odor w/ new Remstar Auto w/cflex

[tjs]

I have a brand new Remstar Auto w/ cfex on a rental basis. Last night was my first night. I really liked the cflex feature even though my starting pressure is 6 (my CPAP was at 8 based on the sleep study). I went to sleep pretty quickly. However, I woke up 1.7 hours later with an odor coming into my mask (the odor was not there when I went to sleep). It is a plastic/rubber smell. I turned the unit off and went back to sleep. I called the DME toady and was told to turn the unit on and let it run 2 hours to see if the unit got hot and/or the odor went away.. I tried this. The unit did not feel like it was overheating. The smell is still there. My wife compared it to a new car smell. I tried a different hose and the smell remained.

Has anyone experienced this with the auto w/cflex or any other unit? Any ideas what might be causing the odor? I would really like to spend a full night on the machine, but I'm not sure I want to breathe in the odor all night and not knowing if it is unhealthy to do so. I would appreciate any feedback.

[Yoga]

The first thing I would do is call Respironics. I am sensitive to odors, have the Remstar Pro w/cflex, and never had an odor.

I once had a refrigerator that the painters unplugged while we were gone. In order to get rid of the odor, I saturated a cloth with vanilla and wiped all of the surfaces to get rid of the odor. However, I would not do that with the cpap machine. You could try putting 2 or 3 drops of vanilla extract on a cotton ball and place it in a small shallow cup. Then place the cup next to the cpap air intake. You might want to ask Respironics if this is o.k.

Let us know if this solved your problem

Good luck!

[Edie]

I've been renting a REMstar Auto and my insurance approved the purchase of my own machine. My REMstar Auto with C-Flex was delivered this afternoon. Yeah!

It has the same plastic/rubber odor you describe. I called Respironics and asked a customer service representative about it. She said it is normal and will fade in time. She said it may take a couple of weeks for it to completely go away, but will not make me ill.

Did you get the same answer?

[Fifi]

I am thinking of trying a remstar auto with c-flex.

Where can i hire one from? I have unsuccessfully looked at quite a few sites on the net but ony found companies who sell and do not hire.

[rested gal]

Fifi, my guess is that only local DMEs (local home health care providers) will let you rent a machine. And even then, probably only a few local stores even have that particular machine in stock yet to rent out. It's quite new. Most local stores that carry cpap equipment probably would rather sell/rent what they already have on their shelves, before ordering more machines of any kind.

[Guest]

Edie-

I called Respironics. The Customer Service rep transferred me to Product Support. The person I spoke to there told me to return it to the DME and to have them order a new machine for me. I called the DME and thet are ordering a new machine. I was really looking forward to using it, especially with the cflex.

[Edie]

tjs

I was planning to call Respironics again after reading about what they told you. Today was the first day I could have called them after the holiday, but the odor is almost completely gone now. So I've decided to leave it alone.

One difference between our experiences is that my odor was there from the very beginning.

In any case, I am very pleased with my new machine and hope you get your replacement soon.