My mask is singing

[RocketGirl]

Two months in and everything is going pretty well, but in the past week or so I've awakened a few times with headaches, and my Opus 360 has developed a very high-pitched, intermittent whistle somewhere on the right side, that has awakened me in the night a few times. I thought it had to be a leak and was considering ordering replacement pillows even though my insurance won't pay for them yet. But looking at the data, I'm not sure how to interpret the leaks as shown. (I am new to Sleepyhead.) Are these something that experienced users would worry about? Here are last night's graphs, which are among the higher ones of the past week:



Grateful for any input on these.

Also very, very grateful to JediMark for Sleepyhead - it is an amazing piece of software!

[SleepingBearDoNtWake]

Hi RocketGirl,

I had the swift fx, and it was doing something like yours, and it was driving me crazy. I don't know how your mask works, but if it is simular you might want to look at the part where the hose connects to the pillows. I found if I gently pulled on the hose the nose would stop. For me it was the connection between the two. It might be something to try.

[jnk]

Do you use o-rings?

I've been able to get LT nasal pillows to last for well over a year with the o-ring mod posted by "gl" a while back:



Something similar is done by some here with the Opus.

There is also another o-ring mod for the Opus for holding the pillow stems together, I understand:

viewtopic/t36877/Swift-LT-vs-Opus-360.html#p321170

I mean, anyone named RocketGirl should be using o-rings, one way or the other, I would think.

WARNING: If you are not yet a mask-modifier, and you start now, there is absolutely NO going back!

[GumbyCT]

Whistling would indicate a leak. Air moving causing the noise.

I am not familiar with your mask but you could try cleaning out the holes the exhaust goes thru. Sometimes that collects drool or other goober doo.

[chunkyfrog]

My Swift FX was whistling at me just this morning.
I wiggled it around until it shut up.

[jnk]

Which is why chunkyfrog's ticklish husband doesn't whistle at her anymore.

[chunkyfrog]

FYI: Never did. He's Ukie--has a thing about whistling indoors.

[jnk]

So THAT's why I'm always broke!



I found that using larger nasal pillows got rid of a whistling sound that only occurred when I breathed out.

It sounded like it was IN my nose instead of outside it. But whatever it was, it went away with the larger pillows, which also happened to be new, so I don't know which really solved it.

[DannyPh]

I use the Mirage Liberty FF mask and I was wondering if the O Rings on the Pillows would benefit me on the Mirage Mask ? The problem I am having is that the Pillows are too close together and not getting a good seal until I re position them around. I am using the Large Pillows. i was wondering if the O Rings would keep the Pillows apart some. Guess it is worth a try.

[RocketGirl]

Do you use o-rings?

I do now

I mean, anyone named RocketGirl should be using o-rings, one way or the other, I would think.

Thanks, jnk, for the ideas and links to the other threads. Interesting stuff! Since I'm so new to this, I've held off modding my mask until I understood it a little better. This definitely seems like a worthwhile thing to try (and I do have a jar of all sizes of o-rings on the workbench). Will give it a try tonight.

WARNING: If you are not yet a mask-modifier, and you start now, there is absolutely NO going back!

Forewarned is forearmed... I do recognize this as a slippery slope, but things are a lot more interesting that way. Cowabunga!

[RocketGirl]

Hi RocketGirl,

I had the swift fx, and it was doing something like yours, and it was driving me crazy. I don't know how your mask works, but if it is simular you might want to look at the part where the hose connects to the pillows. I found if I gently pulled on the hose the nose would stop. For me it was the connection between the two. It might be something to try.

and

My Swift FX was whistling at me just this morning.
I wiggled it around until it shut up.

Thank you chunkyfrog and SleepingBearDoNtWake - I will try these suggestions tonight, too. The Opus has a kind of funky swivelly piece between the hose quick-connect and the mask, so I'll try fiddling with that and the hose to see if that quashes the whistle.

[Hose_Head]

Hi RocketGirl,

I had the swift fx, and it was doing something like yours, and it was driving me crazy. I don't know how your mask works, but if it is simular you might want to look at the part where the hose connects to the pillows. I found if I gently pulled on the hose the nose would stop. For me it was the connection between the two. It might be something to try.

and

My Swift FX was whistling at me just this morning.
I wiggled it around until it shut up.

Thank you chunkyfrog and SleepingBearDoNtWake - I will try these suggestions tonight, too. The Opus has a kind of funky swivelly piece between the hose quick-connect and the mask, so I'll try fiddling with that and the hose to see if that quashes the whistle.

Something to think about is my experience with an Activa LT mask. This mask is prone to "singing" if you have any rainout, whatsoever. The water collects in the mask's exhaust ports and restricts them in a way that causes the mask to sing. This is unlikely to be your problem, but if you cannot find a solution through the other suggestions, you might want to check this one out.

[archangle]

It's possible that a leak big enough to sing won't leak enough liters/minute to show up on the graphs. See if you can catch it singing and figure out where you can poke or wiggle to make it start or stop. Maybe a thorough cleaning for good luck. Disassemble and assemble and check the connection between parts very carefully.

If it starts telling you to do things while it's singing to you, you need to see a different kind of doctor.

[red1]

I have both the FX & the Lt. They both seem to leak after they've been on awhile. As the night goes on, the areas around both the outside & the entrance to the inside of the nasal passages become oily & have begun to sweat . This will cause a lowered friction between the skin & the silicone, causing it to leak. ITs good to wash your face well, blow your nose, then, using the tissue, dry around the openings of your nasal passages, just before putting on the nasal pillow mask. I find about 5 or so hours later it begins leaking a lot,especially if you happen to subconsciously move your nose, so I go out & repeat the above & I also clean the moisture off the nasal pillow prongs.

[squid13]

knk what size O ring do you use for those nasal pillows?