Hybrid seal @ elbow

Archoliva · Post by **Archoliva** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:43 pm

Is there anyone who can help me w/ a quick question before I try my new mask for the first full night? I am trying the hybrid which has a vent port at the elbow. It would appear that it should seal itself off when inhaling & open when exhaling - however, it stays open at all times & lets out a tremendous amount of air which is noisy & I'm afraid of not getting the proper pressure due to what seams to be a giant leak. Is this mask designed to let out so much air in addition to the exhaust holes? Does anyone have a picture of this "flap" anti asphyxiation port.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm

I had the same problem one time. No, it's not supposed to blow out so much. It's misligned. The way I got mine fixed was to blow hard through the mask with my mouth several times while the mask was on and that re-seated it. Hope that helps.

Archoliva · Post by **Archoliva** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 10:00 pm

thanks guest -
why does air have to go out there anyway? Aren't the exhaust holes enough. I'm wondering if this is a redundant feature & can be taped shut?

RiverDave · Post by **RiverDave** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:53 am

Air is only supposed to go out of the anti-asphyxiation valve when the unit is not running. Air pressure seals it when there is air moving through the system. If you fix the flap alignment, it will not be noisy and you will not be breathing the same air over and over in a power outage.

Nodzy · Post by **Nodzy** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 7:02 am

RiverDave is right. The problem is, even some of the newer shells have a anti-asphyxiation valve flap that is slightly misaligned and will not reliably seal well every time when air is fed into the mask. It also appears to me that the flap in some of the shells is several millimeters too narrow to ensure a consistently good seal when air is fed into the mask and the valve flap closes. Any leak there, added to the fixed round vent holes (six of them), can really raise your overall leak rate to an unacceptable level.

Do not tape over the outside of the anti-asphyxiation valve opening -- or in any other manner seal that opening. I have heard that several people have done that, and they are risking their lives.

Call Innomed about the problem, and they'll promptly send you a new shell at no cost.... 1-800-200-9842. Well, they did for me last year.

It wouldn't hurt to make your DME, or the place where you bought the mask, aware of the problem also.

Nodzy

Archoliva · Post by **Archoliva** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:56 pm

I re-aligned the flap as per everyones recomendation. It sealed properly & the noise level was reduced to almost nothing. I more importantly had a great nights sleep.
Thanks again!!!