leak questions

[angelo]

Hello everyone,

First I want to thank everyone for helping a newbie in his first month with tons of info. I just got my reader and encore viewer. I have been on cpap for a month and wanted to see how I was doing. I am 34 and my apnea is severe greater than 60 I believe. My apneas are down in the 6 to 7 range, but my problem is my leak numbers are huge. I am a mouth breather and use a mirage face mask, but I have had issues with sores on my nose, so it has been a struggle to get a good fit. Before I can address the leak issue, I need to understand the numbers. Please translate what the following means:

Average maximum leak: 116

Average 90% leak: 98

Average leak: 65.3

Thanks

[Wulfman]

Hello everyone,

First I want to thank everyone for helping a newbie in his first month with tons of info. I just got my reader and encore viewer. I have been on cpap for a month and wanted to see how I was doing. I am 34 and my apnea is severe greater than 60 I believe. My apneas are down in the 6 to 7 range, but my problem is my leak numbers are huge. I am a mouth breather and use a mirage face mask, but I have had issues with sores on my nose, so it has been a struggle to get a good fit. Before I can address the leak issue, I need to understand the numbers. Please translate what the following means:

Average maximum leak: 116

Average 90% leak: 98

Average leak: 65.3

Thanks

Too many unknowns from your post......
Specific machine, pressure, specific mask (just saying "Mirage face mask" doesn't tell us whether it's a nasal or full face)

I'd concentrate on the "Average Leak". The other two don't tell me much. Leak rate (or Vent Flow Rate) is also related to the user's pressure.

Why don't you register......fill in your profile with more specific information. Maybe we can offer some more advice.

Den

[angelo]

Here is more info:

Remstar Pro M Series
Mirage Quatro Full mask
11.0 Pressure

[Wulfman]

Here is more info:

Remstar Pro M Series
Mirage Quatro Full mask
11.0 Pressure

If you don't have the user manual to the Quattro, you can download it with this link.

http://www.resmed.com/us/assets/documen ... sa_eng.pdf

The chart is on page 7. At a pressure of 11, you should have have a Vent Flow Rate rate of about 40 LPM. Anything more than that is considered "leakage".....however there is some tolerance to those numbers and hitting that perfect number every night is hard to do. However, you're considerably over that with your "average" leak rate.

If you haven't yet done the "Teflon tape fix" to your Quattro, I'd recommend it. If you don't, it can feel like it's leaking everywhere.
Instructions can be seen here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33452

In many cases with these types of masks, getting them too tight can cause worse leakage. Looser can be better. The seals have to expand with the air pressure to fit the face.

Den