and although there is some audible leak with the new one, but it's minor. With either one, I can tilt the hose and detect a "sweet spot" at which there is no audible leak. It's just that with the new one, the leak is much smaller, and within acceptable limits to me.

I'm not thinking that there is the need for a zero leak at the elbow-shell connection, but I am saying that the leak rate at the elbow of the first mask was unacceptable to me, and the second mask has an acceptable leak rate from the elbow. The difference between the two masks, although based on on one night's comparison, appears to me to be about 17 LPM, which like most of my posts here, is a lot of hot air. That leak from the elbow cannot, IMHO, be a feature, it is a defect.

[Knightfall]

The difference between the two masks, although based on on one night's comparison, appears to me to be about 17 LPM, which like most of my posts here, is a lot of hot air. That leak from the elbow cannot, IMHO, be a feature, it is a defect.

I agree with you with the defect statement. I am trying to decide if the leakage I'm experiencing is sufficient to impact my therapy or not. When you're trying to achieve as good a seal as possible, it certainly would be nice to eliminate one that is mask induced, and I have to believe, outside of Resmed's design criteria.

Glad to hear you're experiencing improvements with the new mask.
Ken

[sleepyred]

My dme sent mine back and was told "no one else has complained about this, blah, blah, and the unit is fine - even called "the company" and they have not had any complaints either!"." Yeah - leaks like a sieve - did your dme send it back to Resmed?

Sleepyred

[cwsanfor]

Sleepyred: I don't use a bricks and mortar DME vendor, I only buy online. I hope that my vendor got satisfaction from Resmed because he has been very easy and efficient to deal with. However, that is a business matter between him and Resmed.

As I have indicated in previous posts, there is no question that Resmed has been made aware of this defect. I have contacted them directly, made my vendor well aware of the defect, and there is ample evidence on this forum of this defect.

Knightfall: I cannot say that the leak from the elbow of my first Quattro was to the detriment of my treatment efficacy as measured by AHI on the basis of only one night, since the pressure transducer (machine) should compensate for mask leaks within a reasonable range. However, it appears that I was hovering near or verging into "Large Leak" with the first mask, and since event data is not recorded during LL's, I suspect that the improvement in my AHI with the new mask is understated. I think that at my pressures (or any others), any leaks that can be avoided should be, and suspect that minimizing leaks increases the ability of and speed at which the machine can respond to events, although I would defer in that matter to forum members more expert than me.

I see that you are using a different machine than me, but the underlying principles should remain true.

[sleepyred]

Sleepyred: I don't use a bricks and mortar DME vendor, I only buy online. I hope that my vendor got satisfaction from Resmed because he has been very easy and efficient to deal with. However, that is a business matter between him and Resmed.

As I have indicated in previous posts, there is no question that Resmed has been made aware of this defect. I have contacted them directly, made my vendor well aware of the defect, and there is ample evidence on this forum of this defect.

I've called as well and might just do that again. I think my DME was just giving me a "canned answer." Or that might just be what she was actually told - who knows?

[RiverDave]

I also have the Quattro and had the same leaking problem cwsanfor has now (the small leak and sweet spot). I used the teflon tape fix found in the forum, and it eliminated all leaks from the elbow.

[sleepyred]

I also used the teflon tape - forgot to say that! Works like a charm!

I also have the Quattro and had the same leaking problem cwsanfor has now (the small leak and sweet spot). I used the teflon tape fix found in the forum, and it eliminated all leaks from the elbow.

[cwsanfor]

I'm glad to hear of your success with modifying your defective Quattro, Riverdave. I have two questions:

1) Did your modification affect the ability of the elbow to swivel?
2) Do you know why Resmed did not not ship the Quattro with Teflon tape attached, since that is what it appears to need?

I can't imagine that Teflon tape would improve the ability of the elbow to swivel, just based on my rudimentary grasp of physics, and I cannot understand that a company would ship a product that needed immediate modification in order to work correctly.

[RiverDave]

cwsanfor:

The teflon tape made the elbow joint a little tight for the first night or two of use, but it ultimately conformed to the grooves that lock the elbow into the mask. The extra friction was really minimal for two reasons I can think of: 1) I only used 2 or 3 wraps of the teflon tape on the elbow, and 2) teflon is really, really slippery.

As to ResMed's lack of proper engineering, I can't say. If I were an optimist I'd say they probably didn't know about the issue until after production had begun. If I were a pessimist, I'd say they knew about it but wouldn't fix it for financial reasons (I'm a pessimist, by the way).

Good luck

[sleepyred]

IMHO it's the "nature of the beast" when you have a pressure point joint! I'm just frustrated with my DME's lack of belief.

BTW - mine swivels just fine after a few nights - just like you said.

[quote="RiverDave"]cwsanfor:

The teflon tape made the elbow joint a little tight for the first night or two of use, but it ultimately conformed to the grooves that lock the elbow into the mask. The extra friction was really minimal for two reasons I can think of: 1) I only used 2 or 3 wraps of the teflon tape on the elbow, and 2) teflon is really, really slippery.

As to ResMed's lack of proper engineering, I can't say. If I were an optimist I'd say they probably didn't know about the issue until after production had begun. If I were a pessimist, I'd say they knew about it but wouldn't fix it for financial reasons (I'm a pessimist, by the way).

Good luck

[shippy]

Got my Quattro about three weeks ago and have not experienced any leakage from the swivel, must have got one from the good batch

Dale

[cwsanfor]

I finally bought some Teflon tape, and wrapped the elbow with two turns. The Quattro is now almost completely silent. The elbow turns just fine. My leak rate went from 60 to 45, and that 15 l/s difference was a really loud 15 l/s. It's like a new mask.

My most recent replacement Quattro started out quiet, but gradually loosened up, hence the taping. I will still have the elbow come off from time to time, but I'll just have to hope that Resmed fixes that in the next version.

Now on to the Total Face Mask (got that contraption yesterday, but I think I actually got it to seal) and the Soyala and the Hans Rudolph 7600 v2 ... A boy needs a hobby.