ResMed S9 Humidifier Clicking Noise (h5i)

[-tim]

3rd replacement... Technician now says it is not a defect. It is by design. Which is just insane! The are refusing to fix the circuitry that is causing this problem. I am contacting customer service to register a complaint.

Maybe if enough of us bug them about this flaw (and it's a flaw, nothing else), they can do something to remedy the problem. Thanks for all you folks do on this site.

I suspect it is a relay based on the "if it quacks like a relay" theory. If that is true, better quality relays could fix the problem. Solid state relays might be a solution. A dab of hot glue in the right place might work.

Does anyone have a broken/dead h5i they don't want anymore? I don't want to open mine up to find out what is causing the noise.

[doogie]

I received a response from ResMed, which just made me more frustrated with them:

Thank you for contacting ResMed! We appreciate your feedback regarding the H5i failsafe, and have forwarded your Idea Submission to the appropriate team for review.

Please be aware that your device should always operate below 24 dB of noise, and if you feel that the device is louder than this, this may be an unrelated item which could indicate possible failure of the machine, and it should be returned to your provider for an evaluation. This clicking noise should be nearly inaudible, and muffled when the machine is on or any other surrounding noise occurs. If not, other loud or excess noises on the machine can sometimes indicate motor failure.

Again, thank you for your time and effort in sharing your feedback with us, and your support of ResMed products.

My response back to them was that I thought this canned response reflected the fact that they think this is a trivial problem, just like Chinese Water Torture would be a harmless drip of water. It probably is less than 24 decibels, but that does not mean it's not bugging my wife. She can hear it when I am not using my CPAP and anticipating the next click is infuriatingly annoying.

I'll let you folks know if I hear anything more back from them.

[knothead]

Here you go for those wanting to explore the ticking noise. Used S9 H5I starting at 40.00...just a thought.

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/hsh/4265860538.html

[crombie]

Mine clicks but only when not in use. After I start it up I can't hear it; the noise is drowned out by the whirr of the blower motor.

Reading through this thread, I think this is what many people are missing. You are never going to hear that tick when the machine is running. It is about the same sound that a quiet mechanical second hand makes on a clock. My wife just received her machine in summer 2013, and I got mine about two years ago.

The 'tick' has occasionally bothered me, but I always assumed it was something in the house we moved to. I just suffered a concussion, and all of these 'small' noises are a real PITA because my hearing is hypersensitive while I am just trying to lay back to rest. I do not hear my wife's machine because she has more items to soak up the echo, but my machine sounds like a clock that has a nearly dead battery.

As I implied, my corner of the room is empty, and so the sound echoes around. It was maddeningly frustrating to determine exactly what was causing the issue as I thought it was a tree or eavestrough outside. Today it finally annoyed me enough that I isolated it through unplugging things on the power bar.

How in the world is this a 'feature'? What is it checking for in a machine that is turned off? And to find out that a software revision could resolve this issue is maddening. I am pretty certain my provider was able to do software updates on my S8 in the office. I was personally hoping this thread from 2011 had been resolved with the 2014 responses!

[tc300mag1]

Funny i never heard mine doing it untill tonight moved it yesterday not sure if its just closer to the bed or what a Fix would be nice

[Firekeeper66]

I just posted this in an older thread but then saw this was more up-to-date so I'm reposting here:

I'm adding my 2cents because I think there's power in numbers....I've had my s9 for about a year and a half and my H5i JUST started clicking the other day (maybe I should consider myself lucky that I went this long without the clicking!). My other half asked me what the noise was and got up to investigate. Once he was assured it wasn't the dog into something, we narrowed it down to my machine. Now it's enough to keep me awake (and now that he knows what it is, he can sleep soundly - sigh)! I emailed Resmed this morning, I'll be curious if they say it's normal because I already know it isn't (if it was normal, I would have heard it a year and a half ago!).

My machine does made a little (VERY FAINT) noise when (I assume) the element is heating up but this - much louder - noise is not the same noise. It's a ticking or clicking noise and it's done on odd intervals (eg. not every minute per se). I lay there in anticipation of the next click. This is loud enough to keep me awake...and it's NOT normal operation noises.

[chunkyfrog]

My H5i humidifier makes a very faint clicking sound--it always has, for five years.
My machine is on a low stool, so I only hear it when I really try to.

[forest]

Same issue here. Got mine last Tuesday and the clicking is driving me insane. It's not the volume, but the mechanical nature of the sound.

Any tips would be appreciated, I'll contact my DME and resmed.

[Ryanryanryan]

Went through insanity trying to get a new machine that didn't click. When it's dead silent in the room it's insanely annoying. My machine was fine for the first year or so that I had it and then it started and there's no end in sight. After seeing this thread up for years with no fix it's really depressing.

[cpamhe]

My 5-year-old ResMed S9 makes a pair of clicks every 10 seconds; the second click of each pair occurs about 2 seconds after the first.

My brand new ResMed S9 makes one click every 10 seconds.

In both cases, the clicking (very soft) comes from the humidifier when the machine is plugged-in but not active (not blowing air). I don't hear the clicking when the machine is active, perhaps because the soft blowing air masks the sound, and my head is 2-3 feet away.

I don't think the clicking is caused by heat expansion (the heating plate is not warm), and I don't think it's related to the humidifier cover or some mechanical connection. Rather, I suspect the sound is from an electronic part inside the humidifier, perhaps from a circuit board, or perhaps related to a software timing function.