replacing Sandman auto

[john5757]

I have a Sandman Auto, the one with the heater humidifier gave out. I am looking for the auto that have the closest Algorithm to the Sandman. This rule out the IntelliPAP which I tried but was working against me. The Resmed I have tried was better but not at the same level as the Sandman in quality of sleep. The new REMStar without using C-flex may be a option since it has resistance control. The ICON Auto may be another choice with the sensawake may be a good feature. Does anyone else have any comments to share?

[Goofproof]

Another option would be to use a external hh with your unit. I no longer use a hh except as a benine muffler. Jim

[john5757]

Except my Sandman is dead, no display. I took it apart and all the resistors and diodes tested fine. Nothing appears burn out the and coin battery is fine. Tried the DC input and the display is garbled. Dead as a door nail.

[Goofproof]

Opps, In took your post to mean the hh failed, maybe it could be repaired under warrenty. If not dead as a nail, isn't a apt decription, more apt would be as dead as a lightweight door stop.

All my XPAP'S are "Tanks", they will run until the Drones hunt they down, the Cpap Police have requested 1, 000 to police XPAP users on U.S. Soil. they are armed with EMF generators, to disable rogue units and 7.62mm for the owners.

Owners prepare, stock up on the new 12 ga Drone loads when they come on sale. Jim

[john5757]

That's funny! I should also said that the Covidien company that owned Puritan Bennett which makes the Sandman closed down the CPAP business a few years ago. So I am stuck with a broken orphan and may have to try a different make. That is not the first time I owned something wonderful and find the company gone in a few years!

[Goofproof]

That's a good testament to buying a popular model and brand, but in this world nothing stays the same, even if it's good. Profit and greed rule the world, we are just the poor serfs.

Newer, untested, made in China or Mexico, got to be better than Made in the USA, if it's just good reliable machines we need "Tanks", would still be manfactured. Mine and Den's solution is if you fine something good stockpile it. Jim

[Thunder Road]

Sorry to hear about your Sandman. Mine has over 11k hours and is still going. I had to replace the chamber and battery for the backlight but other than that it is still working. I bought a back up unit just as it was discontinued and it is still brand new with zero hours. The sandman software is only compatible with windows XP 32 bit though. While it has been a great unit I must admit that I am a little curious about the newer S9 and System One Apap's.

[john5757]

There is more to my story that I need to add. Like you I brought a brand new Sandman with the heater option for $200 while it was being discontinued. I used an AC voltage regulator for my CPAP devices and after about a 1 year and half the voltage regulator quit on me and the alarm when off. Ten months later the Sandman with the heater failed. It may have been weaken by the malfunction of the AC voltage regulator at the time. I am using the older Sandman without the heater option but using the pervious humidifier tank in the Passover mode as needed. If I need more humidification I can use my Devilbiss 9100D Passover Humidifier which is in my opinion is the best Passover Humidifier in the business and unfortunately it has been discontinued as well. I even have the electronic heater that goes with the Devilbiss 9100D and it has one of the largest heater core ever seen for a CPAP device.
What I like best about the Sandman is its very tight pressure regulation control. The Sandman has very smooth air flow capabilities. The Sandman has the special calibration routine that allows the Sandman to plot the pressure resistance curve for any mask. You lay down the mask on the bed while still connected to the machine but do not wear the mask. You then run the calibration routine and the Sandman slowly ramps up the pressure and builds the pressure profile for that mask and stores the curve in its memory. No other manufactures even to this day have that feature. The end result is that my body feels more relax and not in a panic mode when waking up. This is especially helpful with a Nasal pillow system which I am currently using the Opus 360 Nasal Pillow Mask
You are not gaining anything more with the current machines except for the auto start, heated hose on some models and expiratory pressure relief only if you need it. I find that C-flex for example, makes me prone for breath stacking and I would wake up like from a bad nightmare. I have not tried A-flex but do not need it anyway. The IntelliPAP does not work for me. The ResMed S8 is a bit better for my needs. The only other model I may consider is the ICON Auto CPAP because it has one feature that I wish the Sandman have is the SensAwake feature. Not the most popular model but like the Sandman no auto start or EPR.

[john5757]

One more thing to add, I am using the Sandman software on my Win7 64bit machine. I install the software to a folder on the root of the boot drive. I then use the capability mode of Win XP service pack 3 and the software works just fine.

[Thunder Road]

I agree with your assessment of the Sandman. No need for EPR due to the smooth and tight range you can set for the comfort feature. I have it installed on windows 7. I can download the card daily but when I tried to use the direct USB cable to clear the memory from the device it does not allow me to install the driver in 7. Any suggestions? The CA/CH detection was ahead of its time.

[john5757]

I have not tried the USB cable in a long time. It worked on a pervious Win XP I will try using the Win7 laptop in a day or two and will let you know.

[john5757]

I used my small notebook that has win7 starter 32bit OS and did not have any problem installing the driver for the USB cable. There are two drivers involved. One is the for the memory card which you told me that you do not have a problem and the other is the USB serial cable driver.
On a clean slate on the Notebook I connected the USB serial cable. You will get a message Win7 searching for the driver and it will fail saying about ISSI driver not found. I keep the USB serial cable connection on and run the installer under the SandmanCPAPSeriesDriverInstall folder. After that is completed Win7 will start looking for the driver again and it will find the driver and installed it. You will find the driver under USB controllers saying Sandman CPAP. IF your Win7 will not install the driver and you cannot force it you have your windows security set too high. Go to user account control setting and slide all the way down to never notified about changes just for the time to install the USB cable driver. Let me know if this works for you. Last I installed the main program and everything works on the USB serial cable and you can ease all data in the machine if you like.