When is it time to order a new machine?

[CharlyAndy]

I have a Respironics C-Flex with 14055 hours on it (that's almost 4 years). I don't want the machine to just die on me. Has anyone had their machine finally give up the ghost? How old was it? What make and model? Did you have it fixed?

Thanks for the help.

[LSAT]

At 8 hours a night 14055 is almost 5 years.. I would get a new machine and keep the old as a spare.

[Perrybucsdad]

I think what LSAT said is right on the money, if your insurance will cover it or you have the financial means to do that. Always good to have a spare just in case.

- John

[Slinky]

Most insurances will only replace a CPAP once every 5 years altho they will replace a CPAP or APAP w/a bi-level sooner upon a script from your doctor if it is warranted.

[Perrybucsdad]

So I guess the magic question is do you remember when you received the machine?

[McSleepy]

My good-old Respironics BiPAP Pro has over 22000 hours on it and is still going strong - I had to use it last week while my new ResMed was in for replacement (for rebooting while the smart-card is inserted). If the machine is free of manufacturing defects, it can go on for a long time, but if you can afford to get a spare, you should.
McSleepy

[Pugsy]

I have a family friend who has been on cpap for 19 years now. He still uses his original first machine when he is home.
Huge machine in his bedroom. Says it works and sees no need to get rid of it yet.
Over the years he has picked up a few of the "latest and greatest" machines and will use one of the smaller machines when he travels.

[NCHawk]

I had a RemStar Plus (I think that's the model) that died after a little more than five years of use. It took me almost a month to get a replacement, between talking to my DME and trying to decide which of my doctors was authorized to write up a prescription and the authorization that BCBS needed; I had moved to another state and didn't have a copy of the original sleep study, but fortunately my current doctor decided that another sleep study wasn't needed, and just took my word for the settings on my old machine. The time I had to go without a machine was shortened slightly when I complained about all this on another message board and one of the members there who happened to have an old CPAP almost identical to mine offered to send it to me just for the cost of shipping.

Even if my current machine is still working in five years, I'm planning on getting a new one just so I'll have a spare. I don't want to have to be without a CPAP any longer than I have to.

[DaveLP]

I kept my old Remstar fixed pressure CPAP for a backup just in case my new Intellipap has a problem someday. I'd hate to have to go without even for a night. 5 years seems a long time with the same machine unless you made the right choice the first time, something that a lot of us don't have the knowledge at first to achieve.

Forums like this one are invaluable for determining what the machines can do and what they can't. Knowing that and becoming savvy can save a lot of money spent on experiments that don't turn out to be beneficial.

[Perrybucsdad]

I have a family friend who has been on cpap for 19 years now. He still uses his original first machine when he is home.

Wow! Who was the maker and the model of that machine?

[Pugsy]

Wow! Who was the maker and the model of that machine?

I don't know. My mother was talking to him one day and cpap came up since we were both using the machines. She told him I had 3 machines and he said he had 4. Most picked up for nothing from someone who gave up. He told her he still used the first machine he ever got and that it was the size of a small oxygen concentrator.

You know we might moan and groan about how tough we have it now but those 20 year veterans had it a whole lot tougher. Very minimal choices in masks and if you were a small woman then just forget it because they didn't make the masks small enough for women. The machines were large, noisy, minimal to no humidity and certainly no exhale relief. No data, no leak report, no nothing and yet they made it. If we think we have no support now...

[Perrybucsdad]

I'm not complaining... I love my APAP... "I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him"

[SleepyT]

I'm not complaining... I love my APAP... "I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him"

Funny! I remember those cartoons! Yep...anyway.....I visited my sleep doc yesterday (had to because I drive for a living...DOT regulations...otherwise I would monitor my own therapy)...and my doc tested my CPAP to make sure it is still delivering the correct pressure. My CPAP is 2 years old...an S8 Elite. Anyway, he said the S8's start to go at around 4 years...and that if needed at that point, he would write a script for another machine so the DME wouldn't give me a hard time. Good to know. I guess my point is...sleep docs should be able to check the pressure on older machines for you. Only cost you a co-pay!

[Perrybucsdad]

anyway.....I visited my sleep doc yesterday ...and my doc tested my CPAP to make sure it is still delivering the correct pressure.

Did you see how he tested the pressure? The reason I ask is I have a manometer that measures air pressure, but just not sure where & how the hook it up to test. Do they seal the end? Do they just attach the mask and have a Tee connector coming off that allows air to come out to be measured. Just curious.

- John

[Starlette]

Another question - So like when I go in for my next physical, I can request having my cpap tested for pressure too?
Mine is currently set at 9cm.

btw, cute post Perry

Starlette